Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE T h e i r h o m e - t o w n s a r e separated by 3,000 miles, their schools by 2,000 miles, their ages by 11 years and their experience as head coaches by two de- cades. O t h e r t h a n some crisscrossed recruiting trips, N o t r e D a m e ' s Brian Kelly and Stanford's David Shaw share very little in common. Yet, in terms of university mission statements, foot- ball success and academic achievement, these two fine head coaches couldn't be more similar. Kelly is a 54-year-old Boston native who's spent all 33 years of his coaching career working in the college ranks, ar- riving at Notre Dame in 2010. Shaw is a 43-year-old native of San Diego and spent nearly half of his 21-year coach- ing career working in the NFL before joining Jim Harbaugh's staff at San Di- ego in 2006, following him to Stanford the next year and then replacing him as the head coach in 2011 when Harbaugh left for the San Francisco 49ers. Kelly and Shaw's upbringings and c a r e e r p a t h s couldn't be much more different, but the respect for each other is mutual. "I think we all know about Stan- ford and Coach S h a w a n d t h e consistency that they have played with at the na- tional level," Kelly said before their matchup last sea- son. "We have a great deal of re- s p e c t f o r t h e i r football team, their p ro g r a m , t h e i r c o a c h i n g s t a ff , their players. It's a winning program." The two coaches reunite Saturday for the fifth time — each carrying two wins against each other into the game — with much at stake, which is typical in what is always an entertaining, impor- tant and memorable matchup. Three of the four games between Kelly and Shaw have been decided by a touch- down or less. And three times, the win- ner parlayed a victory in this game into a premier bowl destination. In 2012, Kelly's Irish needed an epic goal-line stand at Notre Dame Stadium to preserve a 20-13 overtime win over Stanford and protect a run to the na- Respect And Success Mark The Stanford Rivalry Head coaches Brian Kelly (left) and David Shaw (right) have split their first four meetings in the Irish-Cardinal rivalry, with three of the games being decided by a touchdown or less. PHOTOS BY BILL PANZICA; STANFORDPHOTO.COM