1 hour ago
Most estimates say they are paying Urgoji between $750k and a million, with $960k seeming to show up most often.
[rant_font] Stanford hired a first-time athletic director, a first-time football GM, and a first-time head coach. John Donahoe, Andrew Luck and Tavita Pritchard. All Stanford alumni. Three chummy names, three people with zero experience in their roles.
Meanwhile:
— Stanford ranks near the bottom of the ACC in estimated football player spending.
— The administration has expressly ruled out general university funds for direct athlete compensation. Even public schools like Kal impose no such handicap on their team.
— Stanford expressly imposes “tight limits” on admitting transfer athletes. Its 2026 transfer class ranked dead last in the ACC by a wide margin: six players, all from elite schools and all three-stars. Since others mentioned Kal, note that they brought in 32 players, including seven four-stars.
— The recruit-and-develop strategy requires (a) great recruiting, and (b) keeping the players you develop. David Bailey left for Texas Tech, where his NIL deal reportedly exceeded $3 million. That is the market Stanford has to compete in, but they simply aren't.
That's all fine, college football is tragically broken, but if Stanford wants to stand on principle, they should do it at the FCS level. It's just hard to swallow all the big turn-around talk when the administration's actions seems to suggest (scream) an unwavering commitment not to change anything that is producing year after year of sub-Stanford results. [/rant_font]
[rant_font] Stanford hired a first-time athletic director, a first-time football GM, and a first-time head coach. John Donahoe, Andrew Luck and Tavita Pritchard. All Stanford alumni. Three chummy names, three people with zero experience in their roles.
Meanwhile:
— Stanford ranks near the bottom of the ACC in estimated football player spending.
— The administration has expressly ruled out general university funds for direct athlete compensation. Even public schools like Kal impose no such handicap on their team.
— Stanford expressly imposes “tight limits” on admitting transfer athletes. Its 2026 transfer class ranked dead last in the ACC by a wide margin: six players, all from elite schools and all three-stars. Since others mentioned Kal, note that they brought in 32 players, including seven four-stars.
— The recruit-and-develop strategy requires (a) great recruiting, and (b) keeping the players you develop. David Bailey left for Texas Tech, where his NIL deal reportedly exceeded $3 million. That is the market Stanford has to compete in, but they simply aren't.
That's all fine, college football is tragically broken, but if Stanford wants to stand on principle, they should do it at the FCS level. It's just hard to swallow all the big turn-around talk when the administration's actions seems to suggest (scream) an unwavering commitment not to change anything that is producing year after year of sub-Stanford results. [/rant_font]