Good national article on Stanford's recruiting success in football

[OutsiderFan]

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http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/17516277/stringent-standards-help-stanford-elevate-itself-in-recruiting

[washingtonismoney]

An interesting part:

The year before Harbaugh and his staff arrived in Palo Alto, the Cardinal had a bunch of guys who would go on to play in the NFL, but the team still only went 1-11. "When we first got here, we were under strict orders from Coach Harbaugh that we're gonna find the toughest players we could find, guys that would practically ball up their fists and fight," says Shaw. "Back then, Stanford had a rep that it could play with anybody for awhile, but that the team did not have the toughness to finish the game. We had to change the mindset."

Harbaugh's staff viewed toughness as a "talent" not much different than speed or strength. Except grit might've been even more valued.

This explains both the successes and the (very occasional) failures of the following seasons. Now that the mindset has changed, I wonder if the staff is seeking more well-rounded players.

[needle]

Also of note, Shaw directly (well, almost) addressed the controversy about the recruitment of Jontrey Tillman, whose coach blasted Stanford when Tillman was rejected by admissions despite reportedly having solid grades.

Some rival coach claimed that Harbaugh would throw out offers knowing he could be selective on the back end by using the school's rigorous admissions policy to play bad cop. Shaw dismisses such criticism.

"There are some people that believe we do it on purpose, that we'll pull the rug out from under kids, and I take serious offense to that," he says. "It's wrong."