[81alum]

Austin Jones to SC. Yuck.

Remain calm! All is well!

But seriously, this is a scathing indictment of our program.

No, it’s not.  It’s the new reality.  College free agency.  With Stanford having both hands tied behind it’s back.  I knew, and suspect most here did, that the transfer portal was very bad for Stanford.

Lex, do you think Jones or Peat transfer if Stanford has a winning program?  A NY6 program?

You fail to acknowledge that the state of the program is a factor (perhaps the controlling one) for the loss of players who are projected to get meaningful PT for the Cardinal.  THAT's a problem of this regime, and not necessarily something that's "bound to happen" with the transfer portal.

I'll acknowledge that the transfer portal is, on balance, going to hurt Stanford more than it will help.  But you need to acknowledge that the degree of the "hurt" is determined in some part (I'd argue in large part) by how (un)successful the Stanford football program is viewed by those players in the program.

This is bad news, the state of our program probably contributed.   On balance free agency will help the elite programs get better and make college football more lopsided than it already is.  It may prove to be too much for a university with high academic standards to accept.

However, I would like to know more about the individual situation.  Is he somehow graduating?  Or is he somehow dissatisfied with the non-football aspects of Stanford?  What is his major and what are his aspirations?  Is family involved?  Or was this a pure football move? 

Without perfect knowledge all we have is imperfect speculation. 

I do think it shocking that any athlete with limited professional prospects would ditch a Stanford degree, and so something tells me there is more to the story.

[81alum]

Austin Jones to SC. Yuck.

Remain calm! All is well!

But seriously, this is a scathing indictment of our program.

No, it’s not.  It’s the new reality.  College free agency.  With Stanford having both hands tied behind it’s back.  I knew, and suspect most here did, that the transfer portal was very bad for Stanford.

Lex, do you think Jones or Peat transfer if Stanford has a winning program?  A NY6 program?

You fail to acknowledge that the state of the program is a factor (perhaps the controlling one) for the loss of players who are projected to get meaningful PT for the Cardinal.  THAT's a problem of this regime, and not necessarily something that's "bound to happen" with the transfer portal.

I'll acknowledge that the transfer portal is, on balance, going to hurt Stanford more than it will help.  But you need to acknowledge that the degree of the "hurt" is determined in some part (I'd argue in large part) by how (un)successful the Stanford football program is viewed by those players in the program.

This is bad news, the state of our program probably contributed.   On balance free agency will help the elite programs get better and make college football more lopsided than it already is.  It may prove to be too much for a university with high academic standards to accept.

However, I would like to know more about the individual situation.  Is he somehow graduating?  Or is he somehow dissatisfied with the non-football aspects of Stanford?  What is his major and what are his aspirations?  Is family involved?  Or was this a pure football move? 

Without perfect knowledge all we have is imperfect speculation. 

I do think it shocking that any athlete with limited professional prospects would ditch a Stanford degree, and so something tells me there is more to the story.