William "Willie" Shaw is a retired American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player and coach who coached for a number of NFL and college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 teams. He is the father of current Stanford

Stanford Cardinal football

The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference's North Division. Stanford, the top-ranked academic institution with an FBS program, has a highly successful football tradition. The...

 head coach David Shaw

David Shaw (American football)

-References:...

.

Early life and playing career

Shaw was born in San Diego, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and played college football at the University of New Mexico, where he was an All-Western Athletic Conference

Western Athletic Conference

The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...

 cornerback and an All-America

All-America

An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...

 honorable mention cornerback

Cornerback

A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...

.

Coaching career

Following his playing career, Shaw began a long career as an assistant coach at a number of college

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 and NFL teams, coaching defenses either as a secondary coach

Defensive backs coach

A defensive backs coach or secondary coach is a coach in charge of the safeties and cornerbacks in gridiron football. This position is very common in the CFL, NFL and college football programs. Some common titles are: safeties coach, cornerbacks coach, secondary coach, secondary/safeties coach,...

 or defensive coordinator

Defensive coordinator

A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a gridiron football team who is in charge of the defense. Generally, along with his offensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...

. Shaw coached for a total of 14 teams, with his longest NFL stints occurring with the Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

 (two separate stints) and the Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

; collegiately, his longest tenures were at Stanford

Stanford Cardinal football

The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference's North Division. Stanford, the top-ranked academic institution with an FBS program, has a highly successful football tradition. The...

 (two separate stints) and at Arizona State

Arizona State Sun Devils football

The Arizona State Sun Devils' football program represents Arizona State University in college football, and competes in NCAA Division I FBS as a member of the Pacific-12 Conference....

. In his second stint at Stanford, he was a finalist for the head coach position in 1992 that eventually went to Bill Walsh.

Personal

Shaw is the father of Stanford

Stanford Cardinal football

The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference's North Division. Stanford, the top-ranked academic institution with an FBS program, has a highly successful football tradition. The...

 head coach David Shaw

David Shaw (American football)

-References:...

 and the brother of 1960s USC safety Nate Shaw

Nate Shaw

Nathaniel "Nate" Shaw is a former American football defensive back in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams. Shaw also was an assistant coach for several college football teams.-Playing career:...

.