[cardbored]

Stanford has a losing football culture. The transition into a winning football culture, if that is to occur, cannot take place without conflict, hurt feelings, and changes in staffing and the broader institutional culture. From ESPN's reporting, we know that someone leaked privileged and confidential "documents" concerning two investigations. We do not know the nature or provenance of those documents, including whether they were final reports, preliminary reports, drafts, summaries, or even forgeries. Even accepting the reporting at face value, it is possible that the compliance officer is niggling or flat-out wrong in her rules interpretations. It is possible that one or more of these staffers does have poor personal hygiene and thus "smells," dresses inappropriately, or has insufficient interest in football. Given our recent football history, it may be that several folks around the football department have insufficient interest in football, and some may even be there to undermine the football program.

Stanford doesn't strike me as a place conducive to misogyny. People who are unwilling to put their names to accusations for fear of losing their jobs are cowards and unprincipled. Among the most egregious abuses of the modern press is its reliance on anonymous sources. That Taylor is still employed after two investigations and with a losing record implies that the university is not protecting him for nefarious reasons.

Taylor may or may not be the best person to serve as the head coach for Stanford football. That remains to be seen. But nothing in this ESPN report persuades me that he should be terminated because of these supposed accusations.

[cardbored]

Stanford has a losing football culture. The transition into a winning football culture, if that is to occur, cannot take place without conflict, hurt feelings, and changes in staffing and the broader institutional culture. From ESPN's reporting, we know that someone leaked privileged and confidential "documents" concerning two investigations. We do not know the nature or provenance of those documents, including whether they were final reports, preliminary reports, drafts, summaries, or even forgeries. Even accepting the reporting at face value, it is possible that the compliance officer is niggling or flat-out wrong in her rules interpretations. It is possible that one or more of these staffers does have poor personal hygiene and thus "smells," dresses inappropriately, or has insufficient interest in football. Given our recent football history, it may be that several folks around the football department have insufficient interest in football, and some may even be there to undermine the football program.

Stanford doesn't strike me as a place conducive to misogyny. People who are unwilling to put their names to accusations for fear of losing their jobs are cowards and unprincipled. Among the most egregious abuses of the modern press is its reliance on anonymous sources. That Taylor is still employed after two investigations and with a losing record implies that the university is not protecting him for nefarious reasons.

Taylor may or may not be the best person to serve as the head coach for Stanford football. That remains to be seen. But nothing in this ESPN report persuades me that he should be terminated because of these supposed accusations.