[lex24]

4. Recruit football players as football players and to be football players (recruit players based on who can be admitted and help football team the most, less talk of 40 year decision, Stanford Men, etc. and more talk of team, brotherhood, football goals, etc.)

I mean, sure, but these things are largely platitudes, and while maybe identifying the right "phenotype" will help at the margins, are you really going to not recruit the next Bryce Love just because he wants to be a pediatrician more than he wants to be a football player?  Do you seriously turn down the next Andrew Luck just because he is the quintessential "Stanford man", so much so that he walked away from the sport and a multi-million dollar contract?  And, of course, recruiting a football player to be a football player can also hurt you; Christian McCaffrey, perhaps the quintessential football first player was so football first that he didn't play in the Sun Bowl so as to avoid getting injured and jeopardize his professional football self.

You recruit guys who can play football, and if they have outside ambitions, you lean into that as a selling point (because, let's face it, it is the biggest source of differentiation from other teams, and how we can attract players who might otherwise go to USC, Notre Dame, or Michigan), and if not, you lean into the brotherhood and the possibility of resurrecting the program.  When they are here, sure, you try to instill a culture of camaraderie and brotherhood, but these guys are not stupid; they won't all eat the BS.

The best you can do is to align incentives.  Develop players so that those with eligibility can get the sense that staying at Stanford will improve their draft stock, or, at least, not hurt it. Become better as a team so that players aren't forced to chose between being competitive elsewhere and staying being a basement-dweller at Stanford. Develop a pathway for players to get a master's degree at Stanford rather than forcing them to chose between brotherhood and football goals at Stanford and getting brotherhood and football goals AND a master's degree elsewhere.

BC

Signing McCaffrey hurt Stanford?    C’mon, BC. That’s just  silly. 

I’ll say if  right now - all you Christian McCaffreys out there - Come Join the Band. And If you want to opt out of a lower tier bowl a year after leading Stanford to a PAC whatever the hell # is left title and a Rose Bowl win after being one of the most exciting players in Stanford history - you have my blessing….

BTW- I don’t think that’s why he opted out of the Sun Bowl.  But I’ve argued that one enough.

[lex24]

4. Recruit football players as football players and to be football players (recruit players based on who can be admitted and help football team the most, less talk of 40 year decision, Stanford Men, etc. and more talk of team, brotherhood, football goals, etc.)

I mean, sure, but these things are largely platitudes, and while maybe identifying the right "phenotype" will help at the margins, are you really going to not recruit the next Bryce Love just because he wants to be a pediatrician more than he wants to be a football player?  Do you seriously turn down the next Andrew Luck just because he is the quintessential "Stanford man", so much so that he walked away from the sport and a multi-million dollar contract?  And, of course, recruiting a football player to be a football player can also hurt you; Christian McCaffrey, perhaps the quintessential football first player was so football first that he didn't play in the Sun Bowl so as to avoid getting injured and jeopardize his professional football self.

You recruit guys who can play football, and if they have outside ambitions, you lean into that as a selling point (because, let's face it, it is the biggest source of differentiation from other teams, and how we can attract players who might otherwise go to USC, Notre Dame, or Michigan), and if not, you lean into the brotherhood and the possibility of resurrecting the program.  When they are here, sure, you try to instill a culture of camaraderie and brotherhood, but these guys are not stupid; they won't all eat the BS.

The best you can do is to align incentives.  Develop players so that those with eligibility can get the sense that staying at Stanford will improve their draft stock, or, at least, not hurt it. Become better as a team so that players aren't forced to chose between being competitive elsewhere and staying being a basement-dweller at Stanford. Develop a pathway for players to get a master's degree at Stanford rather than forcing them to chose between brotherhood and football goals at Stanford and getting brotherhood and football goals AND a master's degree elsewhere.

BC

Signing McCaffrey hurt Stanford?    C’mon, BC. That’s just  silly. 

I’ll say if  right now - all you Christian McCaffreys out there - Come Join the Band. And If you want to opt out of a lower tier bowl a year after leading Stanford to a PAC whatever the hell # is left title and a Rose Bowl win after being one of the most exciting players in Stanford history - you have my blessing….

BTW- I don’t think that’s why he opted out of the Sun Bowl.  But I’ve argued that one enough.