02-08-2014, 01:52 PM
Clearly. Stanford football recruiting is at an all-time high right now. Consistent success on the field, combined with all the other factors, make it so. However, due to the nature of the academic requirements, I think Stanford will never be quite the recruiting juggernaut of the football factories.
Gaining admission to Stanford requires a long-term commitment by both the coaches and the player being recruited. If a player blossoms unexpectedly in his senior year, USC, Texas, Florida, et al, can go right after him, provided he has at least passable academic skills. Most players who haven't been considering Stanford are not going to be in position to suddenly get serious in the classroom and turn things around. Furthermore, many of the top players would elect NOT to attend Stanford, due to the expectations that they actually do work in the classroom. So our pool of players will always remain more limited. Frankly, USC can recruit every Stanford target, but there will always be a large number of USC targets that Stanford cannot touch
Now, when Stanford DOES target a player, then, yes, I would say we often have an advantage
Gaining admission to Stanford requires a long-term commitment by both the coaches and the player being recruited. If a player blossoms unexpectedly in his senior year, USC, Texas, Florida, et al, can go right after him, provided he has at least passable academic skills. Most players who haven't been considering Stanford are not going to be in position to suddenly get serious in the classroom and turn things around. Furthermore, many of the top players would elect NOT to attend Stanford, due to the expectations that they actually do work in the classroom. So our pool of players will always remain more limited. Frankly, USC can recruit every Stanford target, but there will always be a large number of USC targets that Stanford cannot touch
Now, when Stanford DOES target a player, then, yes, I would say we often have an advantage