[Hank 91]

I'll feel more confident when Shaw and staff pull in a couple top-20 classes without the benefit of Voldemort PR or following BCS game appearing seasons.

But what if those things started happening on a more regular basis? Let's say we finish this season at 8-4 and for the first time in three years don't send a player to New York for the Voldemort ceremony. We won't become a niche team, because the 2013 team should be great, on a level with what we've gotten used to the past two seasons. And 2014? I can't wait for that team. With Barry J. Sanders running behind Peat, Murphy, Garnett and the rest? Good lord.

The recruiting will take care of itself. All of us here have years of history -- much of it abysmal -- to look back on, but what if you're a sixteen-year-old blue-chip recruit who's just starting to receive interest from the elite schools in America. When the envelope arrives from Stanford University, he doesn't think back to the lean years because during the time he's been paying attention to college football and imagining which jersey he might someday wear, Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw have carefully crafted the brand of Stanford Football and fielded some great teams. That kid won't see a difference between Stanford and USC and Florida and Texas and Alabama -- but his parents will. Even as visions of the NFL dance in his head, his parents will be imagining a Stanford diploma hanging on the wall.

This team is here to stay. Believe it.

[Hank 91]

I'll feel more confident when Shaw and staff pull in a couple top-20 classes without the benefit of Voldemort PR or following BCS game appearing seasons.

But what if those things started happening on a more regular basis? Let's say we finish this season at 8-4 and for the first time in three years don't send a player to New York for the Voldemort ceremony. We won't become a niche team, because the 2013 team should be great, on a level with what we've gotten used to the past two seasons. And 2014? I can't wait for that team. With Barry J. Sanders running behind Peat, Murphy, Garnett and the rest? Good lord.

The recruiting will take care of itself. All of us here have years of history -- much of it abysmal -- to look back on, but what if you're a sixteen-year-old blue-chip recruit who's just starting to receive interest from the elite schools in America. When the envelope arrives from Stanford University, he doesn't think back to the lean years because during the time he's been paying attention to college football and imagining which jersey he might someday wear, Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw have carefully crafted the brand of Stanford Football and fielded some great teams. That kid won't see a difference between Stanford and USC and Florida and Texas and Alabama -- but his parents will. Even as visions of the NFL dance in his head, his parents will be imagining a Stanford diploma hanging on the wall.

This team is here to stay. Believe it.