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But a reasonable default is to assume most were not able to be admitted rather than imagine that David Shaw and the entire Stanford AD just overlooked some Stanford eligible 4+ star athlete.  

Even in the 80s and 90s when I was in school the AD was very well aware of almost every football athlete in the nation with even a remote shot at getting into Stanford.   Given the computer programming available now on your average 12 year-olds smartphone, I am confident the Stanford AD has tracked the ~100 football players each year with a shot at navigating Stanford admissions and then competing in the Pac-12.

Hey @slide, you around? Wanna take this one?

yes, a little bit over the top in the defense of the AD.  coaches/staff have done a better job of late covering the top 300 recruits (and certainly better than in the Elway and Willingham years).  they've however declined offers for a more automated system to help them scrape the recruiting universe to plug holes and make their approach more efficient.  I don't have a great example of late but it was only a couple of years ago where we essentially whiffed on Nicolas Petit-Frere, a top 10 national recruit.  he was not on our radar, Shaw's former college teammate let him know about NPF, we still waited and waited then offered late accompanied by a panicky visit from Shaw etc.  NPF is now starting for Ohio State.  even if you think you are good, there is always room for improvement.  and at the rate recruiting cycles have accelerated, we need to be much more front-footed.  we won't win often for a top recruit when we are the 30th school to offer to a recruit, especially coming off a 4-8 record.

[slide]

But a reasonable default is to assume most were not able to be admitted rather than imagine that David Shaw and the entire Stanford AD just overlooked some Stanford eligible 4+ star athlete.  

Even in the 80s and 90s when I was in school the AD was very well aware of almost every football athlete in the nation with even a remote shot at getting into Stanford.   Given the computer programming available now on your average 12 year-olds smartphone, I am confident the Stanford AD has tracked the ~100 football players each year with a shot at navigating Stanford admissions and then competing in the Pac-12.

Hey @slide, you around? Wanna take this one?

yes, a little bit over the top in the defense of the AD.  coaches/staff have done a better job of late covering the top 300 recruits (and certainly better than in the Elway and Willingham years).  they've however declined offers for a more automated system to help them scrape the recruiting universe to plug holes and make their approach more efficient.  I don't have a great example of late but it was only a couple of years ago where we essentially whiffed on Nicolas Petit-Frere, a top 10 national recruit.  he was not on our radar, Shaw's former college teammate let him know about NPF, we still waited and waited then offered late accompanied by a panicky visit from Shaw etc.  NPF is now starting for Ohio State.  even if you think you are good, there is always room for improvement.  and at the rate recruiting cycles have accelerated, we need to be much more front-footed.  we won't win often for a top recruit when we are the 30th school to offer to a recruit, especially coming off a 4-8 record.