[OutsiderFan]

Never have I experienced an LOI day for Football with less anticipation and enthusiasm.  Is it me?  Is it everyone? Is it the uninspiring class? Is it the pandemic killing enthusiasm for recruiting? It is the whole Football season leaving a sour taste in our mouths?

[OutsiderFan]

Never have I experienced an LOI day for Football with less anticipation and enthusiasm.  Is it me?  Is it everyone? Is it the uninspiring class? Is it the pandemic killing enthusiasm for recruiting? It is the whole Football season leaving a sour taste in our mouths?

[BobK]

Patu signed

---

Barrow and Wyrick signed that's all 14 More coming or wait for February?

[BobK]

Patu signed

---

Barrow and Wyrick signed that's all 14 More coming or wait for February?

[Papa John]

I thought Drew Kendall was announcing this week. Or is he already a goner to BC?

[Papa John]

I thought Drew Kendall was announcing this week. Or is he already a goner to BC?

[BostonCard]

Kandell has not signed but the Crystal Balls all point to BC.

BC

[BostonCard]

Kandell has not signed but the Crystal Balls all point to BC.

BC

[SamuelMcF]

Never have I experienced an LOI day for Football with less anticipation and enthusiasm.  Is it me?  Is it everyone? Is it the uninspiring class? Is it the pandemic killing enthusiasm for recruiting? It is the whole Football season leaving a sour taste in our mouths?

I think it's everyone. Also this class is awful.

Kahanu Kia was admitted and signed with ND. 7.

[SamuelMcF]

Never have I experienced an LOI day for Football with less anticipation and enthusiasm.  Is it me?  Is it everyone? Is it the uninspiring class? Is it the pandemic killing enthusiasm for recruiting? It is the whole Football season leaving a sour taste in our mouths?

I think it's everyone. Also this class is awful.

Kahanu Kia was admitted and signed with ND. 7.

[JohnR34231]

Never have I experienced an LOI day for Football with less anticipation and enthusiasm.  Is it me?  Is it everyone? Is it the uninspiring class? Is it the pandemic killing enthusiasm for recruiting? It is the whole Football season leaving a sour taste in our mouths?

I think it's everyone. Also this class is awful.

Kahanu Kia was admitted and signed with ND. 7.

The class is not good, and I think we've all done the appropriate amount of hand-wringing about it.

[JohnR34231]

Never have I experienced an LOI day for Football with less anticipation and enthusiasm.  Is it me?  Is it everyone? Is it the uninspiring class? Is it the pandemic killing enthusiasm for recruiting? It is the whole Football season leaving a sour taste in our mouths?

I think it's everyone. Also this class is awful.

Kahanu Kia was admitted and signed with ND. 7.

The class is not good, and I think we've all done the appropriate amount of hand-wringing about it.

[Phogge]

There is always time for hand wringing and whining. Also time to schedule some patsies in the future.

[Phogge]

There is always time for hand wringing and whining. Also time to schedule some patsies in the future.

[BostonCard]

The only upshot (and I am really stretching here) is that if there was a class you wanted to bomb, it would be this one.  The entire class of 2020 gets their eligibility back so they will be freshmen again next year, so functionally it's as if you can go from 2020 to 2022 and pretend this whole thing never happened.

BC

[BostonCard]

The only upshot (and I am really stretching here) is that if there was a class you wanted to bomb, it would be this one.  The entire class of 2020 gets their eligibility back so they will be freshmen again next year, so functionally it's as if you can go from 2020 to 2022 and pretend this whole thing never happened.

BC

[JohnR34231]

There is always time for hand wringing and whining. Also time to schedule some patsies in the future.

I think that the hand-wringing and the whining gets a bit much at times.
However, I'm starting to realize I'm in the minority on that opinion.

[JohnR34231]

There is always time for hand wringing and whining. Also time to schedule some patsies in the future.

I think that the hand-wringing and the whining gets a bit much at times.
However, I'm starting to realize I'm in the minority on that opinion.

[OutsiderFan]

This class is so bad...

Stanford's football department decided to include Pop Warner highlights and personal biography videos of the signees on its official NSD web page, rather than Senior or even Junior year High School highlights. The videos even include somber music, as if to tacitly recognize the tragedy that this is the actual class. No inspiring highlights with music to get you pumped. Not even a coach narrating to show their conviction in the signed athlete. It's almost like nobody wants to claim them as their own.

I'm sorry if this comes across as cold, but the NSD page is really, really bad. Nobody cares about walking down memory lane on NSD.  They want to see inspiring runs, terrific catches, hard hits, crushing blocks, and outstanding efforts.

And BTW, what's with the masthead image showing the top of a body with the head blocked out but for an ear with an earring in it?

An example: https://gostanford.com/sports/football/r...klin/17882

[OutsiderFan]

This class is so bad...

Stanford's football department decided to include Pop Warner highlights and personal biography videos of the signees on its official NSD web page, rather than Senior or even Junior year High School highlights. The videos even include somber music, as if to tacitly recognize the tragedy that this is the actual class. No inspiring highlights with music to get you pumped. Not even a coach narrating to show their conviction in the signed athlete. It's almost like nobody wants to claim them as their own.

I'm sorry if this comes across as cold, but the NSD page is really, really bad. Nobody cares about walking down memory lane on NSD.  They want to see inspiring runs, terrific catches, hard hits, crushing blocks, and outstanding efforts.

And BTW, what's with the masthead image showing the top of a body with the head blocked out but for an ear with an earring in it?

An example: https://gostanford.com/sports/football/r...klin/17882

[BostonCard]

There might have been another reason why there may have been limited senior year highlights.  I may be forgetting, so let me go check the entire other board on this site devoted to it to see why high school football in some places might have gotten short shrift in 2020.  My son's high school didn't have a season at all, and I suspect his wasn't the only one.

BC

[BostonCard]

There might have been another reason why there may have been limited senior year highlights.  I may be forgetting, so let me go check the entire other board on this site devoted to it to see why high school football in some places might have gotten short shrift in 2020.  My son's high school didn't have a season at all, and I suspect his wasn't the only one.

BC

[Langdude]

Is this class tenth best in the Pac 12?

This is really concerning. What has happened? Is recruiting to Stanford admissions so hard that we have been unable to recruit based on our strength over the last 10 years? I'd especially like to hear from those who think that Shaw does a good job in recruiting - which is, in my mind, the most important thing a head coach does - to explain what they think the problem is, or if they see this as a problem at all. It seems recruiting has been an issue for a while in terms of specific position groups, and overall, there have been some years (such as this one) that have been a dud (I realize that players can out-perform their rating). Have we EVER had a class with just one four-star recruit? Does not portend well, unless a significant number of these guys out-perform their three stars, which is possible.

-m.

[Langdude]

Is this class tenth best in the Pac 12?

This is really concerning. What has happened? Is recruiting to Stanford admissions so hard that we have been unable to recruit based on our strength over the last 10 years? I'd especially like to hear from those who think that Shaw does a good job in recruiting - which is, in my mind, the most important thing a head coach does - to explain what they think the problem is, or if they see this as a problem at all. It seems recruiting has been an issue for a while in terms of specific position groups, and overall, there have been some years (such as this one) that have been a dud (I realize that players can out-perform their rating). Have we EVER had a class with just one four-star recruit? Does not portend well, unless a significant number of these guys out-perform their three stars, which is possible.

-m.

[slide]

Is this class tenth best in the Pac 12?

This is really concerning. What has happened? Is recruiting to Stanford admissions so hard that we have been unable to recruit based on our strength over the last 10 years? I'd especially like to hear from those who think that Shaw does a good job in recruiting - which is, in my mind, the most important thing a head coach does - to explain what they think the problem is, or if they see this as a problem at all. It seems recruiting has been an issue for a while in terms of specific position groups, and overall, there have been some years (such as this one) that have been a dud (I realize that players can out-perform their rating). Have we EVER had a class with just one four-star recruit? Does not portend well, unless a significant number of these guys out-perform their three stars, which is possible.

-m.

a solid 10th, just out of 9th, in the Pac-12.  60th nationally.

13 years I believe since we had a class with just a single 4-star recruit.  and given the talent level of the 2017 class being cycled, it is really a big net loss of roster talent.  

on OU, it has been much more favorable of late to football.  7 admitted recruits will be playing elsewhere next year.  that total might be more than the last 10 years combined (of recruits admitted and who did not come to Stanford).

there are still 3 viable recruits in play and they could provide some balm but really at best a subpar, lackluster effort.

[slide]

Is this class tenth best in the Pac 12?

This is really concerning. What has happened? Is recruiting to Stanford admissions so hard that we have been unable to recruit based on our strength over the last 10 years? I'd especially like to hear from those who think that Shaw does a good job in recruiting - which is, in my mind, the most important thing a head coach does - to explain what they think the problem is, or if they see this as a problem at all. It seems recruiting has been an issue for a while in terms of specific position groups, and overall, there have been some years (such as this one) that have been a dud (I realize that players can out-perform their rating). Have we EVER had a class with just one four-star recruit? Does not portend well, unless a significant number of these guys out-perform their three stars, which is possible.

-m.

a solid 10th, just out of 9th, in the Pac-12.  60th nationally.

13 years I believe since we had a class with just a single 4-star recruit.  and given the talent level of the 2017 class being cycled, it is really a big net loss of roster talent.  

on OU, it has been much more favorable of late to football.  7 admitted recruits will be playing elsewhere next year.  that total might be more than the last 10 years combined (of recruits admitted and who did not come to Stanford).

there are still 3 viable recruits in play and they could provide some balm but really at best a subpar, lackluster effort.

[Phogge]

Look for today’s silver lining. It’s Beethoven’s 250th birthday and KDFC is all Ludwig, all day.

[Phogge]

Look for today’s silver lining. It’s Beethoven’s 250th birthday and KDFC is all Ludwig, all day.

[OutsiderFan]

There might have been another reason why there may have been limited senior year highlights.  I may be forgetting, so let me go check the entire other board on this site devoted to it to see why high school football in some places might have gotten short shrift in 2020.  My son's high school didn't have a season at all, and I suspect his wasn't the only one.

BC

Which is why I included "or Junior year" in my post.

[OutsiderFan]

There might have been another reason why there may have been limited senior year highlights.  I may be forgetting, so let me go check the entire other board on this site devoted to it to see why high school football in some places might have gotten short shrift in 2020.  My son's high school didn't have a season at all, and I suspect his wasn't the only one.

BC

Which is why I included "or Junior year" in my post.

[donkey687]

The staff clearly needs to adjust their approach and expectations to get more recruits. Unfortunately, the best of both worlds approach is no longer working after a couple of sub-par years. It has been awhile since Stanford was a top 10 program.  The quote from Josh Moore is pretty telling basically saying Stanford is an academic school, USC is a football school and UCLA is in between.  https://247sports.com/Article/UCLA-footb...157050991/

We had a run there where we were getting recruits whose number one priority is football. With a mediocre team, we are back to getting academic first recruits and need to lower our standards and offer more players as we aren't filling up our class.  I think Northwestern is the new level of the program.  They get mostly three stars and do a good job coaching them up to often have a winning record and occasionally are ranked. I think Shaw can sustain us at the Fitzgerald NW level with a mixture of winning and losing seasons, but I think the days of regular major bowls and conference championships are permanently in the rearview mirror. It was fun while it lasted.

[donkey687]

The staff clearly needs to adjust their approach and expectations to get more recruits. Unfortunately, the best of both worlds approach is no longer working after a couple of sub-par years. It has been awhile since Stanford was a top 10 program.  The quote from Josh Moore is pretty telling basically saying Stanford is an academic school, USC is a football school and UCLA is in between.  https://247sports.com/Article/UCLA-footb...157050991/

We had a run there where we were getting recruits whose number one priority is football. With a mediocre team, we are back to getting academic first recruits and need to lower our standards and offer more players as we aren't filling up our class.  I think Northwestern is the new level of the program.  They get mostly three stars and do a good job coaching them up to often have a winning record and occasionally are ranked. I think Shaw can sustain us at the Fitzgerald NW level with a mixture of winning and losing seasons, but I think the days of regular major bowls and conference championships are permanently in the rearview mirror. It was fun while it lasted.

[FarEastStanfan]

We had a run there where we were getting recruits whose number one priority is football. With a mediocre team, we are back to getting academic first recruits and need to lower our standards and offer more players as we aren't filling up our class.  I think Northwestern is the new level of the program.  They get mostly three stars and do a good job coaching them up to often have a winning record and occasionally are ranked. I think Shaw can sustain us at the Fitzgerald NW level with a mixture of winning and losing seasons, but I think the days of regular major bowls and conference championships are permanently in the rearview mirror. It was fun while it lasted.

There's a lot of this quote that I agree with, particularly the comparison to Northwestern (could add Duke to the short list, as well). But I don't agree with the idea that this is necessarily a "permanent" change. If Stanford makes a commitment to making it back to the earlier level of being ranked and seriously contending for New Years Day bowls, I think the program can get there. But it would require returning to a more aggressive approach to recruiting and perhaps pushing the envelope a bit on admissions. I'm not sure that the current coaching staff (and administration) is willing to go there. And as we see: a program like USC can have down years, but its reputation as a football power allows it to continue to recruit top athletes; a school like Stanford has a couple of years of mediocrity and suddenly it's seen as an all-academic program. The pressure is on Stanford to keep the success rolling (or now, to get back there as quickly as possible)

[FarEastStanfan]

We had a run there where we were getting recruits whose number one priority is football. With a mediocre team, we are back to getting academic first recruits and need to lower our standards and offer more players as we aren't filling up our class.  I think Northwestern is the new level of the program.  They get mostly three stars and do a good job coaching them up to often have a winning record and occasionally are ranked. I think Shaw can sustain us at the Fitzgerald NW level with a mixture of winning and losing seasons, but I think the days of regular major bowls and conference championships are permanently in the rearview mirror. It was fun while it lasted.

There's a lot of this quote that I agree with, particularly the comparison to Northwestern (could add Duke to the short list, as well). But I don't agree with the idea that this is necessarily a "permanent" change. If Stanford makes a commitment to making it back to the earlier level of being ranked and seriously contending for New Years Day bowls, I think the program can get there. But it would require returning to a more aggressive approach to recruiting and perhaps pushing the envelope a bit on admissions. I'm not sure that the current coaching staff (and administration) is willing to go there. And as we see: a program like USC can have down years, but its reputation as a football power allows it to continue to recruit top athletes; a school like Stanford has a couple of years of mediocrity and suddenly it's seen as an all-academic program. The pressure is on Stanford to keep the success rolling (or now, to get back there as quickly as possible)

[BostonCard]

It's all relative, though.  Keep in mind that USC is on their third post-Carroll coach, and the expectation is not that they continue to recruit top athletes but that they have top 5 classes year in and year out.

BC

[BostonCard]

It's all relative, though.  Keep in mind that USC is on their third post-Carroll coach, and the expectation is not that they continue to recruit top athletes but that they have top 5 classes year in and year out.

BC

[Phogge]

Slide baby, "a solid tenth." LMFAO.

[Phogge]

Slide baby, "a solid tenth." LMFAO.

[pefloresjr]

No doubt, this is a very disappointing class and will take several years of really good recruiting to recover from.  What I disagree with is some posters' certainty that Shaw can't and won't adapt and make changes to address the problems.  The offers out for 2022 are direct evidence of the kind of changes that are needed and are already happening.  Even with those changes, Stanford will always be a tough place to recruit 4 and 5 star players to fill the roster.  Because of that, we are likely to have more ups and downs than many programs.  I am willing to ride out those ups and downs based on Shaw's prior performance and cultural fit at Stanford.  

Unlike many, I do not take the incredible past consistent high level performance by Shaw and his teams as evidence that he should always be able to do the same.  We were predicted to fall off the map when Harbaugh left, when Luck left, when McCaffrey left etc.  We have definitely dropped down from top performance a few years ago and had a terrible year last year.  That also is not evidence that Shaw can't change things and that we won't be able to improve that performance.  The heart and improving performance each week of this year's team is direct evidence of that.  Shaw has earned the right to work through this and I don't care what they would do at the football factories.  Doesn't mean I'm satisfied with mediocre play, it means that I understand the program I root for and am willing to allow for there to be natural ups and downs.  

Cheers,
Pete F.

[pefloresjr]

No doubt, this is a very disappointing class and will take several years of really good recruiting to recover from.  What I disagree with is some posters' certainty that Shaw can't and won't adapt and make changes to address the problems.  The offers out for 2022 are direct evidence of the kind of changes that are needed and are already happening.  Even with those changes, Stanford will always be a tough place to recruit 4 and 5 star players to fill the roster.  Because of that, we are likely to have more ups and downs than many programs.  I am willing to ride out those ups and downs based on Shaw's prior performance and cultural fit at Stanford.  

Unlike many, I do not take the incredible past consistent high level performance by Shaw and his teams as evidence that he should always be able to do the same.  We were predicted to fall off the map when Harbaugh left, when Luck left, when McCaffrey left etc.  We have definitely dropped down from top performance a few years ago and had a terrible year last year.  That also is not evidence that Shaw can't change things and that we won't be able to improve that performance.  The heart and improving performance each week of this year's team is direct evidence of that.  Shaw has earned the right to work through this and I don't care what they would do at the football factories.  Doesn't mean I'm satisfied with mediocre play, it means that I understand the program I root for and am willing to allow for there to be natural ups and downs.  

Cheers,
Pete F.