[msqueri]

Agreed that DeMeco Ryans would be very unrealistic for Stanford. More broadly, the NFL assistant ranks are a questionable place to look for a college coach. They're different ecosystems if not different sports entirely. There's some overlap between networks and skill sets but there's enough divergence to ensure major culture shock and/or non-transferrable skills going from one to the other. Even if one were to want to go to the pros to find a coach, somebody who is already on the list for NFL head coach jobs is an audacious place to look (not that we should avoid audacity, but have to be clear-eyed about what the reaction will be). More realistic would be New England Patriots inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo (who has some very impressive leadership/smart guy credentials to boot). Mayo is presumably much further from an NFL head coaching opportunity than Ryans, so maybe we'd be attractive to him. I'd have both on my list to put feelers out to but I wouldn't spend much time focusing on the pro ranks, more likely to get a bite and to find a good fit in the college ranks.

[msqueri]

Agreed that DeMeco Ryans would be very unrealistic for Stanford. More broadly, the NFL assistant ranks are a questionable place to look for a college coach. They're different ecosystems if not different sports entirely. There's some overlap between networks and skill sets but there's enough divergence to ensure major culture shock and/or non-transferrable skills going from one to the other. Even if one were to want to go to the pros to find a coach, somebody who is already on the list for NFL head coach jobs is an audacious place to look (not that we should avoid audacity, but have to be clear-eyed about what the reaction will be). More realistic would be New England Patriots inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo (who has some very impressive leadership/smart guy credentials to boot). Mayo is presumably much further from an NFL head coaching opportunity than Ryans, so maybe we'd be attractive to him. I'd have both on my list to put feelers out to but I wouldn't spend much time focusing on the pro ranks, more likely to get a bite and to find a good fit in the college ranks.