[CardinalSagehen]

In total, Shaw probably spent over five minutes of today's press conference on the topic of the transfer portal and NIL, which he addressed in his prepared remarks and again in the Q&A.

Shaw spoke about his conversations with the administration regarding "putting together a process where we can partake in the transfer portal" and becoming more aggressive about NIL. "In order for us to compete the way we need to compete in this era, we have to be able to utilize the portal."  He acknowledged the University's slowness on these matters but said that Stanford normally acts "deliberately" to put in place lasting changes. Shaw also acknowledged the noise around program ("... obviously a lot of things swirling around...") and claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.  "That's great news, that's exciting news. There are a lot of great things that we can do recruiting-wise..."

He does not sound to me like a man looking to ride off into the sunset after the end of the season. Shaw sounds to me like a man that is trying to convince the institution to change its approach and, in so doing, deflect some of the responsibility for recent performance and/or buy himself some more time to fix what is broken.  

I respect the man and admire his tenacity, but it's time for him to go. The man that built the castle is not the best one to tear it down and rebuild. We need a fresh start.

Prepared remarks about Transfer Portal and NIL: https://youtu.be/KmEJ65cbpNc?t=188

[CardinalSagehen]

In total, Shaw probably spent over five minutes of today's press conference on the topic of the transfer portal and NIL, which he addressed in his prepared remarks and again in the Q&A.

Shaw spoke about his conversations with the administration regarding "putting together a process where we can partake in the transfer portal" and becoming more aggressive about NIL. "In order for us to compete the way we need to compete in this era, we have to be able to utilize the portal."  He acknowledged the University's slowness on these matters but said that Stanford normally acts "deliberately" to put in place lasting changes. Shaw also acknowledged the noise around program ("... obviously a lot of things swirling around...") and claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.  "That's great news, that's exciting news. There are a lot of great things that we can do recruiting-wise..."

He does not sound to me like a man looking to ride off into the sunset after the end of the season. Shaw sounds to me like a man that is trying to convince the institution to change its approach and, in so doing, deflect some of the responsibility for recent performance and/or buy himself some more time to fix what is broken.  

I respect the man and admire his tenacity, but it's time for him to go. The man that built the castle is not the best one to tear it down and rebuild. We need a fresh start.

Prepared remarks about Transfer Portal and NIL: https://youtu.be/KmEJ65cbpNc?t=188

[Softball Fan]

claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.

I have mixed feelings about this. If Shaw is talking about substantially lowering admissions requirements to bring in nationally elite transfers, I don't want that to happen.

If its about looking at a new and creative set of admissions criteria for transfers, I would be on board to consider that. If it were to happen there should be some transparency about it to the public.

BTW, I agree if all this is true, it sure looks like Shaw is planning to be around for a long time.  If he can work with admissions there's probably no one in power planning to end his Stanford coaching career.

[Softball Fan]

claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.

I have mixed feelings about this. If Shaw is talking about substantially lowering admissions requirements to bring in nationally elite transfers, I don't want that to happen.

If its about looking at a new and creative set of admissions criteria for transfers, I would be on board to consider that. If it were to happen there should be some transparency about it to the public.

BTW, I agree if all this is true, it sure looks like Shaw is planning to be around for a long time.  If he can work with admissions there's probably no one in power planning to end his Stanford coaching career.

[BobK]

Would love to see organized NILs for athletes and more transfers into Stanford
Sadly agree doesn’t look like riding into the sunset which I felt would happen.
Our friend Matt write a great article maybe here maybe only on Rivals that never has someone in the current position of losing that Shaw has seen rebuilt the program. I’m a Shaw fan but first a Stanford sports fan. Something has to happened next week

[BobK]

Would love to see organized NILs for athletes and more transfers into Stanford
Sadly agree doesn’t look like riding into the sunset which I felt would happen.
Our friend Matt write a great article maybe here maybe only on Rivals that never has someone in the current position of losing that Shaw has seen rebuilt the program. I’m a Shaw fan but first a Stanford sports fan. Something has to happened next week

[gailtate]

In total, Shaw probably spent over five minutes of today's press conference on the topic of the transfer portal and NIL, which he addressed in his prepared remarks and again in the Q&A.

Shaw spoke about his conversations with the administration regarding "putting together a process where we can partake in the transfer portal" and becoming more aggressive about NIL. "In order for us to compete the way we need to compete in this era, we have to be able to utilize the portal."  He acknowledged the University's slowness on these matters but said that Stanford normally acts "deliberately" to put in place lasting changes. Shaw also acknowledged the noise around program ("... obviously a lot of things swirling around...") and claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.  "That's great news, that's exciting news. There are a lot of great things that we can do recruiting-wise..."

He does not sound to me like a man looking to ride off into the sunset after the end of the season. Shaw sounds to me like a man that is trying to convince the institution to change its approach and, in so doing, deflect some of the responsibility for recent performance and/or buy himself some more time to fix what is broken.  

I respect the man and admire his tenacity, but it's time for him to go. The man that built the castle is not the best person to tear it down and rebuild. We need a fresh start.

Prepared remarks about Transfer Portal and NIL: https://youtu.be/KmEJ65cbpNc?t=188

His "tenacity" in this context is the farthest thing from respectable, let alone admirable. In a word, I am underwhelmed. He keeps up with this Diva desperation and he loses all my respect. So who the hell am I? Not that he would ever care, of course, but wife, son and I were annual season ticket purchasers from 1973 through 2019 (bought the preemo seats when the new stadium opened), four Rose Bowls, an Orange Bowl two Sun Bowls, the Fiesta and two conference championships. Oh, and countless roadies, including Oklahoma, tOSU, Texas, South Bend (three trips) and Wisconsin. And 24 abusive pilgrimages to Berkeley.

Make no mistake: Left to his own devices, this guy could haunt (not to mention hurt) Stanford for years. Be prepared, good people.

[gailtate]

In total, Shaw probably spent over five minutes of today's press conference on the topic of the transfer portal and NIL, which he addressed in his prepared remarks and again in the Q&A.

Shaw spoke about his conversations with the administration regarding "putting together a process where we can partake in the transfer portal" and becoming more aggressive about NIL. "In order for us to compete the way we need to compete in this era, we have to be able to utilize the portal."  He acknowledged the University's slowness on these matters but said that Stanford normally acts "deliberately" to put in place lasting changes. Shaw also acknowledged the noise around program ("... obviously a lot of things swirling around...") and claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.  "That's great news, that's exciting news. There are a lot of great things that we can do recruiting-wise..."

He does not sound to me like a man looking to ride off into the sunset after the end of the season. Shaw sounds to me like a man that is trying to convince the institution to change its approach and, in so doing, deflect some of the responsibility for recent performance and/or buy himself some more time to fix what is broken.  

I respect the man and admire his tenacity, but it's time for him to go. The man that built the castle is not the best person to tear it down and rebuild. We need a fresh start.

Prepared remarks about Transfer Portal and NIL: https://youtu.be/KmEJ65cbpNc?t=188

His "tenacity" in this context is the farthest thing from respectable, let alone admirable. In a word, I am underwhelmed. He keeps up with this Diva desperation and he loses all my respect. So who the hell am I? Not that he would ever care, of course, but wife, son and I were annual season ticket purchasers from 1973 through 2019 (bought the preemo seats when the new stadium opened), four Rose Bowls, an Orange Bowl two Sun Bowls, the Fiesta and two conference championships. Oh, and countless roadies, including Oklahoma, tOSU, Texas, South Bend (three trips) and Wisconsin. And 24 abusive pilgrimages to Berkeley.

Make no mistake: Left to his own devices, this guy could haunt (not to mention hurt) Stanford for years. Be prepared, good people.

[cardcrimson]

Where was he a year ago on this? Where has he been for several years on recruiting? Not buying his BS.

[cardcrimson]

Where was he a year ago on this? Where has he been for several years on recruiting? Not buying his BS.

[Brickcity]

Where was he a year ago on this? Where has he been for several years on recruiting? Not buying his BS.

It is B.S. for sure. God help us.

[Brickcity]

Where was he a year ago on this? Where has he been for several years on recruiting? Not buying his BS.

It is B.S. for sure. God help us.

[martyup]

[martyup]

[BostonCard]

claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.

I have mixed feelings about this. If Shaw is talking about substantially lowering admissions requirements to bring in nationally elite transfers, I don't want that to happen.

Agree with you.  Depending on the ask, it could be some moderate changes that improve our ability to compete, or it could be a crossing of the Rubicon, as it happens, and I'm not sure I want to go there (without or with Shaw).

BC

[BostonCard]

claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.

I have mixed feelings about this. If Shaw is talking about substantially lowering admissions requirements to bring in nationally elite transfers, I don't want that to happen.

Agree with you.  Depending on the ask, it could be some moderate changes that improve our ability to compete, or it could be a crossing of the Rubicon, as it happens, and I'm not sure I want to go there (without or with Shaw).

BC

[lex24]

2 separate issues:  1. He should go. 2. Stanford admin should improve situation with portal and NIL.

[lex24]

2 separate issues:  1. He should go. 2. Stanford admin should improve situation with portal and NIL.

[BobK]

Stanford did announce today applications will not need the ACT or SAT test scores

That’s a recruiting help for all sports

[BobK]

Stanford did announce today applications will not need the ACT or SAT test scores

That’s a recruiting help for all sports

[Row80Critic]

No doubt Stanford football would benefit from more access to the portal and being more enticing from an NIL perspective, so that's all good in my book.  

HOWEVER, this team had enough talent for a winning season!  Teams with half the talent outplayed Stanford.  This season was not about a lack of talent.  Focusing on the portal and NIL is just another oh-so-clever way to blame anything and everything other than the elephant in the room: this team was poorly coached.  There's no getting around the fact that the coaching staff simply FAILED to put this team in a position to win, week after week.  So it's highly frustrating to hear the coach blame everything under the sun except his own personal performance and decisions, particularly when those decisions (or lack of decisions) seem to be the heart of the problem.

[Row80Critic]

No doubt Stanford football would benefit from more access to the portal and being more enticing from an NIL perspective, so that's all good in my book.  

HOWEVER, this team had enough talent for a winning season!  Teams with half the talent outplayed Stanford.  This season was not about a lack of talent.  Focusing on the portal and NIL is just another oh-so-clever way to blame anything and everything other than the elephant in the room: this team was poorly coached.  There's no getting around the fact that the coaching staff simply FAILED to put this team in a position to win, week after week.  So it's highly frustrating to hear the coach blame everything under the sun except his own personal performance and decisions, particularly when those decisions (or lack of decisions) seem to be the heart of the problem.

[winflop]

claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.

I have mixed feelings about this. If Shaw is talking about substantially lowering admissions requirements to bring in nationally elite transfers, I don't want that to happen.

If its about looking at a new and creative set of admissions criteria for transfers, I would be on board to consider that. If it were to happen there should be some transparency about it to the public.

BTW, I agree if all this is true, it sure looks like Shaw is planning to be around for a long time.  If he can work with admissions there's probably no one in power planning to end his Stanford coaching career.

My only read is that Shaw is reflecting to the public that he ***THINKS*** he's going to be sticking around. We have no idea what he's thinking privately, and it could be the case that Shaw has no idea what Muir (or Muir's bosses) are thinking about his future at Stanford either.

[winflop]

claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.

I have mixed feelings about this. If Shaw is talking about substantially lowering admissions requirements to bring in nationally elite transfers, I don't want that to happen.

If its about looking at a new and creative set of admissions criteria for transfers, I would be on board to consider that. If it were to happen there should be some transparency about it to the public.

BTW, I agree if all this is true, it sure looks like Shaw is planning to be around for a long time.  If he can work with admissions there's probably no one in power planning to end his Stanford coaching career.

My only read is that Shaw is reflecting to the public that he ***THINKS*** he's going to be sticking around. We have no idea what he's thinking privately, and it could be the case that Shaw has no idea what Muir (or Muir's bosses) are thinking about his future at Stanford either.

[cardcrimson]

Classic "Look over there, not over here" reply.

[cardcrimson]

Classic "Look over there, not over here" reply.

[MVCard]

2 separate issues:  1. He should go. 2. Stanford admin should improve situation with portal and NIL.

3. Improve campus culture so it’s actually attractive for student-athletes to want to attend… a campus where anonymous messaging apps (see: “Fizz”) create toxic animosity between students - why attend?

4. Address player needs with respect to training and nutrition.  Who gives a bleep who transfers or how they are funded, if they can’t eat.

[MVCard]

2 separate issues:  1. He should go. 2. Stanford admin should improve situation with portal and NIL.

3. Improve campus culture so it’s actually attractive for student-athletes to want to attend… a campus where anonymous messaging apps (see: “Fizz”) create toxic animosity between students - why attend?

4. Address player needs with respect to training and nutrition.  Who gives a bleep who transfers or how they are funded, if they can’t eat.

[GK3]

2 separate issues:  1. He should go. 2. Stanford admin should improve situation with portal and NIL.

3. Improve campus culture so it’s actually attractive for student-athletes to want to attend… a campus where anonymous messaging apps (see: “Fizz”) create toxic animosity between students - why attend?

4. Address player needs with respect to training and nutrition.  Who gives a bleep who transfers or how they are funded, if they can’t eat.

The only people who can fix the problem are the BoT, President, and Provost in no particular order.  If they want winning football within the constraints of Stanford's academics, they can find a way to make it work at least to some extent.  That also applies to the NIL and Portal problems. The AD is not the problem, but he is part of the problem to the extent the people above him allow him to make decisions. Maybe we want to go the way of the University of Chicago. Decisions that have to made include replacing Shaw or at least demand he makes significant changes in his staff. I don't see Shaw agreeing to that, but who knows. Maybe we will just keep on kicking the can down the road.

[GK3]

2 separate issues:  1. He should go. 2. Stanford admin should improve situation with portal and NIL.

3. Improve campus culture so it’s actually attractive for student-athletes to want to attend… a campus where anonymous messaging apps (see: “Fizz”) create toxic animosity between students - why attend?

4. Address player needs with respect to training and nutrition.  Who gives a bleep who transfers or how they are funded, if they can’t eat.

The only people who can fix the problem are the BoT, President, and Provost in no particular order.  If they want winning football within the constraints of Stanford's academics, they can find a way to make it work at least to some extent.  That also applies to the NIL and Portal problems. The AD is not the problem, but he is part of the problem to the extent the people above him allow him to make decisions. Maybe we want to go the way of the University of Chicago. Decisions that have to made include replacing Shaw or at least demand he makes significant changes in his staff. I don't see Shaw agreeing to that, but who knows. Maybe we will just keep on kicking the can down the road.

[lex24]

No doubt Stanford football would benefit from more access to the portal and being more enticing from an NIL perspective, so that's all good in my book.  

HOWEVER, this team had enough talent for a winning season!  Teams with half the talent outplayed Stanford.  This season was not about a lack of talent.  Focusing on the portal and NIL is just another oh-so-clever way to blame anything and everything other than the elephant in the room: this team was poorly coached.  There's no getting around the fact that the coaching staff simply FAILED to put this team in a position to win, week after week.  So it's highly frustrating to hear the coach blame everything under the sun except his own personal performance and decisions, particularly when those decisions (or lack of decisions) seem to be the heart of the problem.

Actually this team had little talent. Slower  than mud.   Physically dominated damn near every week. Decimated by injuries.  No coaching staff is going to be able to win with that set of circumstances.  But it doesn’t matter. It’s a results oriented job.  The results have been abysmal for a few years now. And the speed/strength deficit falls on the coach. His job to recruit and develop.  Next….. (Note- I think Lance Anderson deserves some props. Defense was better than we had a right to expect. Particularly given how much they had to be on the field. They also improved as the season progressed.

---

claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.

I have mixed feelings about this. If Shaw is talking about substantially lowering admissions requirements to bring in nationally elite transfers, I don't want that to happen.

If its about looking at a new and creative set of admissions criteria for transfers, I would be on board to consider that. If it were to happen there should be some transparency about it to the public.

BTW, I agree if all this is true, it sure looks like Shaw is planning to be around for a long time.  If he can work with admissions there's probably no one in power planning to end his Stanford coaching career.

My only read is that Shaw is reflecting to the public that he ***THINKS*** he's going to be sticking around. We have no idea what he's thinking privately, and it could be the case that Shaw has no idea what Muir (or Muir's bosses) are thinking about his future at Stanford either.

I’m relatively certain an HC has a pretty good feeling of his “standing”. Short of a player revolt, I doubt he is going anywhere.

[lex24]

No doubt Stanford football would benefit from more access to the portal and being more enticing from an NIL perspective, so that's all good in my book.  

HOWEVER, this team had enough talent for a winning season!  Teams with half the talent outplayed Stanford.  This season was not about a lack of talent.  Focusing on the portal and NIL is just another oh-so-clever way to blame anything and everything other than the elephant in the room: this team was poorly coached.  There's no getting around the fact that the coaching staff simply FAILED to put this team in a position to win, week after week.  So it's highly frustrating to hear the coach blame everything under the sun except his own personal performance and decisions, particularly when those decisions (or lack of decisions) seem to be the heart of the problem.

Actually this team had little talent. Slower  than mud.   Physically dominated damn near every week. Decimated by injuries.  No coaching staff is going to be able to win with that set of circumstances.  But it doesn’t matter. It’s a results oriented job.  The results have been abysmal for a few years now. And the speed/strength deficit falls on the coach. His job to recruit and develop.  Next….. (Note- I think Lance Anderson deserves some props. Defense was better than we had a right to expect. Particularly given how much they had to be on the field. They also improved as the season progressed.

---

claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.

I have mixed feelings about this. If Shaw is talking about substantially lowering admissions requirements to bring in nationally elite transfers, I don't want that to happen.

If its about looking at a new and creative set of admissions criteria for transfers, I would be on board to consider that. If it were to happen there should be some transparency about it to the public.

BTW, I agree if all this is true, it sure looks like Shaw is planning to be around for a long time.  If he can work with admissions there's probably no one in power planning to end his Stanford coaching career.

My only read is that Shaw is reflecting to the public that he ***THINKS*** he's going to be sticking around. We have no idea what he's thinking privately, and it could be the case that Shaw has no idea what Muir (or Muir's bosses) are thinking about his future at Stanford either.

I’m relatively certain an HC has a pretty good feeling of his “standing”. Short of a player revolt, I doubt he is going anywhere.

[Goose]

Actually this team had little talent. Slower  than mud.   Physically dominated damn near every week. Decimated by injuries.  No coaching staff is going to be able to win with that set of circumstances.  But it doesn’t matter. It’s a results oriented job.  The results have been abysmal for a few years now. And the speed/strength deficit falls on the coach.  His job to recruit and develop.   Next…..  (Note- I think Lance Anderson deserves some props.  Defense was better than we had a right to expect.  Particularly given how much they had to be on the field.  They also improved as the season progressed.

I agree. Stanford has often had (lack of) speed problems and no amount of ability to catch the ball and great size can overcome that. Our OL has just plain been bad for "several" years. I place no stock in metrics that say "No, these guys are seventh best in the PAC-12" when the line is totally unable to move anybody. It is points on the board that matter, and our offense has progressively failed that test. Interestingly, the OL has been the one place Shaw has changed coaches, several times. I would say that hasn't worked out to well, at least so far. You are what your record says you are. That's it.

Unfortunately, due to the necessary usage of "Coach Speak", we don't know what David Shaw actually thinks about the horrible performance of his team. He may know exactly what is wrong, he may know exactly how to fix it, and he isn't "allowed" to do so. However, it is IMO much more likely he has a good idea what the problems are and has tried everything he knows to fix it. The slow mesh was one example of a desperate attempt to compensate for an OL he KNEW from the beginning of practice wasn't going to be very good. That hasn't worked. It is improbable the next thing he tries will either.

I am not of the opinion that finding a new coach for Stanford Football is going to be easy. Until there is a bit more clarity on how the PAC-12 will "work out" and what place Stanford will have, if any, in that "result", getting anybody who is any good is IMO improbable. They would, by accepting the job, be showing either poor judgement or failure to understand the situation :-). However, it has to be done. I am glad I am not tasked to do it.

[Goose]

Actually this team had little talent. Slower  than mud.   Physically dominated damn near every week. Decimated by injuries.  No coaching staff is going to be able to win with that set of circumstances.  But it doesn’t matter. It’s a results oriented job.  The results have been abysmal for a few years now. And the speed/strength deficit falls on the coach.  His job to recruit and develop.   Next…..  (Note- I think Lance Anderson deserves some props.  Defense was better than we had a right to expect.  Particularly given how much they had to be on the field.  They also improved as the season progressed.

I agree. Stanford has often had (lack of) speed problems and no amount of ability to catch the ball and great size can overcome that. Our OL has just plain been bad for "several" years. I place no stock in metrics that say "No, these guys are seventh best in the PAC-12" when the line is totally unable to move anybody. It is points on the board that matter, and our offense has progressively failed that test. Interestingly, the OL has been the one place Shaw has changed coaches, several times. I would say that hasn't worked out to well, at least so far. You are what your record says you are. That's it.

Unfortunately, due to the necessary usage of "Coach Speak", we don't know what David Shaw actually thinks about the horrible performance of his team. He may know exactly what is wrong, he may know exactly how to fix it, and he isn't "allowed" to do so. However, it is IMO much more likely he has a good idea what the problems are and has tried everything he knows to fix it. The slow mesh was one example of a desperate attempt to compensate for an OL he KNEW from the beginning of practice wasn't going to be very good. That hasn't worked. It is improbable the next thing he tries will either.

I am not of the opinion that finding a new coach for Stanford Football is going to be easy. Until there is a bit more clarity on how the PAC-12 will "work out" and what place Stanford will have, if any, in that "result", getting anybody who is any good is IMO improbable. They would, by accepting the job, be showing either poor judgement or failure to understand the situation :-). However, it has to be done. I am glad I am not tasked to do it.

[winflop]

I’m relatively certain an HC has a pretty good feeling of his “standing”. Short of a player revolt, I doubt he is going anywhere.

I doubt Jack Elway, Buddy Teevens, or even Walt Harris had a good feeling of their standing. Maybe Harris did but his ego probably didn't allow him to look at the situation objectively (which BTW is also one of Shaw's biggest shortcomings).

[winflop]

I’m relatively certain an HC has a pretty good feeling of his “standing”. Short of a player revolt, I doubt he is going anywhere.

I doubt Jack Elway, Buddy Teevens, or even Walt Harris had a good feeling of their standing. Maybe Harris did but his ego probably didn't allow him to look at the situation objectively (which BTW is also one of Shaw's biggest shortcomings).

[lex24]

I’m relatively certain an HC has a pretty good feeling of his “standing”. Short of a player revolt, I doubt he is going anywhere.

I doubt Jack Elway, Buddy Teevens, or even Walt Harris had a good feeling of their standing. Maybe Harris did but his ego probably didn't allow him to look at the situation objectively (which BTW is also one of Shaw's biggest shortcomings).

 Name me a successful football coach that doesn’t have a big ego. Requirement of the job.

My guess is Teevens and Harris both knew. After all, weren’t they Leland’s buddies?

[lex24]

I’m relatively certain an HC has a pretty good feeling of his “standing”. Short of a player revolt, I doubt he is going anywhere.

I doubt Jack Elway, Buddy Teevens, or even Walt Harris had a good feeling of their standing. Maybe Harris did but his ego probably didn't allow him to look at the situation objectively (which BTW is also one of Shaw's biggest shortcomings).

 Name me a successful football coach that doesn’t have a big ego. Requirement of the job.

My guess is Teevens and Harris both knew. After all, weren’t they Leland’s buddies?

[Jamesy]

No doubt Stanford football would benefit from more access to the portal and being more enticing from an NIL perspective, so that's all good in my book.  

HOWEVER, this team had enough talent for a winning season!  Teams with half the talent outplayed Stanford.  This season was not about a lack of talent.  Focusing on the portal and NIL is just another oh-so-clever way to blame anything and everything other than the elephant in the room: this team was poorly coached.  There's no getting around the fact that the coaching staff simply FAILED to put this team in a position to win, week after week.  So it's highly frustrating to hear the coach blame everything under the sun except his own personal performance and decisions, particularly when those decisions (or lack of decisions) seem to be the heart of the problem.

Actually this team had little talent. Slower  than mud.   Physically dominated damn near every week. Decimated by injuries.  No coaching staff is going to be able to win with that set of circumstances.  But it doesn’t matter. It’s a results oriented job.  The results have been abysmal for a few years now. And the speed/strength deficit falls on the coach.  His job to recruit and develop.   Next…..  (Note- I think Lance Anderson deserves some props.  Defense was better than we had a right to expect.  Particularly given how much they had to be on the field.  They also improved as the season progressed. 

---

claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.

I have mixed feelings about this. If Shaw is talking about substantially lowering admissions requirements to bring in nationally elite transfers, I don't want that to happen.

If its about looking at a new and creative set of admissions criteria for transfers, I would be on board to consider that. If it were to happen there should be some transparency about it to the public.

BTW, I agree if all this is true, it sure looks like Shaw is planning to be around for a long time.  If he can work with admissions there's probably no one in power planning to end his Stanford coaching career.

My only read is that Shaw is reflecting to the public that he ***THINKS*** he's going to be sticking around. We have no idea what he's thinking privately, and it could be the case that Shaw has no idea what Muir (or Muir's bosses) are thinking about his future at Stanford either.

I’m relatively certain an HC has a pretty good feeling of his “standing”. Short of a player revolt, I doubt he is going anywhere.

Our recruiting classes the last 4 years have been (per 24/7)
2022: 19th
2021: 43rd
2020: 21st
2019: 19th

These rankings take into account both number of recruits and average rating. This means that from a sheer talent perspective, we should at least be more talented than the median college football team. You say the transfer portal hurts us, but the 2019-2021 teams didn't have brobdingnagian numbers of outgoing transfers and still the team significantly underperformed. I'm less worried than others about the impact of NIL on recruiting. Both FB and MBB are recruiting at historical norms or even better, in the case of MBB. It's on the coaching, development, and game day planning/adjustments. Muir, Shaw and Haase all need to go.

[Jamesy]

No doubt Stanford football would benefit from more access to the portal and being more enticing from an NIL perspective, so that's all good in my book.  

HOWEVER, this team had enough talent for a winning season!  Teams with half the talent outplayed Stanford.  This season was not about a lack of talent.  Focusing on the portal and NIL is just another oh-so-clever way to blame anything and everything other than the elephant in the room: this team was poorly coached.  There's no getting around the fact that the coaching staff simply FAILED to put this team in a position to win, week after week.  So it's highly frustrating to hear the coach blame everything under the sun except his own personal performance and decisions, particularly when those decisions (or lack of decisions) seem to be the heart of the problem.

Actually this team had little talent. Slower  than mud.   Physically dominated damn near every week. Decimated by injuries.  No coaching staff is going to be able to win with that set of circumstances.  But it doesn’t matter. It’s a results oriented job.  The results have been abysmal for a few years now. And the speed/strength deficit falls on the coach.  His job to recruit and develop.   Next…..  (Note- I think Lance Anderson deserves some props.  Defense was better than we had a right to expect.  Particularly given how much they had to be on the field.  They also improved as the season progressed. 

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claims to be having "a lot of great talks with our administration" and our admissions team as part of the solution.

I have mixed feelings about this. If Shaw is talking about substantially lowering admissions requirements to bring in nationally elite transfers, I don't want that to happen.

If its about looking at a new and creative set of admissions criteria for transfers, I would be on board to consider that. If it were to happen there should be some transparency about it to the public.

BTW, I agree if all this is true, it sure looks like Shaw is planning to be around for a long time.  If he can work with admissions there's probably no one in power planning to end his Stanford coaching career.

My only read is that Shaw is reflecting to the public that he ***THINKS*** he's going to be sticking around. We have no idea what he's thinking privately, and it could be the case that Shaw has no idea what Muir (or Muir's bosses) are thinking about his future at Stanford either.

I’m relatively certain an HC has a pretty good feeling of his “standing”. Short of a player revolt, I doubt he is going anywhere.

Our recruiting classes the last 4 years have been (per 24/7)
2022: 19th
2021: 43rd
2020: 21st
2019: 19th

These rankings take into account both number of recruits and average rating. This means that from a sheer talent perspective, we should at least be more talented than the median college football team. You say the transfer portal hurts us, but the 2019-2021 teams didn't have brobdingnagian numbers of outgoing transfers and still the team significantly underperformed. I'm less worried than others about the impact of NIL on recruiting. Both FB and MBB are recruiting at historical norms or even better, in the case of MBB. It's on the coaching, development, and game day planning/adjustments. Muir, Shaw and Haase all need to go.