[OutsiderFan]

These questions may be a bit rhetorical, but I'm still curious, and wonder what some of y'all think about them...


In the interview, Shaw says "we find Stanford kids and go get them."  He then adds in the obligatory comment about how Stanford's pool is smaller than everyone else's.  My questions: 

Is the pool of Stanford kids pretty much the same in terms of size every year?  I mean is there some population ratio where for every 100 high school football players, one is a Stanford kid, and therefore, the pool is pretty much the same size every year?

Does Stanford have the ability to increase the size of its pool by cultivating and guiding more kids early?  I mean is a Stanford kid born and Stanford just has to find them, or can Stanford produce more than would exist if they didn't cultivate them?

Is the success Stanford is having on the football field naturally increasing the size of the pool without regard to whether Stanford is cultivating more kids or not?

if the answers are: no, yes, and yes, it would seem the pool of Stanford kids is growing. 

The guys in this 2013 class were Freshman when Stanford went to the ho hum Sun Bowl (after a long bowl drought), and Sophomores when Stanford went to the Orange Bowl, a year Stanford was seen by many as a flash in the pan.  The 2014 class were Freshman when Stanford went to the Orange Bowl.  My guess is Stanford coaches were going after kids in 2010 (the 2013 class) who really didn't see Stanford as a place to play championship level football, and consequently didn't do the work to get into Stanford.  This left Stanford in a position to really scour the earth trying to find their guys, just to get even 12 into school in the 2013 class.

Given the 2014 class will have seen Stanford ranked as a Top 5 team every year they were in high school, it sure would seem there will have been more kids receptive to getting "on the path to Stanford" starting with the 2014 class, than ever before.  This suggests the pool will be getting larger.  In other words, 2013 is probably the last class for a while where Stanford's pool will be as small as it historically has been.

It seems Stanford will likely continue going out and finding the under the radar guys like Cotton and Tyler, but they will not have to work quite as hard digging to find them because more on the radar guys will be in the pool after this 2013 class, and those diamonds in the rough will more and more often seek Stanford out.

[OutsiderFan]

These questions may be a bit rhetorical, but I'm still curious, and wonder what some of y'all think about them...


In the interview, Shaw says "we find Stanford kids and go get them."  He then adds in the obligatory comment about how Stanford's pool is smaller than everyone else's.  My questions: 

Is the pool of Stanford kids pretty much the same in terms of size every year?  I mean is there some population ratio where for every 100 high school football players, one is a Stanford kid, and therefore, the pool is pretty much the same size every year?

Does Stanford have the ability to increase the size of its pool by cultivating and guiding more kids early?  I mean is a Stanford kid born and Stanford just has to find them, or can Stanford produce more than would exist if they didn't cultivate them?

Is the success Stanford is having on the football field naturally increasing the size of the pool without regard to whether Stanford is cultivating more kids or not?

if the answers are: no, yes, and yes, it would seem the pool of Stanford kids is growing. 

The guys in this 2013 class were Freshman when Stanford went to the ho hum Sun Bowl (after a long bowl drought), and Sophomores when Stanford went to the Orange Bowl, a year Stanford was seen by many as a flash in the pan.  The 2014 class were Freshman when Stanford went to the Orange Bowl.  My guess is Stanford coaches were going after kids in 2010 (the 2013 class) who really didn't see Stanford as a place to play championship level football, and consequently didn't do the work to get into Stanford.  This left Stanford in a position to really scour the earth trying to find their guys, just to get even 12 into school in the 2013 class.

Given the 2014 class will have seen Stanford ranked as a Top 5 team every year they were in high school, it sure would seem there will have been more kids receptive to getting "on the path to Stanford" starting with the 2014 class, than ever before.  This suggests the pool will be getting larger.  In other words, 2013 is probably the last class for a while where Stanford's pool will be as small as it historically has been.

It seems Stanford will likely continue going out and finding the under the radar guys like Cotton and Tyler, but they will not have to work quite as hard digging to find them because more on the radar guys will be in the pool after this 2013 class, and those diamonds in the rough will more and more often seek Stanford out.