[BostonCard]

I'm hoping Taylor can attract more football-first or even just more well-rounded players than Shaw's eggheads. I've heard an alarming number of anecdotes about recent or current Stanford players who COULD play a fifth year at Stanford and get a Masters of Liberal Arts or a Masters of Communications or something but want something more substantial like a Masters of Management Science & Engineering and, when they can't  get into that program look elsewhere. We need to get to a point where reaching your football pinnacle at Stanford is again the default and players then reverse engineer an academic plan from there, rather than what we've seen in recent years of players trying to put themselves in position as soon as possible to maximize decision space to go elsewhere, as the destination they have in mind is something post-Stanford. A bit more short-term, football-focused, team-oriented thinking won't make the players worse off (maybe some take super senior quarters or get masters degrees that aren't the most they could have stretched themselves academically, while the group as a whole will be more cohesive and likely to succeed at football, which is to say have a fun undergrad experience) and will make the football team better.

I think you are pining for a bygone era, and I don't just mean vis a vis Stanford.  What you are describing is a "Stanford Football uber alles" because a "football first" player is going to think heavily of other opportunities (eg the portal).  You can't just have guys who prize football over everything, because come their fifth year (or earlier), they will be looking for a bigger stage at a school more excited about football, playing in front of larger crowds (even if Taylor gets us back to the Orange Bowl heyday, it still won't compare to even a down year in the Big House) with boosters who can offer them more generous NIL deals.  And this isn't just a Stanford thing; we have a pretty good idea of what people do without friction to keep them in their existing school.  So, while I get the desire to move the pendulum away from the idea of football being one of many priorities for students, going too far in the other direction will dramatically devalue one of the differentiating features of Stanford compared to pretty much any other school.  For a football first player, we are indistinguishable from a morass of mediocre P5 programs.

BC

[BostonCard]

I'm hoping Taylor can attract more football-first or even just more well-rounded players than Shaw's eggheads. I've heard an alarming number of anecdotes about recent or current Stanford players who COULD play a fifth year at Stanford and get a Masters of Liberal Arts or a Masters of Communications or something but want something more substantial like a Masters of Management Science & Engineering and, when they can't  get into that program look elsewhere. We need to get to a point where reaching your football pinnacle at Stanford is again the default and players then reverse engineer an academic plan from there, rather than what we've seen in recent years of players trying to put themselves in position as soon as possible to maximize decision space to go elsewhere, as the destination they have in mind is something post-Stanford. A bit more short-term, football-focused, team-oriented thinking won't make the players worse off (maybe some take super senior quarters or get masters degrees that aren't the most they could have stretched themselves academically, while the group as a whole will be more cohesive and likely to succeed at football, which is to say have a fun undergrad experience) and will make the football team better.

I think you are pining for a bygone era, and I don't just mean vis a vis Stanford.  What you are describing is a "Stanford Football uber alles" because a "football first" player is going to think heavily of other opportunities (eg the portal).  You can't just have guys who prize football over everything, because come their fifth year (or earlier), they will be looking for a bigger stage at a school more excited about football, playing in front of larger crowds (even if Taylor gets us back to the Orange Bowl heyday, it still won't compare to even a down year in the Big House) with boosters who can offer them more generous NIL deals.  And this isn't just a Stanford thing; we have a pretty good idea of what people do without friction to keep them in their existing school.  So, while I get the desire to move the pendulum away from the idea of football being one of many priorities for students, going too far in the other direction will dramatically devalue one of the differentiating features of Stanford compared to pretty much any other school.  For a football first player, we are indistinguishable from a morass of mediocre P5 programs.

BC