[Austroturf]

The NFL departures of guys like Mills, Sarell, Dalman, Parkinson, and Fehoko is what makes most clear Stanford players no longer have loyalty or sense of team. Those aren't departures other programs see. A healthy program might have lost two of those guys.

or they thought that they would not get much better/improve their draft position by staying, contributing factors to that are likely the coaching staff and the prospects for the team.  Hopefully the next coaching staff has a positive impact on those factors.

Yes, this is my thinking, too.  As I watched players exit the program with eligibility on the table, it was clear that something was awry, especially when their draft prospects were not excellent.  In my view, it started when Meeks declared early after the 2017 season.  

Meeks had a stellar freshman year and played a major role in some important Stanford victories in 2015 (two picks vs. Wazzu, pick-six in the Iowa game).  I saw him as an anchor in a great defensive backfield during the coming years.  But he showed no significant improvement in his sophomore and junior years and, in fact, seemed to be regressing.  Clearly, as an insider with a view of the team none of us had, Meeks decided that 1) he wasn't going to improve any further in the Stanford program and 2) there weren't going to be any more Rose Bowls to shine in; so he cashed his chips, forewent his senior year, jumped into the draft and then failed to be drafted and had to sign as an undrafted free agent with the Jaguars.    

Meeks bounced around the league, saw a minimal amount of action in 2020 and now is CB for the St. Louis Battlehawks.  Maybe he wasn't NFL material after all.  But he showed enough ability in his freshman year that an excellent college football career should have been his destiny.  He was definitely NOT ready for the draft after his junior year; but nothing in the program compelled him to stay.  And that story has repeated itself multiple times since then.

[Austroturf]

The NFL departures of guys like Mills, Sarell, Dalman, Parkinson, and Fehoko is what makes most clear Stanford players no longer have loyalty or sense of team. Those aren't departures other programs see. A healthy program might have lost two of those guys.

or they thought that they would not get much better/improve their draft position by staying, contributing factors to that are likely the coaching staff and the prospects for the team.  Hopefully the next coaching staff has a positive impact on those factors.

Yes, this is my thinking, too.  As I watched players exit the program with eligibility on the table, it was clear that something was awry, especially when their draft prospects were not excellent.  In my view, it started when Meeks declared early after the 2017 season.  

Meeks had a stellar freshman year and played a major role in some important Stanford victories in 2015 (two picks vs. Wazzu, pick-six in the Iowa game).  I saw him as an anchor in a great defensive backfield during the coming years.  But he showed no significant improvement in his sophomore and junior years and, in fact, seemed to be regressing.  Clearly, as an insider with a view of the team none of us had, Meeks decided that 1) he wasn't going to improve any further in the Stanford program and 2) there weren't going to be any more Rose Bowls to shine in; so he cashed his chips, forewent his senior year, jumped into the draft and then failed to be drafted and had to sign as an undrafted free agent with the Jaguars.    

Meeks bounced around the league, saw a minimal amount of action in 2020 and now is CB for the St. Louis Battlehawks.  Maybe he wasn't NFL material after all.  But he showed enough ability in his freshman year that an excellent college football career should have been his destiny.  He was definitely NOT ready for the draft after his junior year; but nothing in the program compelled him to stay.  And that story has repeated itself multiple times since then.