[Farm93]

Thanks for the summary.  I don't put much stock into press conferences, because "success" in them requires a skill that is largely orthogonal to success on the field, except inasmuch as it is easier to have a "good" press conference when things are going well, so psychological impact aside, it doesn't move the needle much.  And, while recruiting has been profoundly disappointing, I also don't think it moves the needle much except for the near term impact.  The transition is going to be much harder for a guy coming from Sacramento to Stanford than either a big name, or even a coach moving from your average P5 program (even as an assistant) to another average P5 program.  While someone like PrimeTime can start recruiting on a dime at a school like Colorado, even a big name coach would struggle (re)starting the engine of recruiting at Stanford, given required classes, admissions, etc.  The proof will be in the 2024 (and later) recruiting.  We should look to get back into the top half of the conference next year, and the top 3 (out of 10 teams that no longer include UCLA and USC) after that.

BC

It would be nice to move up to the top half in 2024, but that feels like a tough ask.  With NIL and the portal any head coach change will create significant roster gaps.  Relatively easy for athletes to leave via the portal and very hard for the new coach to use the portal.   Even if a new coach is pretty good at getting HS recruits, then it probably will be in year 3 or 4 that those first recruits could credibly compete against other teams in the conference.   And that assumes those recruits don't transfer or jump to the NFL.

FWIW - The transfer portal reality will make Stanford a less desirable coaching stop than it was in the past.    At Stanford a 4 year turnaround story is probably the best case scenario.   At a number of FBS programs a coach could now implement a program turnaround in year 1, or year 2 at the latest.

Given the portal's impact I am not sure about top 3 by 2025.   Presumably some players that opted to stay this year will realize they want to transfer to their second choice coming out of HS than stay at Stanford with Taylor.   However, getting to the top 3 in the new Pac-10 will be really important as I am not sure the new Pac-12 will survive the decade.

FWIW - I was really concerned about referencing his success at Sac State with walk-ons.  I hope Taylor can find a few walk-ons, but I also hope he has another strategy for boosting roster depth.

[Farm93]

Thanks for the summary.  I don't put much stock into press conferences, because "success" in them requires a skill that is largely orthogonal to success on the field, except inasmuch as it is easier to have a "good" press conference when things are going well, so psychological impact aside, it doesn't move the needle much.  And, while recruiting has been profoundly disappointing, I also don't think it moves the needle much except for the near term impact.  The transition is going to be much harder for a guy coming from Sacramento to Stanford than either a big name, or even a coach moving from your average P5 program (even as an assistant) to another average P5 program.  While someone like PrimeTime can start recruiting on a dime at a school like Colorado, even a big name coach would struggle (re)starting the engine of recruiting at Stanford, given required classes, admissions, etc.  The proof will be in the 2024 (and later) recruiting.  We should look to get back into the top half of the conference next year, and the top 3 (out of 10 teams that no longer include UCLA and USC) after that.

BC

It would be nice to move up to the top half in 2024, but that feels like a tough ask.  With NIL and the portal any head coach change will create significant roster gaps.  Relatively easy for athletes to leave via the portal and very hard for the new coach to use the portal.   Even if a new coach is pretty good at getting HS recruits, then it probably will be in year 3 or 4 that those first recruits could credibly compete against other teams in the conference.   And that assumes those recruits don't transfer or jump to the NFL.

FWIW - The transfer portal reality will make Stanford a less desirable coaching stop than it was in the past.    At Stanford a 4 year turnaround story is probably the best case scenario.   At a number of FBS programs a coach could now implement a program turnaround in year 1, or year 2 at the latest.

Given the portal's impact I am not sure about top 3 by 2025.   Presumably some players that opted to stay this year will realize they want to transfer to their second choice coming out of HS than stay at Stanford with Taylor.   However, getting to the top 3 in the new Pac-10 will be really important as I am not sure the new Pac-12 will survive the decade.

FWIW - I was really concerned about referencing his success at Sac State with walk-ons.  I hope Taylor can find a few walk-ons, but I also hope he has another strategy for boosting roster depth.