[cardcrimson]

According to sources on the On3 site, Tavita passed on PK for DC, because of a cultural fit. In other words, he isn't a "Stanford Man". That was my point. PK was a fit at Boise and Washington, then Texas. Why not here? Sheesh.

Assuming the On3 sources are accurate, there are many ways to interpret "cultural fit", most of which do not involve the candidate being a "Stanford Man". One obvious one is that the candidate doesn't appear to have the skill set to communicate effectively with "Stanford Men". See Walt Harris as an example. He fit in other places just fine, but obviously didn't fit at Stanford. It could also be that the candidate expected to operate in a football culture that doesn't exist at Stanford. Obviously the football cultures at Boise, Washington, and Texas are very different than that of Stanford. Without that, the candidate may not be as attractive.
 
It could be that the rest of the staff simply didn't like the candidate and felt he wasn't a good fit. It could be that Pritchard himself didn't like the candidate, for either "good" or "selfish" reasons. Lastly, I would not discount the possibility that the lack of "cultural fit" was perceived by the candidate, not Stanford. He turned Stanford down, not vice-versa. Given his previous history, Stanford would definitely not be considered a "step up". Quite the opposite. IMO it would take a stellar sell job (as well as lots of cash) to attract such a candidate. Maybe we weren't up to it.

Allegedly, money was not an issue. The AD and the Director of Football Operations approved of the hire. Tavita said no on cultural lines, at least according to accounts posted on On3. PK was willing to sign. Stanford, well Tavita, said no. We were up to it and the selling job was successful in getting him interested. Until Tavita stepped in. Depressing.

[cardcrimson]

According to sources on the On3 site, Tavita passed on PK for DC, because of a cultural fit. In other words, he isn't a "Stanford Man". That was my point. PK was a fit at Boise and Washington, then Texas. Why not here? Sheesh.

Assuming the On3 sources are accurate, there are many ways to interpret "cultural fit", most of which do not involve the candidate being a "Stanford Man". One obvious one is that the candidate doesn't appear to have the skill set to communicate effectively with "Stanford Men". See Walt Harris as an example. He fit in other places just fine, but obviously didn't fit at Stanford. It could also be that the candidate expected to operate in a football culture that doesn't exist at Stanford. Obviously the football cultures at Boise, Washington, and Texas are very different than that of Stanford. Without that, the candidate may not be as attractive.
 
It could be that the rest of the staff simply didn't like the candidate and felt he wasn't a good fit. It could be that Pritchard himself didn't like the candidate, for either "good" or "selfish" reasons. Lastly, I would not discount the possibility that the lack of "cultural fit" was perceived by the candidate, not Stanford. He turned Stanford down, not vice-versa. Given his previous history, Stanford would definitely not be considered a "step up". Quite the opposite. IMO it would take a stellar sell job (as well as lots of cash) to attract such a candidate. Maybe we weren't up to it.

Allegedly, money was not an issue. The AD and the Director of Football Operations approved of the hire. Tavita said no on cultural lines, at least according to accounts posted on On3. PK was willing to sign. Stanford, well Tavita, said no. We were up to it and the selling job was successful in getting him interested. Until Tavita stepped in. Depressing.