[winflop]

I was just pointing out that Montgomery was an aberration of several magnitudes and now we have fallen back to almost pre-Montgomery performance levels.  When he arrived, MBB at Stanford had been nearly moribund for the previous four decades.  All I remember that he inherited from Dr.Tom (what a pretentious twit) was Todd Lichti, admittedly a valuable seed for future growth.

Stanford football had had a wonderful array of successful seasons and glorious victories over the four decades prior to Harbaugh arriving.  When he did get to Stanford it was at probably the lowest point in the history of the program, or very nearly so.  When Montgomery arrived it was at a relatively high point.  Dr. Tom had gotten some excitement stirring and many people I knew were disappointed that he left and felt certain that his departure indicated that MBB at Stanford just couldn't compete effectively.  What Montgomery achieved was as great an accomplishment as Harbaugh, other that the fact that it was gradual and fairly steady and unfolded over 15 years in order to reach the perception of perennial power.

I take heart from the fact that Dawkins has been able to recruit strong players.  It convinces me that if we can find a better coach we will be able to return to very respectable levels.  But to think someone like Montgomery or Harbaugh can be identified just by being thorough in the search is delusional.  A lot of luck is involved and I will not be surprised if we have to kiss a few more frogs before we find someone like that.  That is why it is so frustrating that we let Dawkins hang around much longer than needed in order to know that it was not going to work out.  We have some frog-kissing to do.  Let's get on with it.

I'm not sure how many frogs really need to be kissed.  There seem to be a lot more very talented and successful mid-major coaches that I recall from the past, especially around the time Monty was hired.  I'd like to think that Bowlsby - for all his bumbling of the Trent Johnson situation - saw something in Harbaugh that distinguished him from other candidates, and I'd like to think that was also the case when Monty was hired.  The bigger question for me is whether Muir really knows what those distinguishing characteristics are that will make a new coach successful at Stanford.  I guess we won't know for at least three years - provide that Muir does what needs to be done now and moves forward.

#FreeJohnny

[winflop]

I was just pointing out that Montgomery was an aberration of several magnitudes and now we have fallen back to almost pre-Montgomery performance levels.  When he arrived, MBB at Stanford had been nearly moribund for the previous four decades.  All I remember that he inherited from Dr.Tom (what a pretentious twit) was Todd Lichti, admittedly a valuable seed for future growth.

Stanford football had had a wonderful array of successful seasons and glorious victories over the four decades prior to Harbaugh arriving.  When he did get to Stanford it was at probably the lowest point in the history of the program, or very nearly so.  When Montgomery arrived it was at a relatively high point.  Dr. Tom had gotten some excitement stirring and many people I knew were disappointed that he left and felt certain that his departure indicated that MBB at Stanford just couldn't compete effectively.  What Montgomery achieved was as great an accomplishment as Harbaugh, other that the fact that it was gradual and fairly steady and unfolded over 15 years in order to reach the perception of perennial power.

I take heart from the fact that Dawkins has been able to recruit strong players.  It convinces me that if we can find a better coach we will be able to return to very respectable levels.  But to think someone like Montgomery or Harbaugh can be identified just by being thorough in the search is delusional.  A lot of luck is involved and I will not be surprised if we have to kiss a few more frogs before we find someone like that.  That is why it is so frustrating that we let Dawkins hang around much longer than needed in order to know that it was not going to work out.  We have some frog-kissing to do.  Let's get on with it.

I'm not sure how many frogs really need to be kissed.  There seem to be a lot more very talented and successful mid-major coaches that I recall from the past, especially around the time Monty was hired.  I'd like to think that Bowlsby - for all his bumbling of the Trent Johnson situation - saw something in Harbaugh that distinguished him from other candidates, and I'd like to think that was also the case when Monty was hired.  The bigger question for me is whether Muir really knows what those distinguishing characteristics are that will make a new coach successful at Stanford.  I guess we won't know for at least three years - provide that Muir does what needs to be done now and moves forward.

#FreeJohnny