[Goose]

I think in today's world QB's in particular want to go where they think they can shine, win a lot of games and have a chance to sign a big contract. I am amazed we even managed to sign Bachmier.

I totally agree. I would add that many of them want that "big contract" soon. They want to start on day 1. That makes coaching QBs difficult because in order to keep them happy you may need to play them even if there aren't "ready" and are not actually the best QB on the team at that moment in time. If you don't, they leave. Bachmier had a good situation because the "early entry" option allowed him to kick the tires and move on if he didn't think the Stanford opportunity was good enough. Bachmier also benefited from the previous BYU starter being involved in a scandal that forced him to leave BYU. That eventual outcome was not a given when Bachmier elected to leave Stanford. It may be BYU made promises based on what was going on behind the scenes, but given what the public knew at the time Bachmier wasn't a lock to be a starter.

Considering we have a head coach who was a great quarterback in his time and a GM who was perhaps an even better one I am not buying we can't coach them,

First, neither the head coach nor the GM have a primary job description of coaching QBs. Second, the success rate of very highly talented ex-players operating as coaches is not good, very mixed at best. They often had no trouble at all executing the physical mechanics of their position because they simply had tons of raw talent. There is no reason at all to believe these players know how to coach up others, particularly when those others can't come close to doing what someone like Andrew Luck (or better example, John Elway) could do instinctively from day one. Pass rush getting close, no problem, just throw it 65 yards across your body on the run :-). Players who can do that have no idea what it is like for guys who can't do that. That is why players like Tavita are often more successful coaches. They know what it takes to survive (and somewhat thrive) without the gifts of a star.

but I do think we are going to have a lot of problems trying to recruit top QBs after these last years of wandering in the desert.  We really need to hit the Portal hard and bring in a number of proven OLine guys.  We can't win unless we can give our QB time to throw and block consistently for the running game.  Harbaugh turned things around this way, but we don't have time to recruit high school kids and turn them into good OLine guys over two more years.

Agree, but Stanford right now is also not a great destination for OLine guys. Most of the guys in the portal want to move up in visibility and publicity, not down. The number of players who can actually help and will be willing to come is IMO very small. They also have to get accepted. Right now, filling the large talent gaps we have team-wide through the portal is a reach. We are almost certainly relegated to targets of opportunity/best available athlete choices. They may not be OLine players.

[Goose]

I think in today's world QB's in particular want to go where they think they can shine, win a lot of games and have a chance to sign a big contract. I am amazed we even managed to sign Bachmier.

I totally agree. I would add that many of them want that "big contract" soon. They want to start on day 1. That makes coaching QBs difficult because in order to keep them happy you may need to play them even if there aren't "ready" and are not actually the best QB on the team at that moment in time. If you don't, they leave. Bachmier had a good situation because the "early entry" option allowed him to kick the tires and move on if he didn't think the Stanford opportunity was good enough. Bachmier also benefited from the previous BYU starter being involved in a scandal that forced him to leave BYU. That eventual outcome was not a given when Bachmier elected to leave Stanford. It may be BYU made promises based on what was going on behind the scenes, but given what the public knew at the time Bachmier wasn't a lock to be a starter.

Considering we have a head coach who was a great quarterback in his time and a GM who was perhaps an even better one I am not buying we can't coach them,

First, neither the head coach nor the GM have a primary job description of coaching QBs. Second, the success rate of very highly talented ex-players operating as coaches is not good, very mixed at best. They often had no trouble at all executing the physical mechanics of their position because they simply had tons of raw talent. There is no reason at all to believe these players know how to coach up others, particularly when those others can't come close to doing what someone like Andrew Luck (or better example, John Elway) could do instinctively from day one. Pass rush getting close, no problem, just throw it 65 yards across your body on the run :-). Players who can do that have no idea what it is like for guys who can't do that. That is why players like Tavita are often more successful coaches. They know what it takes to survive (and somewhat thrive) without the gifts of a star.

but I do think we are going to have a lot of problems trying to recruit top QBs after these last years of wandering in the desert.  We really need to hit the Portal hard and bring in a number of proven OLine guys.  We can't win unless we can give our QB time to throw and block consistently for the running game.  Harbaugh turned things around this way, but we don't have time to recruit high school kids and turn them into good OLine guys over two more years.

Agree, but Stanford right now is also not a great destination for OLine guys. Most of the guys in the portal want to move up in visibility and publicity, not down. The number of players who can actually help and will be willing to come is IMO very small. They also have to get accepted. Right now, filling the large talent gaps we have team-wide through the portal is a reach. We are almost certainly relegated to targets of opportunity/best available athlete choices. They may not be OLine players.