[qwerty49]

For decades, Stanford has been the only home for true scholar-athletes. That may not be possible for football any more. In the past, Stanford has been able to recruit athletes who also value a Stanford degree. With football, players may have figured out they have a low probability of making into the NFL. Hence, better cash in while you can. The tradeoff is obvious.

Very true about the economics, and I think the concurrent nail in the coffin is the totally unregulated NIL/transfer infrastructure. It’s not a level playing field for us, for any number of institutional reasons, and we can’t compete for the elite athletes any more — certainly not with any consistency.

In this present context I’d actually be ok with us getting relegated to FCS or even Div2.  And I never thought I’d say that. But geez, times have changed so quickly.

[qwerty49]

For decades, Stanford has been the only home for true scholar-athletes. That may not be possible for football any more. In the past, Stanford has been able to recruit athletes who also value a Stanford degree. With football, players may have figured out they have a low probability of making into the NFL. Hence, better cash in while you can. The tradeoff is obvious.

Very true about the economics, and I think the concurrent nail in the coffin is the totally unregulated NIL/transfer infrastructure. It’s not a level playing field for us, for any number of institutional reasons, and we can’t compete for the elite athletes any more — certainly not with any consistency.

In this present context I’d actually be ok with us getting relegated to FCS or even Div2.  And I never thought I’d say that. But geez, times have changed so quickly.