[Mick]

Unfortunately this may only be the beginning.......When uncertainty is 100% at Stanford, any kind of "guarantee" may look attractive, even at a "lesser" program.

4-star edge rusher Nusi Taumoepeau (2025) has just decommited.

Four years ago, a friend of mine, Jerry, has a twenty-year-old son who was in a serious relationship with someone completely inappropriate. He was stumped as to how to handle it, the son already knew his parents disapproved of the relationship. Jerry had a brother (Steve) who had a disastrous marriage that started because of an unwise decision as a very young man. Steve volunteered to talk to Jerry's son, and spent a day with him, giving a no-holds-barred look into a probable future with a very unpleasant outcome. Steve spent six hours with Jerry's son, making nearly 400 separate points that young men don't consider. Might have worked too well, the son's relationship broke up, and he hasn't had a new one since.

I know the recruiters have and communicate a forty-year story, it's Stanford's single greatest unique factor. I wonder if the 40-year-story the recruiters are telling players is strong enough. There's a reason that high school seniors all over the world desperately want to get into Stanford. A football player wants to play football, win, educate himself, enjoy himself and go as far as his talent will take him. That last part is particularly important and the impact of a Stanford degree, and the education, and the relationships developed versus that of most other institutions is incalculable. 

Do the Stanford recruits sufficiently understand the down side of not selecting Stanford? I wonder if they do. Teenaged males are uniquely optimistic, they like to take risks, they're fully capable (until they aren't); but they downplay negative risk, and overestimate their abilities to handle challenges. There's a reason car rental companies don't lease vehicles to young men. It's an extraordinary risk to play at a football factory if a player has the intellectual capacity to succeed at Stanford.

[Mick]

Unfortunately this may only be the beginning.......When uncertainty is 100% at Stanford, any kind of "guarantee" may look attractive, even at a "lesser" program.

4-star edge rusher Nusi Taumoepeau (2025) has just decommited.

Four years ago, a friend of mine, Jerry, has a twenty-year-old son who was in a serious relationship with someone completely inappropriate. He was stumped as to how to handle it, the son already knew his parents disapproved of the relationship. Jerry had a brother (Steve) who had a disastrous marriage that started because of an unwise decision as a very young man. Steve volunteered to talk to Jerry's son, and spent a day with him, giving a no-holds-barred look into a probable future with a very unpleasant outcome. Steve spent six hours with Jerry's son, making nearly 400 separate points that young men don't consider. Might have worked too well, the son's relationship broke up, and he hasn't had a new one since.

I know the recruiters have and communicate a forty-year story, it's Stanford's single greatest unique factor. I wonder if the 40-year-story the recruiters are telling players is strong enough. There's a reason that high school seniors all over the world desperately want to get into Stanford. A football player wants to play football, win, educate himself, enjoy himself and go as far as his talent will take him. That last part is particularly important and the impact of a Stanford degree, and the education, and the relationships developed versus that of most other institutions is incalculable. 

Do the Stanford recruits sufficiently understand the down side of not selecting Stanford? I wonder if they do. Teenaged males are uniquely optimistic, they like to take risks, they're fully capable (until they aren't); but they downplay negative risk, and overestimate their abilities to handle challenges. There's a reason car rental companies don't lease vehicles to young men. It's an extraordinary risk to play at a football factory if a player has the intellectual capacity to succeed at Stanford.