Football Recruiting Football Recruiting: Class of 2021 - Printable Version
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RE: Class of 2021 - OutsiderFan - 12-17-2020
Several years ago, Solomon Thomas was the top recruit in the class. When he committed, he made a point to say his top priority was football, something we saw was the case, not only because he was Stanford's first Soph to declare for the NFL Draft, but because he won a Rose Bowl at Stanford with other football first players like Christian McCaffrey.
Contrast this to what Aaron Armitage said, as the top recruit in this miserable class. He literally said he's not playing because he loves football, something we know to have been the key to Stanford's championship contention in the previous decade. Instead, he said he is playing to "pay back his parents" for the sacrifices they made for him. As impressive as this may be to you, this is not the profile of a player who is going to go the extra mile because he wants it himself.
Stanford fans who don't want to acknowledge a potentially grim reality can point all they want to more offers out for 2022 recruits. I don't care if Stanford offered every Top 300 recruit in the world, the only number that matters is 7. That should send shockwaves all the way up the chain of command to the very top, that something is seriously amiss in Stanford's Football program right now.
What is amazing is that whatever it was/is that was/is going wrong was not/has not identified and addressed post-haste. Y'all have read me harp on the lack of urgency to address what is not working, as David Shaw's number one weakness as a coach. This embarrassingly terrible recruiting class in 2021 is proof positive of the damage that can be done when someone with that weakness in the hyper competitive, 365 day a year college football meat grinder, has nobody pressuring him to be better.
The only college head coach I can reference who had some success, stalled, and then pulled himself out of a flat spin to re-establish his performance is Kirk Ferenz at Iowa. Brian Kelly had one bad year at Notre Dame and made drastic changes before he really fell much. Literally every other coach who was at the top and sank, never recovers where they were. Ferenz has been willing to do the one thing only the strongest of leaders can do - admit they are wrong, say they need to learn, and get help. He even took time to say he was wrong and listened to other this off season on issues of white privilege, and making his program more welcoming for Black athletes. David Shaw always acts like he has all the answers. It's now evident he doesn't. He needs to admit it, identify his weaknesses, and get people to shore them up. His task might even be more difficult than Ferenz's, because I'm imagining Iowa had an AD who told him he had to improve and I don't have any confidence Shaw does.
RE: Class of 2021 - Papa John - 12-17-2020
Back to the 2021 class. Drew Kendall still hasn't committed. Per 247sports, there are 9 crystal balls for BC--2 in the past few days--1 for Michigan (?) and 1 for undecided. Seems to be a slam dunk for BC, but maybe it isn't? Trying to be optimistic here for DK.
RE: Class of 2021 - Spiny_Norman - 12-17-2020
I scanned the 247 data for the schools chosen by the offered players who did not choose Stanford. You don't really see much competition from academic peers like Northwestern.
Oregon 4
Clemson 3
Florida 3
Oklahoma 3
USC 3
Utah 3
Alabama 2
BYU 2
Cal 2
Notre Dame 2
Ohio State 2
UCLA 2
Virginia 2
Wisconsin 2
Colorado 1
Georgia 1
Georgia Tech 1
Iowa State 1
Kansas State 1
Maryland 1
Minnesota 1
Mississippi 1
Texas 1
Texas A&M 1
Washington 1
RE: Class of 2021 - SamuelMcF - 12-18-2020
Ese Dubre might commit today, and Drew Kendall just had 3 high-confidence CBs roll in for the good guys.
RE: Class of 2021 - Papa John - 12-18-2020
(12-18-2020, 02:39 PM)SamuelMcF Wrote: Ese Dubre might commit today, and Drew Kendall just had 3 high-confidence CBs roll in for the good guys.
Thank you for spreading hope, SamuelMcF!
RE: Class of 2021 - BobK - 12-18-2020
Dubre committing at 3 our time. :)
RE: Class of 2021 - BostonCard - 12-18-2020
(12-18-2020, 02:39 PM)SamuelMcF Wrote: Ese Dubre might commit today, and Drew Kendall just had 3 high-confidence CBs roll in for the good guys.
They seem to have been retracted...
https://247sports.com/player/drew-kendall-46051784/
Weird.
BC
RE: Class of 2021 - BobK - 12-18-2020
https://twitter.com/stanfordrivals/status/1340071289558499328?s=21
It’s a yes.
RE: Class of 2021 - Phogge - 12-18-2020
Can he go to the University of Stanford and Stanford University simultaneously?
RE: Class of 2021 - BostonCard - 12-18-2020
A linebacker!
BC
RE: Class of 2021 - OutsiderFan - 12-18-2020
Dubre has the best highlight video of any recruit in the class, IMO.
This commit vaults Stanford up to #8 in the Pac-12 and #53 overall on 247 rankings.
RE: Class of 2021 - Langdude - 12-18-2020
We are a three-star dyansty! :)
Just poking fun. I am thankful that we got a capable-seeming linebacker.
-m.
RE: Class of 2021 - SamuelMcF - 12-18-2020
Kendall to BC. 8.
RE: Class of 2021 - OutsiderFan - 12-18-2020
Who the hell in their right mind jumps through all the hoops for Stanford admission, gets admitted, and then doesn't take it when offered? Being a "regular" student with Stanford on the resume provides a leg up on everyone else, but athletes like Football players get even more special treatment in terms of getting doors opened, etc.
If the Football program is so odious that after being admitted, you won't attend, why in the hell are you wasting your time with an application? We used to just see the "I want people to think I'm smart" card played by recruits who when picking schools, had a Stanford hat on the table when it wasn't even an option for them. Now kids are proving they can get into Stanford without actually attending? Is the idea to be able to flash a Stanford admissions acceptance letter to NFL scouts so they don't have to take the Wonderlic? This behavior doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
RE: Class of 2021 - pefloresjr - 12-18-2020
We should probably avoid making too many universal, long-term-trend conclusions from the recruiting decisions this year. I have seen several articles that have said that COVID is causing many recruits to stay closer to home this year because of the pandemic and restrictions on travel for family members to be able to follow the recruit. I don't know if the numbers will bear it out but 2021 is not a normal year by any means. Stanford depends on finding the right players from around the country and it is always a battle to break them away from their more local teams. This year, I think the path is even steeper.
I want better from our recruiting but I understand that the landscape has a big impact on the type of broad conclusions some on the board want to make.
Cheers,
Pete F.
RE: Class of 2021 - Goose - 12-18-2020
(12-18-2020, 08:12 PM)OutsiderFan Wrote: Who the hell in their right mind jumps through all the hoops for Stanford admission, gets admitted, and then doesn't take it when offered? Being a "regular" student with Stanford on the resume provides a leg up on everyone else, but athletes like Football players get even more special treatment in terms of getting doors opened, etc.Lots of people take all those AP classes and do all that work because they want to, not because it will get them into Stanford. Smart people will evaluate all their options, so keeping Stanford on the table makes sense. However, when push comes to shove it may be easier to go somewhere else to play football. It may also be that your parents are alums of school X and want to see you play. Unfortunately, I think it may show that Shaw et al are doing a better job of finding guys who can get into Stanford but a worse job of figuring out who wants to go to Stanford. On this board, Shaw et al have been criticized for only recruiting people who sought them out. Probably none of those guys will not sign if offered. Now we are reaching out further, and some of those guys just don't want to be here. For them, their 40 year decision is something other than what is offered at Stanford. Just how it is.
If the Football program is so odious that after being admitted, you won't attend, why in the hell are you wasting your time with an application? We used to just see the "I want people to think I'm smart" card played by recruits who when picking schools, had a Stanford hat on the table when it wasn't even an option for them. Now kids are proving they can get into Stanford without actually attending? Is the idea to be able to flash a Stanford admissions acceptance letter to NFL scouts so they don't have to take the Wonderlic? This behavior doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
RE: Class of 2021 - donkey687 - 12-18-2020
(12-18-2020, 07:14 PM)SamuelMcF Wrote: Kendall to BC. 8.
The story on Dubre revealed the reason for the delayed decision was that Stanford needed to see his grades from this semester which came out today. Do we know that Kendall wasn't waiting on the same thing?
RE: Class of 2021 - martyup - 12-19-2020
Did the '21 class have to take SATs for admission? If not, it wasn't such a burden to apply and get admitted to Stanford for top recruits with decent grades.
RE: Class of 2021 - VB Card - 12-19-2020
(12-18-2020, 10:36 PM)donkey687 Wrote:(12-18-2020, 07:14 PM)SamuelMcF Wrote: Kendall to BC. 8.
The story on Dubre revealed the reason for the delayed decision was that Stanford needed to see his grades from this semester which came out today. Do we know that Kendall wasn't waiting on the same thing?
Kendall was admitted awhile ago. He goes to Noble and Greenough School, one of the best private schools in the country. Academics wasn't an issue.
RE: Class of 2021 - Mick - 12-19-2020
(12-18-2020, 08:12 PM)OutsiderFan Wrote: Who the hell in their right mind jumps through all the hoops for Stanford admission, gets admitted, and then doesn't take it when offered? Being a "regular" student with Stanford on the resume provides a leg up on everyone else, but athletes like Football players get even more special treatment in terms of getting doors opened, etc.
If the Football program is so odious that after being admitted, you won't attend, why in the hell are you wasting your time with an application? We used to just see the "I want people to think I'm smart" card played by recruits who when picking schools, had a Stanford hat on the table when it wasn't even an option for them. Now kids are proving they can get into Stanford without actually attending? Is the idea to be able to flash a Stanford admissions acceptance letter to NFL scouts so they don't have to take the Wonderlic? This behavior doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
No, it makes no sense at all. None. One admit who goes elsewhere in a single recruiting class is an aberration. Two in the same class happens maybe once a generation. Seven players who are admitted and turn down Stanford is an emergency. The cliche has always been "if they fill out the application and get admitted, we won't lose them. Period." I've heard that for decades. Any player who is smart enough to be admitted to Stanford is smart enough to realize what they're turning down, the enormous hurricane of advantage that follows them their entire career. And they pissed it away.
The recruits are screaming something at Stanford. There's something rotten here, and Muir needs to get to the bottom of it, posthaste. In all likelihood, a disaster of this magnitude isn't the result of a single 4-8 season, or one bad coach. This is not borderline awful, this constitutes DefCon1.]
And to be clear, DefCon1 is the highest level alert, not DefCon5. USA has never been in DefCon 1 - imminent nuclear attack. Since the system was created in 1959, the USA has been in DefCon 2 only twice, the Cuban Missile Crisis and Desert Storm. We were at DefCon 3 for three days after 9/11.