11-07-2022, 01:17 PM
Let's ask a very simple question: Would the Stanford starters in the 2016 Rose Bowl (2015 season) not enrolled at Stanford if NIL and the transfer portal were factors then?
Keep in mind, Stanford was a Top 10 program when they were recruited to Stanford, and Stanford doesn't lose guys with eligibility to the transfer portal because a key reason they attend Stanford is for the Stanford degree. They leave as grad transfers after they can't get into a Stanford graduate school.
If the answer is no, which I suspect is the case, NIL and the transfer portal aren't valid reasons Stanford can't compete in football at a high level. That 2015 Stanford team was better than the best the Pac-12 has to offer today, IMO, and today's teams have NIL and transfer portal rosters.
It would be easier for Stanford without its self-imposed restrictions, but the gap between being Georgia and just being able to compete on a level footing with Washington State in November is not a product of using NIL and the portal and not. it's way more fundamental than that.
Keep in mind, Stanford was a Top 10 program when they were recruited to Stanford, and Stanford doesn't lose guys with eligibility to the transfer portal because a key reason they attend Stanford is for the Stanford degree. They leave as grad transfers after they can't get into a Stanford graduate school.
If the answer is no, which I suspect is the case, NIL and the transfer portal aren't valid reasons Stanford can't compete in football at a high level. That 2015 Stanford team was better than the best the Pac-12 has to offer today, IMO, and today's teams have NIL and transfer portal rosters.
It would be easier for Stanford without its self-imposed restrictions, but the gap between being Georgia and just being able to compete on a level footing with Washington State in November is not a product of using NIL and the portal and not. it's way more fundamental than that.