06-14-2023, 09:51 AM
Speaking for myself, I don't think comparing this class to whatever Shaw's best years were makes any sense. Those classes that were so good - on paper at least - were the product of a football program that had proven it could do a lot of winning on the field.
To me, you need to give Taylor a handicap of extra recruiting class points when comparing to Shaw at this point. Stanford has not done a lot of winning on the football field of late and had to change coaches as a result. There was nothing inspiring about Stanford Football the last two years especially, and it has been in slow decline for 5+ years.
So yes, it's possible High School recruiting isn't as challenging at the moment given transfer portal and NIL, but I don't think anyone expected Stanford to be so appealing to so many Power 5 level recruits before the first snap of the Troy Taylor era even happens.
You need to be a fire breathing dragon of a competitor on many vectors to win in College Football, and recruiting is a very important one. The early results suggest Taylor is one on this most important front.
To me, you need to give Taylor a handicap of extra recruiting class points when comparing to Shaw at this point. Stanford has not done a lot of winning on the football field of late and had to change coaches as a result. There was nothing inspiring about Stanford Football the last two years especially, and it has been in slow decline for 5+ years.
So yes, it's possible High School recruiting isn't as challenging at the moment given transfer portal and NIL, but I don't think anyone expected Stanford to be so appealing to so many Power 5 level recruits before the first snap of the Troy Taylor era even happens.
You need to be a fire breathing dragon of a competitor on many vectors to win in College Football, and recruiting is a very important one. The early results suggest Taylor is one on this most important front.