Buck Shaw

Buck Shaw

Lawrence T. "Buck" Shaw (March 28, 1899 – March 19, 1977) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach for Santa Clara University, the University of California, Berkeley, the San Francisco 49ers, the United States Air Force Academy, and the Philadelphia Eagles. He attended the University of Notre Dame, where he became a star player on Knute Rockne's first unbeaten team. He started his coaching career with one year as head coach at North Carolina State and four years as a line coach at the University of Nevada.

As a coach at Santa Clara, he compiled an impressive 47–10–4 record. In 1937 and 1938, his teams posted back-to-back Sugar Bowl wins over Louisiana State. After war-time service, he served in 1945 as the head football coach at the University of California, where he compiled a 4–5–1 record. Shaw was the San Francisco 49ers' first head coach in the old All-America Football Conference and continued in that position from 1950 through 1954, when they entered the National Football League. After two seasons (1956–1957) as the first Air Force Academy Varsity head coach he returned to the NFL as the Philadelphia Eagles' head coach between 1958 and 1960. His record as a pro coach was 91–55–5, with one league championship with the Eagles in 1960. He was the only coach to beat the legendary Vince Lombardi in an NFL Championship game.