Shaw, "Buck" (Lawrence T.)
Football
b. March 28, 1899, Mitchelville, IA
d. March 19, 1977
A tackle at the University of Notre Dame, Shaw played on Knute Rockne's first unbeaten team in 1919. After graduating in 1922, he was an assistant at North Carolina State, the University of Nevada, and Santa Clara University, where he took over as head coach in 1936.
Shaw had a 47-10-4 record in seven seasons at Santa Clara. His 1937 team had a 9-0 record and allowed just under 70 yards per game to opposing teams. Santa Clara won two straight Sugar Bowls over Louisiana State, 21-14 in 1937 and 6-0 in 1938.
In 1945, Shaw coached the University of California at Berkeley to a 4-5-1 record. He then took over the San Francisco 49ers in the new All-American Football Conference. The AAFC folded after the 1949 season, but the 49ers entered the NFL, along with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts.
Despite a fine 71-39-4 record in 8 seasons, Shaw was fired after the 49ers went 7-4-1 in 1954. He then took on the challenge of building another team from scratch, at the new U. S. Air Force Academy, where he was named athletic director and head football coach in 1955. The academy fielded its first football team in 1956 and Shaw had a 9-8-2 record in 2 seasons there.
He then returned to pro football with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1958 and retired after the Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 17-13 for the 1960 NFL championship. Shaw had an overall 60-23-7 record as a college coach and a 90-55-2 record with pro teams.