Media Day Report - Printable Version

Media Day Report - Printable Version

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Media Day Report - Hank 91 - 08-02-2017

I wasn't able to get answers to very many of the questions posted here, and I probably should've known better than to solicit them. The format of the event isn't as Q&A heavy as you might think. Each team has 20 or 25 minutes on the main stage. What that looks like is the head coach on the main stage making an opening statement for a couple minutes and then taking questions while theÂ two players are in corners at the back of the room. I avoid the crush surrounding Shaw, assuming that I'll be able to talk to him during lunch, and instead talk to the players.

As you can imagine, there was a brobdingnagian crowd around McCaffrey last year, but it usually isn't like that. There were probably four or five people talking to each player this year, which was nice. I talked to Harrison Phillips for ten minutes, then Bryce Love for ten. The players and coaches then leave the stage and head immediately to other obligations -- fun and games with the Pac-12 Network (they were making slime this year; previous years have seen corn hole competitions, putting contests, and piñata whacking (the network botched the piñata thing tremendously; rather than have the players hitting their rival school piñata, they were swing at their own; so stupid)) interviews with various TV and radio outlets. After that's all done, they sit down for lunch at a Stanford table, and what transpires is more casual conversation than press conference. (The USC table was different. There were probably twenty to thirty reporters surrounding them, so it was definitely an extension of the earlier press conference.) There were three of us at the Stanford table -- Dave Lombardi, R.J. Abeytia, and me -- and two or three other reporters came and went as we were sitting there.

But like I say, it's more conversation than anything else. R.J. and David, who obviously are around the program a lot more than I am, talk often about how different Media Day Shaw is from In-Season Shaw. You've all seen his mid-week and post-game pressers -- he's cryptic, defensive, and even prickly -- but at Media Day he's relaxed, open, and honest. I have to say, he's great to talk to. I mentioned this on another thread, but I'll say it again here -- if you ever get to talk to him at an alumni function, ask him about the upset in 2007. He loves to talk about that. I've heard him talk about game planning, about things that happened during the game, about the reception when they returned to campus. All great stuff. So in general what I come away with each time is a general sense of the program and a deeper understanding of Coach Shaw. If there's a downside, it's this. I've never pretended to be a journalist (well, I do on Media Day, just so I can get that credential), but the more I talk to Shaw at events like this, the more I like him and the more proud I am that he represents my school. If you read my site regularly, you know that I'm almost never critical of Shaw or his decisions, and that's certainly because I've lost my objectivity in this regard. I like him.

Apparently the software only allows 8000 characters per post, so I'm breaking this up. What follows will be bulleted lists of what I took away from the day. I'll try to be clear which are general impressions and which are direct quotes.

Re: Media Day Report - Hank 91 - 08-02-2017

The players are amazing. I've been to Media Day five times now, and every single time I've been impressed by the players Shaw brings along with him, especially in comparison to the players from the other schools. When I mention this to Shaw, it always brings a smile to his face. These kids represent us well. In order, the players have been Andrew Luck, Jordan Richardson, Kevin Hogan, Blake Martinez, Kyle Murphy, Christian McCaffrey, Solomon Thomas, Bryce Love, and Harrison Phillips. Such great kids.
Harrison Phillips. He's ready for a great season. Last year's losses to the Washington schools still fester with him, and wants some revenge. I asked him about his injury season, and he said he gained a much deeper understanding of the game. He was assigned to scouting duty, so he sat with the coaches watching film of upcoming opponents and began to see the game through their eyes. He said that when he returned to the field last season, the result was that he was much better at picking up tendencies of opposing teams, both in scheme and technique. I asked if he could've had that conversation as a freshman, and he almost laughed.
Later on I asked him about something that's always intrigued me -- the defense's ability to make adjustments after the opening drive or two. He gave credit to the coaching staff, but then mentioned something I hadn't heard before. He said that the coaching staff trusts the defensive players and asks them what's happening on the field. He cited the UCLA game. The Bruins were facing a critical fourth down on their final drive, and the coaches were leaning towards a blitz of some sort. Phillips lobbied for standard pressure instead, no blitz, no designed stunt. He proposed that he and Thomas would just pin their ears back and play off each other -- if one got pushed inside, the other would stunt. It worked out, and Phillips was pretty proud of that. I tied that back to his injury year and asked if he thought that growth had given him the confidence to lobby like that, and he thought it had. Not only had he learned more football, he had gained a deeper connection with the coaching staff that made him comfortable in voicing his opinion.
He also talked about his recruitment. He said something interesting -- he said almost no school recruits in Nebraska because it's assumed that all the D1 talent in the state will flow to the University of Nebraska. His initial goal was to use football to get the best education he could. He was thinking Ivy League, but then he started getting better and options kept getting better. Once he was getting offers from the top football programs, in his words "there was no other choice."
I asked him about who the nastiest offensive linemen were that he faced, and he said that with the proliferation of spread offenses in the Pac-12, there aren't any. He said that it's really rare that he faces a guy who gets after him physically; instead guys are finessing him one way or another so the running back can slip by. He did say that he relishes going against the top guard a team has to offer and always lobbies for the staff to put him on that guy. Then I asked about which Stanford o-linemen are the nastiest, and he immediately went to Josh Garnett -- dirty, mean, and nasty were his words. On the current roster, he cited Nate Herbig as a guy who hates to be beaten and always wants an immediate rematch if he is.
This was probably my favorite story of the day. Someone asked about the influence of former players, and said that the coaches tell stories of past players all the time. In Shannon Turley's mind, David DeCastro is something of a legend. Apparently Turley tells stories about DeCastro, marveling at his strict adherence to his nutrition plan. Turley asked him if he was ever tempted to cheat and have dessert or something he shouldn't, and DeCastro replied, "I don't eat for taste." Food was fuel.
I asked him the difference between Randy Hart and Diron Reynolds. "Night and day." He said he loved them both, learned lots from both, respected both, but they went about things differently. They just approached the game differently.

Re: Media Day Report - Hank 91 - 08-02-2017

Bryce Love. I'm going to be rooting so hard for this guy this year because he's just such a great kid. Here are a few personality nuggets. He doesn't swim, figuring that if he were meant to swim he'd have been born with gills and a tail. He's a self-proclaimed mama's boy. Someone asked where he had gotten his new glasses, and he said he didn't pick them out, his mother had. He also claims to be the best chef on the team, though Phillips disputed this. Love responded that while he might cede that title, he is the undisputed team champion in Madden.
Love also claims to be the fastest player on the team. I asked if he was really faster than Isaiah Brandt-Sims, and he paused for minute before saying that if they were racing, he would still be the fastest. He then said they could come up with a pretty good relay team. His four would be Love, Brandt-Sims, Justin Reid, and Terrence Alexander. Who's the anchor? "It's gotta be me!"
I include this quote in the piece I posted on my site the other day, but here's something that struck me. As you might expect, he was getting lots of questions about McCaffrey. I asked if he understood the deeper legacy of Stanford running backs, and he didn't hesitate, rattling off all the names any of us would: "It's an honor. You look at all the great backs that have been here, from Tommy Vardell to Darin Nelson to Christian, Stepfan Taylor, Toby Gerhart. The list goes on and on. Greatness is here. I wouldn't say it's pressure, but it makes you want to live up to the standard that's been set."
He looks forward to being the feature back, but also spoke about what he called "the Trio": Love, Cameron Scarlett, and Trevor Speights. Love will definitely be returning kickoffs and hopes to return punts as well.
I've always been interested in how player perception of the program affects recruiting. You and I remember how bad the program once was, but not these kids. I asked Love about this. The first Stanford game he remembers is the Orange Bowl vs. Virginia Tech.

Re: Media Day Report - Hank 91 - 08-02-2017

Some specifics from Shaw. I asked if he had ever been around a team that had suffered as many injuries and as much turnover on the offensive line as last year -- "Not in my life." He rattled off the things we remember -- injuries, players flipping from one side to the other. I asked what he knew for sure about this year's group: He sees David Bright at left tackle, A.T. Hall at right tackle, and Nate Herbig at one of the guard spots. Camp will determine the other spots, but he expects a lot of continuity from last season.
I asked him about the benefit of the continuity he's had with the coaching staff, and he said you can't measure how important it's been. It helps in all aspects of the program. I also asked about the impact of Duane Akina, and this where he probably got the most enthusiastic. He described Akina as the consummate teacher, always stressing technique, always pushing his players towards greatness. This isn't breaking news, but we're lucky to have him.
He sees the Australia trip very much like a bowl game in the sense that it's a reward for the kids, there will be lots of activities for the players during the days leading up to the game. He mentioned that they've been planning for a long time, long before we got wind of the trip. They sent Matt Doyle to shadow Cal last season, so they have a good handle on what to expect, plus there's the added benefit that the students won't be in school yet. They won't have to worry about going to class when they get back, so recovery should be easier. All the players are pretty excited about this.
We've heard from Chryst that he's 100% and ready to go, but Shaw wouldn't go that far, saying instead that he hopes he'll be ready. He certainly didn't commit to anything.
I asked him what he thought about the bye week in general, and where he'd put it if he had a magic wand. Obviously he's glad to have one (he mentioned that USC doesn't this year) and glad that it's later in the year. I wondered if he'd rather have a true bye with two weeks between games rather than ten days on either side of a Thursday night game, and he agreed that would be preferred, but they're pretty used to managing the Thursday nights. As you know, he's not a brobdingnagian fan of those games. Is anyone?
I asked him about Mike Williams, and he acknowledged that this could be his year. He didn't want to place extra expectations on him, but I'd say he's still one to watch on the defensive line.
Speaking of expectations, I also wondered about player development and asked how often players either exceed or disappoint the coaching staff's expectations. Even though I told him not to mention names, he was still overly diplomatic: "I don't believe in placing expectations on players." Oh, well.
There's always been a bit of a rivalry between Harbaugh and Shaw, even though he does his best to downplay it to the media, but I know he's aware of Harbaugh's doing, especially in recruiting. Lombardi mentioned that he had run into Harbaugh while on vacation and said something like, "He was actually in a good mood." Shaw said, "Well, that's Jim. You never really know what you're gonna get with him." Somehow it felt a little personal, but that could be me just reading into it.
There was a discussion about past Stanford teams, and R.J. asked if he felt he needed to get Stanford to the playoffs in order for this run to feel like a success. His response was that while he's a brobdingnagian supporter of the playoff system and believes the deserving teams have been in it every year, he doesn't feel like that's the only way to measure success. He stated that some of his teams (Orange Bowl team, Fiesta Bowl team, last Rose Bowl team) were playing well enough at the end of the season to have competed with any team in the country. He talked about the Fiesta Bowl in terms that many fans wouldn't -- he saw at as a great end to Andrew Luck's career. I still believe it was probably the best game Luck ever played (three incompletions!) but maybe not the best end. I think it highlighted something about him that fans might never be able to understand. There's an understanding that wins and losses don't always tell you all you need to know. I asked him if he ever finished a season like that with any sense of disappointment or regret that the team had missed out on a championship opportunity for one reason or another, and again he wouldn't admit to that, choosing instead to focus on pride for what's accomplished rather than regret for what wasn't. I followed this with a question asking about the last time he felt overmatched going into a game (full story on the other thread), and after thinking for a second, he answered, "No, but I can tell you the most overmatched I've ever felt -- USC in 2007." Then he made important point, I think: "That was the most overmatched I've ever felt, and we won the game."
Finally, I asked him to look ahead to thirty years from now when he's retired and think about what he'd miss the most about the job -- coaching in a big game, running out of the tunnel, looking at film -- he said it would be the people. He talked about how much he loves talking to the kids, creating and maintaining relationships that last for years. He talked about getting phone calls from parents of kids who graduated years ago, just to catch up. It kind of underscored something I've felt for a while. I don't want this to sound like I'm comparing myself to Coach Shaw and what he does, but I tell people this all the time when I'm talking about what it's like to coach middle school basketball. What people see is a game once a week, but that's a relatively small percentage of what a team does, and the bonds that are formed during practice and team meetings last a lot longer than the season does. I've heard Kentucky's Coach Calipari talk about this. It's easy to be critical of Coach Cal, but I don't doubt the love he has for his players. In that sense, Coach Shaw seems to be similar.

Re: Media Day Report - stupac2 - 08-02-2017

Thanks for this, Hank! Really awesome, although I'm sure OF will be devastated by the tackle news.

(08-02-2017, 01:36 PM)Hank 91 link Wrote:"No, but I can tell you the most overmatched I've ever felt -- USC in 2009."

2007?

Quote:Finally, I asked him to look ahead to thirty years from now when he's retired and think about what he'd miss the most about the job -- coaching in a big game, running out of the tunnel, looking at film -- he said it would be the people. He talked about how much he loves talking to the kids, creating and maintaining relationships that last for years. He talked about getting phone calls from parents of kids who graduated years ago, just to catch up. It kind of underscored something I've felt for a while. I don't want this to sound like I'm comparing myself to Coach Shaw and what he does, but I tell people this all the time when I'm talking about what it's like to coach middle school basketball. What people see is a game once a week, but that's a relatively small percentage of what a team does, and the bonds that are formed during practice and team meetings last a lot longer than the season does. I've heard Kentucky's Coach Calipari talk about this. It's easy to be critical of Coach Cal, but I don't doubt the love he has for his players. In that sense, Coach Shaw seems to be similar.

Also a reason to think we're going to keep him for a long time, he's not talking about his NFL players calling him up.

Re: Media Day Report - Hank 91 - 08-02-2017

Yes, that should've been 2007. Fixed.

Re: Media Day Report - Bruce Wang - 08-02-2017

Bravo!

Love that anecdote about DeCastro.

House DeCastro: "We Do Not Eat For Taste"

Re: Media Day Report - CTcard - 08-02-2017

(08-02-2017, 01:36 PM)Hank 91 link Wrote:
Some specifics from Shaw. I asked if he had ever been around a team that had suffered as many injuries and as much turnover on the offensive line as last year -- "Not in my life." He rattled off the things we remember -- injuries, players flipping from one side to the other. I asked what he knew for sure about this year's group: He sees David Bright at left tackle, A.T. Hall at right tackle, and Nate Herbig at one of the guard spots. Camp will determine the other spots, but he expects a lot of continuity from last season.

This might be a newsy tidbit - or might just be an oversight.

It seems notable that all of the returning starters on the OL from the end of last year save one were singled out as likely starters by Shaw.
So, just maybe Burkett is less locked in at Center than we thought. (Chaffin?)
And maybe the two star frosh are slightly further from starting than we thought.

Hank...too modest again so I'll do it - Redrum - 08-02-2017

http://www.gomightycard.com/

If you liked this aboveÂ summary, offered gratis, bookmark Hank's site and check it regularly.Â He does what a lot of us would do if we weren't so lazy.Â Hank ain't lazy.Â And help with his book drive for at risk kids at his school.

Re: Media Day Report - terry - 08-02-2017

Great posts, Hank!

Re: Media Day Report - Langdude - 08-02-2017

Brilliant Hank. I (and hundreds of others) really appreciate this.

I wonder - what do you think about the fact that Love did not mention Milburn when naming the RB tradition at Stanford given that he is probably Love's closest comp? Perhaps as simple as it slipped his mind?

-m.

Re: Media Day Report - Hulk01 - 08-02-2017

Loved these, Mighty Hank.Â Thank you.

Re: Media Day Report - DC 86 - 08-02-2017

Thanks, Hank91.

Re: Media Day Report - fullmetal - 08-02-2017

Great interview and conversation snippets :)Â Wish the Hart/Reynolds answer had more juicy tidbits, but current players are naturally less apt to talk about their coaches.

"I don't eat for taste." -- what a professional.

Love left off Ernie Nevers as well, so Glyn is in good company.

Again, great job and thanks for all the hard work Hank!

Re: Media Day Report -- GGREAT REPORTING - ADPATERSON - 08-02-2017

Super... and better than the childish banter on Pac12N -- just too eager to be cool.Â

Some interpretations from your insights:
1) Better than 50% chance Chryst is ready after Rice, for U$C.
2) OLine better than last year.Â Too soon to tell on any Frosh.
3) RB rotation matches Spring game:Â Love, Scarlett, Speights... so far.
4) Philips is the D Captain;Â Mike Williams will get reps to show what he can do.Â Troyens a good test.
5) Not worried about LBs and DBs.Â LOT O' DEPTH.Â Coach Akina was the best pickup of the decade.Â
6) Plenty of speed. Interesting that Reid is at Olympic level with Love and Sims.Â IBSims was WA state 100m champ for 2 yrs in HS.

Shaw needs to alter the playbook to match the TE talent we have; more double TE sets in split and slot formations.Â
If you have Irwin, Love or Codington, and 2 TEs out in combo (one from slot), Somebody is open.Â And TEs block down field for Love.
Last year we had the WORST Passing Offense in the league -- #12 -- and we still finished 10-3.Â

I will say it:Â the 2013 and 2014 defenses were the best we ever fielded, and this one is going to be right there.Â
Look at the way this schedule sets up:Â
* The Home slate is Awesome.Â
* Best to play SC early, that's when we beat them.Â
* Build up in Sept thru Oregonians to UW on Nov 10 is ideally ramped, with some cushion in Oct.
* Clearly some road trap games, but nothing like Eugene and Seattle, or South Bend.Â
* Finishing with BearPud and Our Lady is pure cream.Â
Not everyone has a schedule where you start the season setup to sieze a Playoff IF YOU WIN.Â
MOST other teams need others to stumble.Â We win, we are IN.

Re: Media Day Report - fullmetal - 08-02-2017

Stop it ADPATERSON, you're getting me all hyped upÂ 8)Â It's going to be a busy fall, planning all these watch parties...

Re: Media Day Report - Hulk01 - 08-02-2017

Interesting what you said about coaching.Â I coached once in my life, a championship Little League team in my small Oregon hometown in the summer of 968.Â I now live two zones away from there, yet at least once every two years I hear from the left fielder and second baseman.Â And I still regale people with three or four favorite stories from that summer. e kids.Â

If I'd known the lifelong impact that those mere three months of coaching would have--on those kids and me--I would have chosen coaching as a career.Â In my experience, there is nothing like it.

Re: Media Day Report - martyup - 08-02-2017

Thanks Hank.Â Very interesting reading.Â I'm getting so fired up for football season to start . . . I just want to hit someone.

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Re: Media Day Report - Hank 91 - 08-02-2017

(08-02-2017, 03:10 PM)Langdude link Wrote:Brilliant Hank. I (and hundreds of others) really appreciate this.

I wonder - what do you think about the fact that Love did not mention Milburn when naming the RB tradition at Stanford given that he is probably Love's closest comp? Perhaps as simple as it slipped his mind?

-m.

I noticed that omission as well, but I don't think it meant anything. As I said, he was just rattling off names off the top of his head, so I'm sure Milburn just slipped his mind. I was impressed that he came up with Nelson and Vardell, so there's that.

Re: Media Day Report - Mick - 08-03-2017

(08-02-2017, 04:41 PM)Hulk01 link Wrote:Interesting what you said about coaching.Â I coached once in my life, a championship Little League team in my small Oregon hometown in the summer of 968.Â I now live two zones away from there, yet at least once every two years I hear from the left fielder and second baseman.Â And I still regale people with three or four favorite stories from that summer. e kids.Â

If I'd known the lifelong impact that those mere three months of coaching would have--on those kids and me--I would have chosen coaching as a career.Â In my experience, there is nothing like it.

I have to agree, Hulk.Â I coached about twenty teams between my two sons.Â I even liked dealing with the crazy parents.Â I never coached a competitive/club team, so I didn't have many of those.Â But I can remember two to five anecdotes from each team which, to this day, still give me a chuckle or bring a tear to my eye or reinforced a life lesson.