Shaw on contract extension

After guiding Stanford to consecutive BCS bowl games, coach David Shaw was rewarded with a long-term contract extension, the school announced on Wednesday. Shaw spoke with the media Wednesday afternoon about his new deal and how it came to fruition.

Below is the transcript of part of Shaw's media session.

David Shaw Opening Statement: You guys know I've signed my extension. I'm very excited about it. I think we're in the process of doing something special here that's not done, of course. The best thing about it is I don't think it every will be done. I think this is something that's continual. We never stop building. We never stop growing. And I'm excited to be a part of this process for a long time to come.

Can you tell us anything about the terms of the deal? Is it an extension of the four-year deal that you already have?

DS: It goes for a while, which is good.

Double digits?

DS: God, I hope so. I should have done the deal with you. (Laughter)

Is there a Roman numeral "V" in it?

DS: Put it this way. I want to be coaching here until my kids graduate from here, and I have a two-year-old.

That would be a firm root in the ground.

DS: Yes. I said it when Bob Bowlsby hired me and we were at my initial press conference. This is not a stopgap job for me, regardless of whatever rumors were swirling around of potential NFL things going on. I love it here at Stanford, I'm a Stanford man. My family loves it here, my wife loves it here, and we want to be here for a long time.

How did these talks commence? Did you approach them? Did they approach you? Can you tell us anything about them?

DS: Our athletic director, Bernard Muir, took the bull by the horns there, was very proactive, was very insistent on trying to get something done. I give a lot of credit to him, a lot of thanks to him, as well as to our president John Hennessy and our provost John Etchmendy. All of us being on board, and for me, it's like we recruit guys that fit this place. Guys that are tough, guys that are smart, guys that play football the way we want it to be played. I'm very grateful and thankful that those three gentleman saw me that way, that I fit this place, and the feeling is very mutual.

Will having this security change the way you approach the program, the way you manage this at all?

DS: Not at all. The way I look at it now is I'm working on the next extension. The only way I approach this is what can we do today to be better than we were yesterday, and that never changes.

Are there any ramifications for your assistant coaches in this deal?

Hopefully positive. Everybody feels good with security. We've got an outstanding staff and we're going to do whatever we can of course to retain those guys. A lot of them have been mentioned as potential head coaches, which is very well deserved. We've been able to create an environment here that is very appealing to those guys. Stanford University has really done extremely well with housing, and the kids that we work with, the area that we work in is just phenomenal. So thankfully those guys love being here.

Does it impact recruiting, a potential recruit sees you as being here many years. Is that a positive thing?

DS: I believe it's very positive, which is why I'm glad this got done when it did. Those rumors swirling, which I'm sure other coaches haven't minded fanning the flames of those, but I think hits hopefully lets people know what I said from the beginning, that this is where I want to be.

You say it's a process and it will never be over, but you guys came this close to being in the national championship game this year. Wouldn't playing in that game and winning it be a good destination?

DS: That's one thing that we don't talk about until I think until it's like an eight-team playoff. Because in order to get into the BCS Championship game, in order to get into the playoff scenario in a couple of years, it's still computers, it's still voting, it's still all things that are out of our control. What we can control is what we do in our conference. Every year our job is to try to win our conference. That goal is never going to change, either.

Is there any point down the line, say 20, 30 years, that an NFL job would intrigue you?

DS: There are very few human beings that can survive being a head coach for 20 years. You either move on or move out. And we'll see what happens 20 years from now, but this is a great environment and what I love about Stanford is that Stanford is always continuing to grow, we're always continuing to push the envelopes in all areas. This is not going to be the same place five years from now. We're going to continue to grow and expand and push the envelopes of what you can do at a fine university.

A question about Shayne Skov, going into his last game as a Cardinal, talk a little bit about his legacy here and what he's facing in the Rose Bowl.

DS: You said it's his last game. I didn't say it's his last game. He's got another year left. I hope it's not his last game. I think Shayne has done a phenomenal job of coming back from a devastating injury. Shayne has been one of our major on-field leaders for the last few years. I think if he does come back he'll be able to I believe get back to that level he was in the Orange Bowl a couple of years ago. I think he's probably a good six months away from that. Hopefully that is the case.