[Hank 91]

• 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.
  

[Hank 91]

• 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.