[Mick]

I wouldn't use basketball as the measuring stick. They need five players a year, with one stud and one with stud potential. Football needs 4x to 5x what basketball gets in a given year. Basketball goes 8-10 deep with five starters. Football has 22 starters and some combination of 44 players on special teams, along with 22 backups who will likely play between "some" and "a lot" when the starters get injured. Football is ravenous for talent, and a decision needs to be made on whether the talent can be attracted.

As for NFL vs. the 40 year decision, they're not mutually exclusive. I would argue that Stanford degree is exceptionally valuable. A few numbers I would trot out in front of every recruit:

- 1.6% of all NCAA football players get drafted. A like amount become UDFAs.
- Less than half of all NFL players play more than five years. 
- Most billionaire alumni, Stanford is tied for second.
- 1,127 companies founded by Stanford alumni who graduated in a 12 year span (2006 to 2017)
- 5th in most Fortune 500 CEOs
- 3rd most alums of any university on Forbes 400
- #6 highest post-college salaries, early and mid career. Next highest D1 FBS school outside of the military academies was Cal at #20.

Best Universities and Colleges | Payscale

By the way, in case you wanted to know how Harbaugh turned around the program in such a short time, you might consider this Forbes article:

The Secrets Behind Stanford's Emergence as a Football Powerhouse

[Mick]

I wouldn't use basketball as the measuring stick. They need five players a year, with one stud and one with stud potential. Football needs 4x to 5x what basketball gets in a given year. Basketball goes 8-10 deep with five starters. Football has 22 starters and some combination of 44 players on special teams, along with 22 backups who will likely play between "some" and "a lot" when the starters get injured. Football is ravenous for talent, and a decision needs to be made on whether the talent can be attracted.

As for NFL vs. the 40 year decision, they're not mutually exclusive. I would argue that Stanford degree is exceptionally valuable. A few numbers I would trot out in front of every recruit:

- 1.6% of all NCAA football players get drafted. A like amount become UDFAs.
- Less than half of all NFL players play more than five years. 
- Most billionaire alumni, Stanford is tied for second.
- 1,127 companies founded by Stanford alumni who graduated in a 12 year span (2006 to 2017)
- 5th in most Fortune 500 CEOs
- 3rd most alums of any university on Forbes 400
- #6 highest post-college salaries, early and mid career. Next highest D1 FBS school outside of the military academies was Cal at #20.

Best Universities and Colleges | Payscale

By the way, in case you wanted to know how Harbaugh turned around the program in such a short time, you might consider this Forbes article:

The Secrets Behind Stanford's Emergence as a Football Powerhouse