[CornFed]

As I ponder this thread's topic, I am recalling Jim Harbaugh's entrance as he assumed the head coaching position.  He announced, without compunction, that his focus was on a Pac-10 (12) championship, a Rose Bowl, and a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!  My first reaction was empathy.  He had not yet experienced the challenges that confront and frustrate those ambitions for a football program at Stanford.  My fellow Stanford alums with whom I discussed Harbaugh's lofty ambitions expressed a range of feelings regarding the realism of his statements.  Was he nuts?  Was he just a blind, rabid fool?  Was he a well-intended dupe?  Was he a marketing genius?  One thing for sure - none of us felt that he had a legitimate chance to attain the loftiest of those goals.  History has shown us to be badly mistaken.  Not only that, but he didn't need a "five-year building program".  Two of these target objectives were attained within a very brief period.

Someone tell me why we are less likely to find someone who can affect MBB in the same way.  Keeping in mind that someone like Harbaugh was a very rare outcome, should that not be the quality and outcome we are seeking?  I, for one, would think that Stanford can attract the same quality of athlete/students in MBB as we have learned to attract to our football program.  I would like to consistently welcome 3- and 4-star athletes and an occasional 5-star.  Is Duke really that different?  Mike Montgomery did it, albeit over a long, steady development period.  What makes the viability of that prospect any less attainable.

Thank you for helping me understand this better, as you all almost always do.  I'll take my answer off the air.    ;D

[CornFed]

As I ponder this thread's topic, I am recalling Jim Harbaugh's entrance as he assumed the head coaching position.  He announced, without compunction, that his focus was on a Pac-10 (12) championship, a Rose Bowl, and a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!  My first reaction was empathy.  He had not yet experienced the challenges that confront and frustrate those ambitions for a football program at Stanford.  My fellow Stanford alums with whom I discussed Harbaugh's lofty ambitions expressed a range of feelings regarding the realism of his statements.  Was he nuts?  Was he just a blind, rabid fool?  Was he a well-intended dupe?  Was he a marketing genius?  One thing for sure - none of us felt that he had a legitimate chance to attain the loftiest of those goals.  History has shown us to be badly mistaken.  Not only that, but he didn't need a "five-year building program".  Two of these target objectives were attained within a very brief period.

Someone tell me why we are less likely to find someone who can affect MBB in the same way.  Keeping in mind that someone like Harbaugh was a very rare outcome, should that not be the quality and outcome we are seeking?  I, for one, would think that Stanford can attract the same quality of athlete/students in MBB as we have learned to attract to our football program.  I would like to consistently welcome 3- and 4-star athletes and an occasional 5-star.  Is Duke really that different?  Mike Montgomery did it, albeit over a long, steady development period.  What makes the viability of that prospect any less attainable.

Thank you for helping me understand this better, as you all almost always do.  I'll take my answer off the air.    ;D