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GMC Media Day Report - Hank 91 - 07-26-2019

I’ll remind you of the format. Stanford had a twenty-minute session before the media, during which time Coach Shaw was on the main stage and KJ Costello and Casey Toohill were in opposite corners of the room talking to smaller groups of reporters. I didn’t bother talking to Shaw at this point, because I knew there would be a transcript, I knew it wouldn’t be much different than any of the press conferences I watch with him, and I knew I’d have a chance to talk with him later. My plan was to split the time between Toohill and Costello, but that didn’t really happen. Costello obviously drew the bigger crowd, so I headed over to Toohill, who was talking to just one or two reporters. It turned out that Toohill was so interesting that I spent most of the time with him, and only went over to Costello for the last couple minutes. 


When that official session finished, the three of them headed next door to the media village, a ballroom featuring the Pac12 Network set, along with dozens of sports radio desks. Shaw went to the Pac-12 stage, then he and the two players bounced around to a few of the radio teams. I talked to both players for a few minutes at a time while they were on deck for radio interviews. After twenty or thirty minutes of this, Shaw headed out to lunch, and I sat down with him for quite a while. This even has been scaled back enough (and the expectations for Stanford are dialed back enough) that Shaw and I were able to sit and have uninterrupted conversation for fifteen minutes or so before anyone else came along. (It’s my guess that that doesn’t happen with Nick Saban at SEC Media Day.) After a while KJ and Casey sat down to eat as well, but at no point where there any more than three reporters there. (I include myself in that number, though I’m decidedly not a reporter.) Also there for much of the time were the people you’d expect — R.J. Abeytia and Troy Clardy. 


You know how baseball people talk about the optimism of spring training? The same is true here. Everyone is relaxed and happy and eager to talk about how excited they are for the season. I love this day because it’s the only time I have access to the Shaw and the players, but also because I’m treated like I belong. The reason everything is so relaxed, obviously, is that there’s nothing contentious to discuss. Instead, there’s only blissful reminiscing about past success and optimistic outlining of hopes for the upcoming season. David Shaw, as I’ve related here before, is great to talk to. Contrary to what you see during his in-season pressers, Media Day Shaw is open and honest. He loves telling stories, and he did so yesterday, which was fun.


And here’s the other thing — the players are always (almost always) an absolutely joy to be around. I know say this all the time, but it’s impossible not to be impressed when you talk to them. Eric Dolan was the communication director along with for the event, and I talked to him about this for a while. I was curious about what type of media training they do for the team (not just the players who come to media day). He told me that it’s almost nothing. A few years ago when social media became ubiquitous, they had someone come and talk to the team about it, but now they use casual reminders more than organized presentations. The players aren’t schooled in addressing the media, and even the players who come to media day only receive minor coaching about non-football issues they might be asked about. This week that was the pay-for-play issue, and I was with Toohill when he was asked about it. I’ll relate that story later, but he absolutely nailed it.


When I complemented Shaw about his players, he gave me the same answer he gives me every year: “I’m the luckiest coach in America. This kids are amazing.” They truly are. 


So that’s enough of a prelude. What follows is kind of a stream of consciousness drawing from my memory and my notes. If I use quotation marks, it’s a quote that I wrote down; otherwise it’s all paraphrasing.
David Shaw
The first thing I asked him was about play calling, but it’s not what you think. Having never played the game or even spent time on the sidelines, I’ve always been interested in the logistics of play calling, so I presented him with this: Say it’s 2nd and 20, and you’ve got three wideouts in the game. You pick up 19 yards, so on 3rd and 1 you want a different personnel group in there. My question was simple: how do you do all that and still beat the play clock? I was interested in how the players get on and off as well as the play call, but his answer went more towards his end of things. He said that his philosophy on play calling comes directly from his time with Jon Gruden, who told him that “play calling is part preparation and part gut.” He further explained that he uses his call sheet to plan ahead for any given situation. So when he gets to that 3rd and 1, he already has a play circled on his sheet based on prior information. So as the game is going on, he and the staff are constantly evaluating. Someone might see that the linebackers are doing such and such on 3rd and short, so that might give them the idea that the next time they should do something different, so a play will be circled so it’s already in the cue for the next time, which I found interesting.


The next thing I asked him about had to do with an article I read this week about Cory Booker. Cory was talking about his football career and how he never really lived up to expectations. He arrived as a USA Today All-America, but didn’t see the field until his junior year, only tallied a few receptions that year and the next, and was cut with a year of eligibility remaining. In the article he pointed to the conversation in Denny Green’s office as a pivotal moment. Things have turned out okay for him, but that moment was dark. So I asked Shaw what it was like for him to have those conversations, and how the players typically handle it. He mentioned that even though most of the guys come with future football aspirations, he and his staff never talk about non-football options as “fallback” plans, not during recruiting, and not during their time on the team. Instead, they always talk about having two plans, because that second plan will always come into play at one time or another. They stress that the players need to be preparing for whenever football ends, whether that’s after four years or fourteen years. This way, they’re not really giving something up, they’re just continuing with one of their plans. 


I’ve also always been interested in what it’s like for high school stars to come to college and suddenly sit on the sidelines. (I also asked Costello and Toohill about this.) I was curious about how Shaw handled this, especially when guys expect to come in and play right away. I noted that we’re starting to hear high school kids make commitments to spend “the next three to four years” at a school, and he acknowledged that it’s getting harder and harder. When he’s talking to a kid who’s been promised that somewhere else, he typically asks them if they think that coach has also told his current players that he’s already promised playing time to a kid who isn’t even there yet. He told me that every kid has a different path, and he cited Christian McCaffrey and Solomon Thomas as examples. They knew both players would be great, but Christian was ready earlier. Solomon wasn’t ready as a freshman. I asked if that was just that he wasn’t physically ready, and he agreed that was most of it. But his point was this — both players took different routes to the same place — the top half of the first round of the NFL draft.


I asked him how often he saw a high school senior, either on film or in person, and thought he was looking at someone who would definitely play as a true freshman. He thought for a bit, then came up with a surprising answer. Linebacker Tobe Umerah, who made his debut in last year’s Sun Bowl. (Come to think of it, I can’t believe I didn’t ask him about the redshirt rule, and I can’t believe it didn’t come up from anyone else. But I’m certain he’d just say that he loves it.)


This led into some discussion about recruiting, and the conversation provides a good example of what Shaw is like here. Andrew Luck came up, and it reminded Shaw of a story from when he was recruiting him. He spoke to the head coach at Andrew’s rival high school and asked what he thought of him. The coach told this story. Apparently his team had a tradition of coming up with a derogatory nickname for the best player on the team they were playing that week. The nicknames typically involved profanity and a play on the kid’s name, the type of thing you wouldn’t want to get out. So during the week before the game, the coach went to his leaders and asked what they had come up with for Andrew, but they had nothing. They said that they respected him too much to do that. He was too good a kid. So that Friday Andrew has a great game as his team thrashes the rivals. That night the rival coach is out to dinner with his family, depressed but trying to forget the loss. In walks Andrew and the Lucks. Andrew notices the coach and gets up and walks across the restaurant to shake his hand. They talked about the game a little bit, but what struck the coach was that Andrew spent most of the time talking to to the coach’s family and asking how they were doing. And this was when he was eighteen.


(Sidenote: I asked if it was usual for them to talk to opposing coaches during recruiting, and he said they always do it. He said it was one of the benefits of their recruiting situation. Because they offer fewer scholarships than anyone in the country, they know their recruits better than anyone else. They have time to go deeper and do things like that. He didn’t mention this, but in the past he’s always talked about how part of their recruiting process has been watching players in other sports. The best example of this was Harrison Phillips, the state wrestling champion.)
Shaw continued:
R.J. then asked about Andrew’s play calling ability, and asked if Costello would have similar responsibilities. Costello was sitting right there, and we were all amused by how quickly K.J. perked from the other end of the table to listen for Shaw’s response. Shaw didn’t give a direct answer, though, choosing instead to focus on Luck and another of his favorite stories. I’ve heard him tell it once at a public presser and once at an earlier media day. He talked about how Andrew was in the middle of his Voldemort campaign, and RGIII had already had a big day in an afternoon game ahead of Stanford’s night game against Washington. Andrew was at the controls that night, and we know it ended. Shaw explained that even though they had two guys run for 100 yards and another guy come up just short, and even though they had run for four hundred and forty-some yards… (At which point I interrupted to tell him it was 446.) He stopped at looked at me out of the corner of his eye and laughed as he said, “You and Mike Bloomgren are probably the only two people who know that.” He remembered how he had apologized to Andrew, but Andrew wouldn’t accept it, saying he felt he had never had a better game. He got the team into the right plays all night long.


He had some interesting things to say about the running game and last season’s struggles. He said the success “starts with efficiency, and efficiency comes from consistency.” The problem last year was that there was no consistency, as we remember, largely due to all the injuries. He talked about the decision to stop running power, which was fascinating. After four games, he realized it wasn’t working, so they decided to scrap it and start throwing the ball. I had heard rumors that the players were disappointed in this, and he acknowledged it. He said some of the guys said they really liked running power, and his response was simple: “Let’s go look at the film from the last four weeks, and you tell me why we aren’t running power.” One of the biggest criticisms of Shaw has been the perception that he’s too stubborn to change. I think he firmly believes that the best way to play football is to lead with a strong running game, but last year proved that he can adapt. Also, on this day he cited a surprising coaching influence. He was asked how much his time playing for the methodical Mike Montgomery had influenced him, and while acknowledged that, he pointed to Tara VanDerveer as one of his favorite coaches. He talked about how willing she has been to change and learn from others to bring in completely new systems over the course of her career. Does this mean we can expect to see an Air Raid offense in Palo Alto any time soon? Not likely. But I think it means he might be quicker to change this year than he was last year if the running game struggles.


I reminded him that at last year’s media day the clear Stanford theme was finishing games, and I asked if thought they had accomplished that, considering there had been some late losses. There was a definite pause as he considered that, then responded, “In a sense. We finished the season,” referencing the winning streak to close things out, but which I took to be an admission that they hadn’t. 


Another of his favorite topics is Duane Akina. He said that most people are familiar with him by now, especially the Stanford fans who sit in the first five rows and regularly hear him yelling during games. He said that when Akina is out recruiting, he prefers watching practices rather than games. He looks for guys who never take plays off and is turned off by players who are laughing and joking around while waiting for their next rep. He wants the guys who are always focused. When they get beat in practice, do they just head back to the line because they know it’s only practice, or do they get angry, flip their hips, and try to get back in the play? 


There was also a ton of talk about Paulson Adebo, and what most expect to be his final season on the Farm. We talked about how he would handle the fact that no one is likely to throw at him this year, and Shaw said the challenge will be to still be ready on every play. He made a comparison to what happened to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside last season who began to see double teams, but he still had to run every route and be ready. Once they’d have a little bit more success running the ball, as soon as a team would bring a safety up, J.J. would always be ready. He said Paulson will have to do the same. Be ready when the challenge comes. I asked what he saw from him in terms of leadership, and said he’s typically one of the last guys out on the field and will often grab one of the younger defensive backs and head back out to work on footwork or something like that.


Shaw also said that Obi Eboh is the leading candidate to start at the opposite corner, and that he embraces the fact that most of the passes will be coming in his direction, not Adebo’s. 


A few other quick hitters: 
Malik Antoine has been showing a lot of leadership.
Mike Williams has impressed, Shaw calls him a “sneaky playmaker,” whatever that means.
Casey Toohill
Such a great kid. One of the issues that was floating around throughout the day was the pay-for-play idea, and Toohill was asked about it almost immediately. His answer couldn’t have been better. He correctly used the word “salient” in his answer, and pretty much demonstrated that he was smarter than the people asking the questions. In fact, he actually helped the reporter frame his question when he stumbled. His answer was thoughtful and thorough, but not controversial, so perfect. He pointed out that since he's a political science major, he’s really interested in stuff like that, and he even knew that the bill wouldn’t come into play until 2020 or 2021.


But back to football. I asked him about the linebackers and how the perception was that the unit was down a bit, and he said something interesting: “There are no great players until someone gets an opportunity.” The players he expects to get those opportunities are Curtis Robinson, Rickey Miezan (“intelligent, physical”), and cornerback Obi Eboh.


I asked about the impact that a shutdown corner like Adebo can have on the rest of the defense, and his eyes got big as he said, “It just makes everything so much easier.”


He and I talked a lot about his journey, especially his redshirt season. He said he used the time to get stronger, learn the defense, and get accustomed to school. When I asked what had drawn him to Stanford, he said that being a California kid he watched them growing up, but once he visited and spent time with the players, he was struck by the “quality of character” and soon knew “this is the place for me.” We’ve all heard about the difficulty of the offensive playbook, but Toohill confirmed that the defensive side is no picnic. He remembered having almost no idea what was going on when he got on the field as a sophomore, and that it wasn’t until his junior year that he actually knew what was going on. During that time, he just kept asking himself how he could make himself better. How nice is Casey? He found me in between radio interviews and thanked me for my questions, telling me that I had asked about all the things he really wanted to talk about. Who does that?


Another thing I like to talk about with the defensive players is how Lance Anderson goes about making his halftime adjustments. I know some people who will read this have extensive football experience, and some at a high level, but I have none, so it was interesting to hear him talk about something that should’ve seemed obvious. He said that sometimes as a player you have no idea what’s going on. You might be locked in on your job, and suddenly a back is sprinting down the opposite sideline for a ninety-yard touchdown. But at halftime, Anderson is direct. “This is why we’re getting beat!” Also, Toohill echoed something that Harrison Phillips said two years ago. Anderson doesn’t just dictate things, he communicates with the players and asks them what they’re seeing out on the field. Phillips talked back then about how much he appreciated that, and Toohill said the same thing.


I also asked about what it was like to face the diverse offenses in the Pac-12, and he said it was fun, not just for the challenge but for the different looks they see.


Another thing about Toohill that isn’t relevant to his football career, but definitely is to whatever comes next for him. He started asking me questions. He wondered about my major at Stanford, and when I told him that I teach middle school English, we talked about that for a while. As I said, he’s a great kid.
K.J. Costello
If you didn’t know who Costello was, it wouldn’t take you long before you knew he was a quarterback. He’s a legitimate 6’5”, but he’s got a presence that’s more than just physical. I reminded him about the UCLA game two years ago when he came in and led the comeback, and he his eyes lit up; when I told him that I thought the turning point of the entire season might’ve been his rushing touchdown that night, his eyes got even brighter. But what I wanted to ask him about was something he said after the game -- as the backup, he had had essentially zero reps in practice that week. I asked what that actually meant. He described what it was like to be a young quarterback-in-waiting in the Stanford system. He talked about the need to memorize things, especially the names of the plays. I asked him to give me one, and it made my head spin. When I asked him to explain that in normal English, my head spun some more. He said that the VR system was invaluable, but that he also spent a ton of time grabbing young receivers who also weren’t getting reps and doing work on his own. I told him it reminded me of something Shaw had said about J.J. Arcega-Whiteside after his breakout against UCLA the year before. He talked about how J.J. had done his work in empty corners of the practice field to get ready for that moment. Costello immediately jumped in and said, “Yeah, that was with me.” Neither one of them were playing, so they were helping each other get some reps. It struck me as an interesting insight to the growth process.


The next natural question, of course, was about the places where that apprenticeship isn’t necessary. I asked if he was ever tempted to take a different path and go somewhere where he wouldn’t have had to learn that thick playbook and could’ve challenged for earlier playing time. He admitted that he had been tempted, and that he would love to play in a system like Washington State’s where he might throw the ball forty or fifty times a game, but that wouldn’t have fit his long term goals. During his recruiting process he knew that he wanted to play in the NFL, and he knew that coming to Stanford and learning the system and playing in a pro-style offense would put him in a better position in the end.


Oh, here’s another fascinating thing. Costello talked about learning from Lance Anderson. He said he’s talked to him about defensive theory, like “what’s the first thing you try to take away from an offense?” He also asks him about his tendencies, and as we were talking, he said, “This reminds me that I’ve gotta get with him as soon as we get back.”

RE: GMC Media Day Report - terry - 07-26-2019

Great post. Thanks!

RE: GMC Media Day Report - JJJ - 07-26-2019

Thanks, as always, for sharing!

RE: GMC Media Day Report - CornFed - 07-26-2019

Thank you so much for this, Hank.  There is something very personal in your writing and I always feel that I can rely on you to explore interesting lines of inquiry and elicit honest reactions from your subjects.

RE: GMC Media Day Report - fullmetal - 07-27-2019

Great write up!  Shaw quicker to change: Hallelujah.  Took him four games, sigh.  He could do with a little Mike Leach craziness :)  But I'd never trade Shaw for Leach.

Costello better be ready for a pass rush this year.  Hope he's boosted that accuracy.

RE: GMC Media Day Report - needle - 07-27-2019

Thanks, Hank!

Part of me hates that Stanford football draws so little attention, but these stories are pure gold and likely wouldn't be shared if there was a scrum of media hounding Shaw.

RE: GMC Media Day Report - Spiny_Norman - 07-27-2019

These stories wouldn't be shared if Hank wasn't so good. Thanks again, Hank! See you at the tailgate before SC?

RE: GMC Media Day Report - Hank 91 - 07-27-2019

(07-27-2019, 09:17 AM)needle Wrote:  Thanks, Hank!

Part of me hates that Stanford football draws so little attention, but these stories are pure gold and likely wouldn't be shared if there was a scrum of media hounding Shaw.

I think this is certainly true. Atmosphere is everything. When we're sitting at lunch, I always get a little anxious whenever I see an actual reporter sidling up, because the questions then will always be the same questions everyone asks -- tell me about the position battle, etc. Those are interesting, and we definitely talk about things like that, but I so much prefer to talk about other stuff -- program culture, deeper philosophies, etc. I can't imagine coaches have those conversations at SEC or Big Ten media day. Geographic proximity is also important. There's also a Bay Area media day, which also includes San Jose State, I think, and maybe some other teams. Because of that, most of the media that regularly covers Stanford doesn't make the trip down. I've never seen anyone from the Merc or the Chronicle, because why would they come? But the USC and UCLA coaches are always mobbed. No relaxing lunches for them. So the atmosphere and location make all this possible.
(07-27-2019, 09:52 AM)Spiny_Norman Wrote:  These stories wouldn't be shared if Hank wasn't so good. Thanks again, Hank! See you at the tailgate before SC?

I'll definitely be at the game, but I'm not sure yet about the tailgate. Plans are still coming together. I'll be sure to let you know if I end up going.

RE: GMC Media Day Report - PVTree - 07-27-2019

I recall going to an open practice 3 springs ago (after CMcC's record-breaking year). After practice and after all the reporters had gone, 4 players stuck around to practice on their own, Chryst, who I figured would be the new starting QB, Christian, who was held out of practice and probably wanted to get some work in that day, Irwin, who had had a terrific freshman season the year before, and an unknown player (to me), who I had to look up on the roster sheet to find out his name was JJ Arcega-Whiteside.

They practiced for nearly an hour. Chryst threw to them as they did crossing patterns and go routes. There was not much talking, no joking around, and plenty of concentration on what they were doing.

RE: GMC Media Day Report - JPPT1974 - 07-27-2019

Thanks for the report my friend. As really you know your stuff around!

RE: GMC Media Day Report - BobK - 07-27-2019

Awesome report. Thanks so much for sharing

RE: GMC Media Day Report - Hank 91 - 07-27-2019

Another thing I forgot. When Costello was asked about Davis Mills, his shoulders sagged a bit and he said, “You gotta feel for the kid, but honestly, he looks better than I’ve ever seen him.”

RE: GMC Media Day Report - JJJ - 07-27-2019

Slightly tangential, but KJ's interview on Troy Clardy's podcast popped up on my phone.

http://troyclardy.com/podcastgen/?name=2019-07-24_treecastkj072419.mp3

RE: GMC Media Day Report - JJJ - 07-27-2019

and this:

Quote:2019 Pac-12 Football Media Day: Stanford's K.J. Costello, Casey Toohill have a hilarious reaction to Stanford's version of a 'Step Brothers' movie poster

https://pac-12.com/videos/2019-pac-12-football-media-day-stanfords-kj-costello-casey-toohill-have-hilarious-reaction

There are a bunch of other videos on that page (Shaw's podium session, Shaw on Booker, etc) for those who want to explore.

RE: GMC Media Day Report - winflop - 07-27-2019

Great questions Hank. Fantastic summary. Dunno what we'd do without your insights!