[Mick]

I agree that we should think of roster management one year at a time rather than getting sucked in to thinking about three year projections for people who will face annual opportunities to leave. The problem I have is that even if we are simply optimizing for 2025 the evidence so far is that Cisse is a better receiver than Williams. I don't think it's a guarantee but if I had to bet I think Cisse would be the better receiver for us next year. Oh well.

These are supposed to be college students, not part of a roster to be "managed".  Of course I recognize that ship has sailed long ago, but it really kills me that this board is talking like it has given up all pretense that these are supposed to be student athletes not professional football players. 

BC

It seems to me we have two choices. Cling to the "student athlete" idea and be OK with 3-9 records every year. If we want to do better we have to (IMO) reluctantly realize that things have changed
and go with the flow.
So take your choice.

I don't think Andrew Luck would have taken the job with the idea that regular 3-9 seasons are acceptable. 9-3 seasons, I'm guessing, are what he's targeting. 

I think University leadership realizes that the environment has changed. Perhaps Mr. Luck provides political cover for doing what needs to be done to be part of the national football conversation. I'm hopeful that there's a substantial, unseen effort that is dragging Stanford football into where it needs to be to compete successfully. The next 12-24 months will either presage ongoing success or the lingering death of Stanford sports.

[Mick]

I agree that we should think of roster management one year at a time rather than getting sucked in to thinking about three year projections for people who will face annual opportunities to leave. The problem I have is that even if we are simply optimizing for 2025 the evidence so far is that Cisse is a better receiver than Williams. I don't think it's a guarantee but if I had to bet I think Cisse would be the better receiver for us next year. Oh well.

These are supposed to be college students, not part of a roster to be "managed".  Of course I recognize that ship has sailed long ago, but it really kills me that this board is talking like it has given up all pretense that these are supposed to be student athletes not professional football players. 

BC

It seems to me we have two choices. Cling to the "student athlete" idea and be OK with 3-9 records every year. If we want to do better we have to (IMO) reluctantly realize that things have changed
and go with the flow.
So take your choice.

I don't think Andrew Luck would have taken the job with the idea that regular 3-9 seasons are acceptable. 9-3 seasons, I'm guessing, are what he's targeting. 

I think University leadership realizes that the environment has changed. Perhaps Mr. Luck provides political cover for doing what needs to be done to be part of the national football conversation. I'm hopeful that there's a substantial, unseen effort that is dragging Stanford football into where it needs to be to compete successfully. The next 12-24 months will either presage ongoing success or the lingering death of Stanford sports.