[JohnR34231]

Simple:  Using Alabama football as some sort of benchmark or comparison to Stanford football is as foolhardy as Alabama using Stanford institutionally and /or academically as a benchmark or comparison.  They are different universes.  

That’s all.  It doesn’t mean Stanford can’t and shouldn’t do better - recruiting and otherwise.

This will not come as a surprise, but I disagree completely. 

For generations, Alabama was a defense first team, especially with Bryant and Stallings. While they had a few great players on offense (Starr, Namath, Stabler), they didn't exactly light it up. No one, not once in the history of Alabama football, did someone win the Hizeman. Why, because they focused on a killer defense and an offense good enough to control the ball and win.

When he was hired, Saban too was a defensive coach, and his first teams in Tuscaloosa had the best defense in the country. A perfect fit, one might say. Then college football changed. What did Saban do? He adapted and changed his philosophy and that of Alabama football to what was happening in college football. What happened, he continued to win and several of his players succeeded enough to win that dreaded trophy at the expense, sadly of a couple of our players.

Similarly, Saban has put together a recruiting juggernaut, and continually brings in the best kids in the country that fit Alabama. Stanford has something incredibly unique to offer. Do we have a recruiting juggernaut that continually brings in the best kids in the country that fit Stanford, the kids that are good to great players who have the academic capabilities to make it on the Farm? I don't follow recruiting policy and procedures well enough, but there have been plenty of threads discussing how recruiting has changed because of new rules, yet Stanford remains mired in the past.

I guess what frustrates me the most, is Stanford has a built in competitive advantage. We are simply the best academic institution that plays Power 5 football. Harbaugh rebuilt the program around that, he understood that advantage. Is it too hard to ask that we look outside our program to see what policies and procedures are successful elsewhere, then tailor those efforts to best suit our particular competitive advantage? 

Foolhardy you say to compare Stanford to Alabama. In one aspect of my livelihood, I work with a group of CEOs with who own a vastly different array of businesses that serve a variety of markets, from high tech and private equity, to service, to manufacturing, to HVAC distribution, etc.. The beauty of our program is that they all benchmark each other, are willing to learn from one another, and implement best practices and strategies tailored to their unique situations. Is that not translatable to college football. Methinks it is.

I don’t think Harbaugh built Stanford around their academic reputation.  He pushed limits and boundaries. (For example, and please  correct me if I’m wrong on this - but I recall many being uncomfortable with Harbaugh over committing with recruits - and then pulling some commitments ). He also had Bowlsby.  A football guy.  I don’t for a second believe Harbaugh could have sustained. But I may be wrong. I also believe losing Bowlsby was a much bigger blow than losing Harbaugh. 

 As for Stanford being mired in the past that may be, unfortunately, true.  My question is whether it’s a Shaw issue or an institutional issue. Or perhaps a bit of both.  Maybe someone on the board knows. 

You are right Stanford has something unique to offer.  And they need to exploit that.  No question.  But Stanford will never be able to consistently have top 10 much less top 1-3 recruiting classes.  It’s just a function of numbers.

The only Pac-12 school,that has the history etc to potentially compete with Bama on the recruiting trail is SC.  And they aren’t even close to Bama right now.

I just think using Saban and Bama as any kind of “mark” is off base.

I recall tutoring a kid once who had been recruited by Harbaugh. He said JH showed up at his school and gave him a big pitch about what a great propspect he was and how much Stanford needed him, and how successful they were going to be. He got around to asking to see the kid's transcript. The kid hands it to him. Harbaugh blanched a bit and said we'll have to get back to you. That was the last he heard.
Not a dumb kid, but one who had no interest in academics.
Bottom line, I don't think JH was trying to build Stanford around its academic reputation.

[JohnR34231]

Simple:  Using Alabama football as some sort of benchmark or comparison to Stanford football is as foolhardy as Alabama using Stanford institutionally and /or academically as a benchmark or comparison.  They are different universes.  

That’s all.  It doesn’t mean Stanford can’t and shouldn’t do better - recruiting and otherwise.

This will not come as a surprise, but I disagree completely. 

For generations, Alabama was a defense first team, especially with Bryant and Stallings. While they had a few great players on offense (Starr, Namath, Stabler), they didn't exactly light it up. No one, not once in the history of Alabama football, did someone win the Hizeman. Why, because they focused on a killer defense and an offense good enough to control the ball and win.

When he was hired, Saban too was a defensive coach, and his first teams in Tuscaloosa had the best defense in the country. A perfect fit, one might say. Then college football changed. What did Saban do? He adapted and changed his philosophy and that of Alabama football to what was happening in college football. What happened, he continued to win and several of his players succeeded enough to win that dreaded trophy at the expense, sadly of a couple of our players.

Similarly, Saban has put together a recruiting juggernaut, and continually brings in the best kids in the country that fit Alabama. Stanford has something incredibly unique to offer. Do we have a recruiting juggernaut that continually brings in the best kids in the country that fit Stanford, the kids that are good to great players who have the academic capabilities to make it on the Farm? I don't follow recruiting policy and procedures well enough, but there have been plenty of threads discussing how recruiting has changed because of new rules, yet Stanford remains mired in the past.

I guess what frustrates me the most, is Stanford has a built in competitive advantage. We are simply the best academic institution that plays Power 5 football. Harbaugh rebuilt the program around that, he understood that advantage. Is it too hard to ask that we look outside our program to see what policies and procedures are successful elsewhere, then tailor those efforts to best suit our particular competitive advantage? 

Foolhardy you say to compare Stanford to Alabama. In one aspect of my livelihood, I work with a group of CEOs with who own a vastly different array of businesses that serve a variety of markets, from high tech and private equity, to service, to manufacturing, to HVAC distribution, etc.. The beauty of our program is that they all benchmark each other, are willing to learn from one another, and implement best practices and strategies tailored to their unique situations. Is that not translatable to college football. Methinks it is.

I don’t think Harbaugh built Stanford around their academic reputation.  He pushed limits and boundaries. (For example, and please  correct me if I’m wrong on this - but I recall many being uncomfortable with Harbaugh over committing with recruits - and then pulling some commitments ). He also had Bowlsby.  A football guy.  I don’t for a second believe Harbaugh could have sustained. But I may be wrong. I also believe losing Bowlsby was a much bigger blow than losing Harbaugh. 

 As for Stanford being mired in the past that may be, unfortunately, true.  My question is whether it’s a Shaw issue or an institutional issue. Or perhaps a bit of both.  Maybe someone on the board knows. 

You are right Stanford has something unique to offer.  And they need to exploit that.  No question.  But Stanford will never be able to consistently have top 10 much less top 1-3 recruiting classes.  It’s just a function of numbers.

The only Pac-12 school,that has the history etc to potentially compete with Bama on the recruiting trail is SC.  And they aren’t even close to Bama right now.

I just think using Saban and Bama as any kind of “mark” is off base.

I recall tutoring a kid once who had been recruited by Harbaugh. He said JH showed up at his school and gave him a big pitch about what a great propspect he was and how much Stanford needed him, and how successful they were going to be. He got around to asking to see the kid's transcript. The kid hands it to him. Harbaugh blanched a bit and said we'll have to get back to you. That was the last he heard.
Not a dumb kid, but one who had no interest in academics.
Bottom line, I don't think JH was trying to build Stanford around its academic reputation.