11-07-2022, 10:40 AM
I think OF and I are talking past each other - "Stanford's self imposed restrictions aside." I was pointing to the reality of those self imposed restrictions. I made the point in another thread that Monty was the first to show us a path to success in a major sport, despite the smaller recruiting pool/academic challenges. Slide rightfully points out that Nine and now Esquer have done likewise with baseball. Football is arguably harder given the number of student athletes needed to compete, but Harbaugh showed us a path to success that Shaw was able to ride.
I'm not defeatist, but I do think that this new era of NIL and the "one way" transfer portal make it harder for Stanford to be a perennial top 20 power (as we were starting to become) . That was my point in disagreeing with OF. We have a smaller pool to begin with and now it's even harder to compete given an administration that will not enter this new arms race. Should Stanford ever decide that we are going to build an NIL cooperative, we could likely raise more money than most any other university, but that would require a massive shift by the administration. I don't see that happening and put more faith/hope in changes/improvements being made to govern NIL. It was never meant to be a recruiting tool. As for the transfer portal, a shift here would require a shift in academic standards that is highly unlikely. The number of transfers into the university is small to begin with and the number of football players likely to make it over that academic hurdle is small.
Matt, I agree that we should be able to compete with the likes of Oregon St, Minnesota, etc... with a reasonable top 50-60 team, but "Stanford's self imposed restrictions" (academics, no NIL coop and a one way portal) make it harder. As for Shaw, I firmly believe he's not the answer or the leader we need to try and navigate this new era.
I'm not defeatist, but I do think that this new era of NIL and the "one way" transfer portal make it harder for Stanford to be a perennial top 20 power (as we were starting to become) . That was my point in disagreeing with OF. We have a smaller pool to begin with and now it's even harder to compete given an administration that will not enter this new arms race. Should Stanford ever decide that we are going to build an NIL cooperative, we could likely raise more money than most any other university, but that would require a massive shift by the administration. I don't see that happening and put more faith/hope in changes/improvements being made to govern NIL. It was never meant to be a recruiting tool. As for the transfer portal, a shift here would require a shift in academic standards that is highly unlikely. The number of transfers into the university is small to begin with and the number of football players likely to make it over that academic hurdle is small.
Matt, I agree that we should be able to compete with the likes of Oregon St, Minnesota, etc... with a reasonable top 50-60 team, but "Stanford's self imposed restrictions" (academics, no NIL coop and a one way portal) make it harder. As for Shaw, I firmly believe he's not the answer or the leader we need to try and navigate this new era.