[teejers1]

JH staying on The Farm for another year or two?!?  LOL
OK, that idea is funny.   Made me laugh.

Harbaugh was actively looking for bigger, more prestigious roles almost before he started coaching at Stanford, definitely was looking hard after the 2008 season.   That type of EUTM we admired extended to his career aspirations.   There was no way he'd have multiple 10+ win seasons at Stanford.   One 10+ win season would be more than enough to keep him on his trajectory at the time.   So 2010 was the end of our journey together.

Before we go there EUTM was about accomplishments not the money.   So coaching in a relatively quiet 50,000 seat stadium for a small private school in the Pac-12 just was not going to be enough.   He almost certainly understood a 10+ win season would be the perfect launching pad for better roles.  So we got the one and then he was done.

I am not sure I am happy to see him struggle since I don't think he did anything that warrants that perspective.   He was a change agent with a passion to do amazing things as a football coach.  Stanford got 4 years.   Stanford got a blast of EUTM that fueled the program for a decade.   We were lucky to get what we got, and I can't imagine that anyone involved with that hiring process ever thought he would stay more than 3-5 years if he was even moderately successful.

In this particular FBS/CFP era Stanford football will not get to keep an outsider for more than 4 years unless the coach bounces between good (not great) seasons and mediocre/bad seasons like Willingham.    And even with his track record Willingham got a more lucrative gig in 7 years.

Yep, that's the Catch-22. Any coach with the football savvy, drive, and moxie to succeed at Stanford is likely to be the kind of guy who will want to move on after he has had some success. 
We are going to be a stepping stone. The possible exception might be a Stanford alum. Like we have now.

Maybe you and Farm93 are correct; however, I think you don't appreciate that (i) Stanford is now paying multi-million dollars/year to the head FC, (ii) the allure of the institution recruiting itself to a target audience (regrettably, Shaw's only target audience, and (iii) the general lack of risk of "the 2:00 a.m. call" about your charges.

That's an awful appealing package.  And if you believe that a full house is very possible - Harbs did it in less than 4 years - then what's not to like?  In short, I suspect there are LOTS of good coaches out there who would be thrilled to make Stanford a long-term stop.

P.S.  As for Harbaugh, he accepted the Kansas job in like Year 2 or 3 at Stanford.  Why should I feel compelled to wish the guy well?  And btw, I confessed to only feeling good a wee bit!

[teejers1]

JH staying on The Farm for another year or two?!?  LOL
OK, that idea is funny.   Made me laugh.

Harbaugh was actively looking for bigger, more prestigious roles almost before he started coaching at Stanford, definitely was looking hard after the 2008 season.   That type of EUTM we admired extended to his career aspirations.   There was no way he'd have multiple 10+ win seasons at Stanford.   One 10+ win season would be more than enough to keep him on his trajectory at the time.   So 2010 was the end of our journey together.

Before we go there EUTM was about accomplishments not the money.   So coaching in a relatively quiet 50,000 seat stadium for a small private school in the Pac-12 just was not going to be enough.   He almost certainly understood a 10+ win season would be the perfect launching pad for better roles.  So we got the one and then he was done.

I am not sure I am happy to see him struggle since I don't think he did anything that warrants that perspective.   He was a change agent with a passion to do amazing things as a football coach.  Stanford got 4 years.   Stanford got a blast of EUTM that fueled the program for a decade.   We were lucky to get what we got, and I can't imagine that anyone involved with that hiring process ever thought he would stay more than 3-5 years if he was even moderately successful.

In this particular FBS/CFP era Stanford football will not get to keep an outsider for more than 4 years unless the coach bounces between good (not great) seasons and mediocre/bad seasons like Willingham.    And even with his track record Willingham got a more lucrative gig in 7 years.

Yep, that's the Catch-22. Any coach with the football savvy, drive, and moxie to succeed at Stanford is likely to be the kind of guy who will want to move on after he has had some success. 
We are going to be a stepping stone. The possible exception might be a Stanford alum. Like we have now.

Maybe you and Farm93 are correct; however, I think you don't appreciate that (i) Stanford is now paying multi-million dollars/year to the head FC, (ii) the allure of the institution recruiting itself to a target audience (regrettably, Shaw's only target audience, and (iii) the general lack of risk of "the 2:00 a.m. call" about your charges.

That's an awful appealing package.  And if you believe that a full house is very possible - Harbs did it in less than 4 years - then what's not to like?  In short, I suspect there are LOTS of good coaches out there who would be thrilled to make Stanford a long-term stop.

P.S.  As for Harbaugh, he accepted the Kansas job in like Year 2 or 3 at Stanford.  Why should I feel compelled to wish the guy well?  And btw, I confessed to only feeling good a wee bit!