09-07-2025, 06:31 PM
(09-07-2025, 05:04 PM)old spanish trail Wrote:(09-07-2025, 04:22 PM)qwerty49 Wrote: You both make excellent points.
Belaboring the obvious, good coaching and “having the horses” help a lot. And good coaching is obviously a combo of recruiting, development, motivation, X’s and O’s, and planning. “Having the horses” is important, but let’s remember we never went to a bowl game with Elway at QB.
In retrospect, we were blessed when EUTM came to town. It even coaxed a great performance out of Tavita in the Greatest Upset Ever. Those teams had both talent and grit.
And yes, Walsh got the most out of his QBs, IMHO.
Who’s really coaching our QBs now?
A guy who has never coached QB's, I think.
Quote:Thomas Merkle is in his sixth season on The Farm, having served a variety of roles on the football staff since the 2020 season. After five seasons as a graduate assistant and quality control analyst, he was promoted to the Kevin M. Hogan Quarterbacks Coach ahead of the 2025 season.
No stranger to Stanford football, Merkle began working with the offensive line in 2020 before focusing on wide receivers and gunners in 2021. He played an integral role in running drills during practice and providing scouting reports to position groups and the offense as a whole.
Merkle began his collegiate football career as a quarterback at Kenyon College in Ohio, where he set 14 conference and school records over the course of 40 starts under center. He was named the NCAC Rookie of the Year in 2016 and was selected to the All-Conference team in 2019.
Following his playing career, Merkle earned his Bachelor of Arts in History & German in 2020 from Kenyon College and recently completed his Master's Degree in Liberal Arts from Stanford.
https://gostanford.com/staff/thomas-merkle1
Eric
"the older we get the better we were"