[stupac2]

I think it's just stochastic. Unlike the OSUs and Alabamas and Clemsons of the world we can't just replace 5 stars with 5 stars, it's all about what guys can qualify, who of those want to come here, and who of those successfully make the transition. When Saban has a 4* senior who never makes the jump he just replaces him with a younger 4*, we can't always do that. And even then those teams have holes that make them vulnerable to the right program.

Plus, as you point out, depth is a big issue, especially with our current self-imposed roster limits. If a blue-blood has a 4* DL go down, oh well, now that 5* freshman gets more time. If it happens to us it can be completely devastating, and there's not a lot we can do about it because we're more reliant on getting guys and coaching them up than "we have more talent than you". Not that the coaching up doesn't happen at the other schools, it's just that it's easier to handle the random injuries when you're raking in the best talent every single year, rather than having bumper years and lean years.

Of course, there's probably some amount of "blame" to place on the staff for how they handle the situation once the players are in the building, but it's not like the coaches we have here haven't fielded damn good units in the past, so I don't know how much stock to put into that. I think we're just in a position where, given the realities of recruiting to Stanford, we're hurt more by randomness than other big-name programs.

But, honestly, it's shocking that Stanford has been a more consistently good program than, say, Oregon and USC. That shouldn't happen, and is a testament to Shaw's ability to manage the program these past 8 years.

[stupac2]

I think it's just stochastic. Unlike the OSUs and Alabamas and Clemsons of the world we can't just replace 5 stars with 5 stars, it's all about what guys can qualify, who of those want to come here, and who of those successfully make the transition. When Saban has a 4* senior who never makes the jump he just replaces him with a younger 4*, we can't always do that. And even then those teams have holes that make them vulnerable to the right program.

Plus, as you point out, depth is a big issue, especially with our current self-imposed roster limits. If a blue-blood has a 4* DL go down, oh well, now that 5* freshman gets more time. If it happens to us it can be completely devastating, and there's not a lot we can do about it because we're more reliant on getting guys and coaching them up than "we have more talent than you". Not that the coaching up doesn't happen at the other schools, it's just that it's easier to handle the random injuries when you're raking in the best talent every single year, rather than having bumper years and lean years.

Of course, there's probably some amount of "blame" to place on the staff for how they handle the situation once the players are in the building, but it's not like the coaches we have here haven't fielded damn good units in the past, so I don't know how much stock to put into that. I think we're just in a position where, given the realities of recruiting to Stanford, we're hurt more by randomness than other big-name programs.

But, honestly, it's shocking that Stanford has been a more consistently good program than, say, Oregon and USC. That shouldn't happen, and is a testament to Shaw's ability to manage the program these past 8 years.