04-23-2015, 03:19 PM
Good times last night. Here are some of the interesting things I got from Shaw: (I apologize for this disjointed mess; it's off the top of my head from what I can remember.)
Evan Crower still doesn't have a landing place, but they've made calls on his behalf.
Shaw doesn't seem to be a brobdingnagian fan of the graduate transfer rule, but acknowledges that it's good for kids. I asked him if there are rules regarding the recruiting of potential graduate transfers, and he said, "Yes, but everyone's ignoring them." Stanford could refuse to release these players, but as he says, there's no point to that.
I asked which incoming freshmen might see the field, and he quickly named Trent Irwin. "We have high expectations for him." Expectations to see the field, or to make serious contributions? "Serious contributions."
He also raved about Kevin Hogan, Kyle Murphy, and Christian McCaffrey, naturally, but specifically Hogan. Someone asked him what he was most excited about as he thinks towards next season, and he said, "The quarterback." He talked about how relaxed and confident he seems, and said that it was probably good for him in the long run to be able to look and realize that he played like crap for a good stretch of 2014. He expects really big things from him.
They expect Cameron Scarlett to be ready by fall, but no word on whether or not we'll see him on the field.
On Barry Sanders: "Barry has the talent and the ability, he just has to do it. He didn't get 300 carries last year, but he got 40 or so. He has to do something with those carries." Someone asked about how his attitude has been through this, and Shaw raved about him and said he could be a senator one day.
Shaw politely declined all questions about the current recruiting class, but I asked him about my perception that there are more academic-minded kids amongst the elite of this class, and he confirmed that, mentioning that things like that are cyclical. He compared this year's group to 2012 in that regard. That class worked out pretty well for us, if you remember.
I asked how Keller Chryst was looking. "Like a freshman." Then he said what WashingtonIsMoney is always saying -- there's nothing worse for a coach than having to play a young quarterback, especially in the Stanford system.
There was lots of talk about the virtual reality headset, and Shaw said the company is doing well. They've sold systems to three other (non-Pac-12) schools and have lots of interest from NFL teams.
Predictably, there was also lots of talk about Harbaugh and Michigan. One gentleman lead into a conversation with this, "I know you've beaten Harbaugh in one recruiting battle already..." but Shaw quickly cut him off -- "Two." But who's counting, right?
At one point a group of us were recounting different memories from Stanford victories over U/S/C, reminding each other of our favorite moments. One woman remembered how unbelievably loud the Coliseum had been when Luck threw that late pick six in 2011. At this point, Shaw broke in and said, "That was probably my greatest coaching moment ever. Andrew came to me on the sidelines, and I asked him, 'You okay?' He said, 'Yeah,' and I said, 'Okay.'" Laughter all around.
He also talked about when he and Harbaugh arrived and said something interesting. He said that when word got out that he was going to Stanford, his coaching connections in the Pac-10 immediately started calling him and telling him that they were inheriting a talented team. He initially refused to believe them, but then they said, "Look at the tape. There's tons of talent there, but they have no idea what they're doing." Later I found myself sitting with Evan Moore and Marcus McCutcheon, two players for that team, and I asked them if they would've believed at the time that Stanford would eventually become what it is today, if they ever felt like they were close. They both agreed that they would've believed the team might one day play in consecutive Rose Bowls, but that they were stunned by how quickly the turnaround had happened.
Regarding the tight ends, I asked how Dalton Schultz looked. His answer: "Amazing. He's going to push the other three guys, and they know it." He said he's a beast at the line of scrimmage, so I asked about his blocking. Shaw said, "He's our best blocking tight end."
Here's on thing that surprised me a bit. As much as Shaw has gushed over Marcus Mariota over the past two seasons, when some asked about him as an NFL prospect, he said was a good prospect, but not a great one.
Also, during his speech to the crowd, he joked that when he was done he was going to line everyone up in the grass and have a kicking tryout.
Finally, the best line of the night probably came from Tara. Someone asked about missing on Katie Lou Samuelson, and she shrugged her shoulders and said simply, "If you don't want the great education, you don't like the great weather, you don't want to be close to home, there's nothing I can do for you."
Evan Crower still doesn't have a landing place, but they've made calls on his behalf.
Shaw doesn't seem to be a brobdingnagian fan of the graduate transfer rule, but acknowledges that it's good for kids. I asked him if there are rules regarding the recruiting of potential graduate transfers, and he said, "Yes, but everyone's ignoring them." Stanford could refuse to release these players, but as he says, there's no point to that.
I asked which incoming freshmen might see the field, and he quickly named Trent Irwin. "We have high expectations for him." Expectations to see the field, or to make serious contributions? "Serious contributions."
He also raved about Kevin Hogan, Kyle Murphy, and Christian McCaffrey, naturally, but specifically Hogan. Someone asked him what he was most excited about as he thinks towards next season, and he said, "The quarterback." He talked about how relaxed and confident he seems, and said that it was probably good for him in the long run to be able to look and realize that he played like crap for a good stretch of 2014. He expects really big things from him.
They expect Cameron Scarlett to be ready by fall, but no word on whether or not we'll see him on the field.
On Barry Sanders: "Barry has the talent and the ability, he just has to do it. He didn't get 300 carries last year, but he got 40 or so. He has to do something with those carries." Someone asked about how his attitude has been through this, and Shaw raved about him and said he could be a senator one day.
Shaw politely declined all questions about the current recruiting class, but I asked him about my perception that there are more academic-minded kids amongst the elite of this class, and he confirmed that, mentioning that things like that are cyclical. He compared this year's group to 2012 in that regard. That class worked out pretty well for us, if you remember.
I asked how Keller Chryst was looking. "Like a freshman." Then he said what WashingtonIsMoney is always saying -- there's nothing worse for a coach than having to play a young quarterback, especially in the Stanford system.
There was lots of talk about the virtual reality headset, and Shaw said the company is doing well. They've sold systems to three other (non-Pac-12) schools and have lots of interest from NFL teams.
Predictably, there was also lots of talk about Harbaugh and Michigan. One gentleman lead into a conversation with this, "I know you've beaten Harbaugh in one recruiting battle already..." but Shaw quickly cut him off -- "Two." But who's counting, right?
At one point a group of us were recounting different memories from Stanford victories over U/S/C, reminding each other of our favorite moments. One woman remembered how unbelievably loud the Coliseum had been when Luck threw that late pick six in 2011. At this point, Shaw broke in and said, "That was probably my greatest coaching moment ever. Andrew came to me on the sidelines, and I asked him, 'You okay?' He said, 'Yeah,' and I said, 'Okay.'" Laughter all around.
He also talked about when he and Harbaugh arrived and said something interesting. He said that when word got out that he was going to Stanford, his coaching connections in the Pac-10 immediately started calling him and telling him that they were inheriting a talented team. He initially refused to believe them, but then they said, "Look at the tape. There's tons of talent there, but they have no idea what they're doing." Later I found myself sitting with Evan Moore and Marcus McCutcheon, two players for that team, and I asked them if they would've believed at the time that Stanford would eventually become what it is today, if they ever felt like they were close. They both agreed that they would've believed the team might one day play in consecutive Rose Bowls, but that they were stunned by how quickly the turnaround had happened.
Regarding the tight ends, I asked how Dalton Schultz looked. His answer: "Amazing. He's going to push the other three guys, and they know it." He said he's a beast at the line of scrimmage, so I asked about his blocking. Shaw said, "He's our best blocking tight end."
Here's on thing that surprised me a bit. As much as Shaw has gushed over Marcus Mariota over the past two seasons, when some asked about him as an NFL prospect, he said was a good prospect, but not a great one.
Also, during his speech to the crowd, he joked that when he was done he was going to line everyone up in the grass and have a kicking tryout.
Finally, the best line of the night probably came from Tara. Someone asked about missing on Katie Lou Samuelson, and she shrugged her shoulders and said simply, "If you don't want the great education, you don't like the great weather, you don't want to be close to home, there's nothing I can do for you."
Please clear the field! The game is not over!
