[OutsiderFan]

What y’all are unspooling about ILB recruiting is leading me to this question. How can an institution with a brand for cultivating smart, have a football program being so cosmically stupid? Just two offers to ILBs? This crosses the line from already self-destructive hubris, to pure incompetence.

Among the many things David Shaw must address is changing his mindset about recruiting. His desire to not take commitments from players when pursuing other guys is admirable, but he has to keep in mind, there are thousands of people relying on him to put a good product on the field. 

Thinking you have a deal with a party and then getting aced out by some other one who offers more perceived value in the end, is part of life. Nobody takes their 2nd choice after their first comes available, if a contract with #2 hasn’t been signed yet. Moreover, if Shaw is worried that he might get a better commit than one who will commit sooner, just tell his second choice to hold off on his commitment until later. This whole “all offers are actionable” philosophy is just totally self-defeating. It’s as foolish as not using Spring for official visits. You want to use all the leverage you have to bring in as many good players as possible. Shaw is objectively not using all available leverage he has available. 

If someone can make the case for these recruiting approaches making sense, I’m all ears, but I do not believe a policy to not tell recruits the program has better options after they feel they have a spot, creates any goodwill that can be leveraged to land better classes in the future. Frankly, the whole notion that a Stanford offer is special should be seen as even more reason to be more selfish about how they are used. Stanford already makes kids jump through hoops nobody else does, so why not be more calculating with offers and takes?

[OutsiderFan]

What y’all are unspooling about ILB recruiting is leading me to this question. How can an institution with a brand for cultivating smart, have a football program being so cosmically stupid? Just two offers to ILBs? This crosses the line from already self-destructive hubris, to pure incompetence.

Among the many things David Shaw must address is changing his mindset about recruiting. His desire to not take commitments from players when pursuing other guys is admirable, but he has to keep in mind, there are thousands of people relying on him to put a good product on the field. 

Thinking you have a deal with a party and then getting aced out by some other one who offers more perceived value in the end, is part of life. Nobody takes their 2nd choice after their first comes available, if a contract with #2 hasn’t been signed yet. Moreover, if Shaw is worried that he might get a better commit than one who will commit sooner, just tell his second choice to hold off on his commitment until later. This whole “all offers are actionable” philosophy is just totally self-defeating. It’s as foolish as not using Spring for official visits. You want to use all the leverage you have to bring in as many good players as possible. Shaw is objectively not using all available leverage he has available. 

If someone can make the case for these recruiting approaches making sense, I’m all ears, but I do not believe a policy to not tell recruits the program has better options after they feel they have a spot, creates any goodwill that can be leveraged to land better classes in the future. Frankly, the whole notion that a Stanford offer is special should be seen as even more reason to be more selfish about how they are used. Stanford already makes kids jump through hoops nobody else does, so why not be more calculating with offers and takes?