Someone posted on this board a bit back that HS football participation in California has declined,
and that the regional strengths in the Southeast and Midwest have become accentuated.
Yes, we are a national program recruiting nationally, but the guys in your backyard (California),
for a sport where you have to field 85 scholarship players alone, are most critical and the easiest
to get. Yes, we have had success getting prospects from the Southeast, but unless the student-athlete
has a real passion to play for Stanford, or with certain exceptions (Mills, Ryan Johnson etc.),
the best players in the Southeast are going to stay home and play for Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, LSU etc.
I don't think it is a coincidence that UCLA, with even more highly touted prospects than us,
is on its way quickly to an 0-3 start and getting embarrassed by Oklahoma on the field and
with fan attendance at the Rose Bowl.
Maybe the top California HS football prospects just do not stack up to their counterparts elsewhere anymore.
Also, I think Shaw recognizes that we need/have needed to change our offensive philosophy
(see how much we have thrown the ball and the way we have played offensively really since the Alamo
Bowl against TCU; the change is already/has happened).
The question is do we have the players to play Big 12 football, and can we get the players to play this style of ball
(more so on defense in the secondary than anything; see previous post regarding recruiting bases), because whether we like it or not,
Washington State, SC, UCLA, UA, UCF, TCU etc. are all playing this style of football.
Also, yes, I know, Coach Shaw and his staff are paid a lot of money to learn new "skills" in their coaching and adapt,
but look how tough it is for a person in a "regular" job (without the spotlight associated with CFB) to learn
new skills mid-career.
and that the regional strengths in the Southeast and Midwest have become accentuated.
Yes, we are a national program recruiting nationally, but the guys in your backyard (California),
for a sport where you have to field 85 scholarship players alone, are most critical and the easiest
to get. Yes, we have had success getting prospects from the Southeast, but unless the student-athlete
has a real passion to play for Stanford, or with certain exceptions (Mills, Ryan Johnson etc.),
the best players in the Southeast are going to stay home and play for Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, LSU etc.
I don't think it is a coincidence that UCLA, with even more highly touted prospects than us,
is on its way quickly to an 0-3 start and getting embarrassed by Oklahoma on the field and
with fan attendance at the Rose Bowl.
Maybe the top California HS football prospects just do not stack up to their counterparts elsewhere anymore.
Also, I think Shaw recognizes that we need/have needed to change our offensive philosophy
(see how much we have thrown the ball and the way we have played offensively really since the Alamo
Bowl against TCU; the change is already/has happened).
The question is do we have the players to play Big 12 football, and can we get the players to play this style of ball
(more so on defense in the secondary than anything; see previous post regarding recruiting bases), because whether we like it or not,
Washington State, SC, UCLA, UA, UCF, TCU etc. are all playing this style of football.
Also, yes, I know, Coach Shaw and his staff are paid a lot of money to learn new "skills" in their coaching and adapt,
but look how tough it is for a person in a "regular" job (without the spotlight associated with CFB) to learn
new skills mid-career.