[OutsiderFan]

To my complete and utter shock from email I received from Stanford Football:

Two Cardinal – Ari Patu and Jaden Slocum – from this class will enroll for the spring quarter. They will become the first two in program history to enroll in a full-time quarter before their freshman season.

Many of us have been wondering if/when Stanford would keep up with the Joneses in college football by allowing some early enrollees.  We have our answer. Spring 2021.

I know many of you have decried this kind of move as antithetical to Stanford's "everyone comes in together" historical more, but I have always seen it as yet another self-imposed roadblock to recruiting. As someone who was a mid-year transfer in both undergrad and grad school, I get the challenge, but it's not the end of the world for the new guys.  And in this case, some guys, most frequently, QBs will finally get to have a Spring practice before their Frosh season, which is a good way to get ostensibly the best players in your program on the field as soon as possible.

Kudos to David Shaw for finally pushing the school to bend a little on the early enrollee front.

[OutsiderFan]

To my complete and utter shock from email I received from Stanford Football:

Two Cardinal – Ari Patu and Jaden Slocum – from this class will enroll for the spring quarter. They will become the first two in program history to enroll in a full-time quarter before their freshman season.

Many of us have been wondering if/when Stanford would keep up with the Joneses in college football by allowing some early enrollees.  We have our answer. Spring 2021.

I know many of you have decried this kind of move as antithetical to Stanford's "everyone comes in together" historical more, but I have always seen it as yet another self-imposed roadblock to recruiting. As someone who was a mid-year transfer in both undergrad and grad school, I get the challenge, but it's not the end of the world for the new guys.  And in this case, some guys, most frequently, QBs will finally get to have a Spring practice before their Frosh season, which is a good way to get ostensibly the best players in your program on the field as soon as possible.

Kudos to David Shaw for finally pushing the school to bend a little on the early enrollee front.

[Goose]

Kudos to David Shaw for finally pushing the school to bend a little on the early enrollee front.

I am not sure this is now "policy" or just a potentially one-time experiment. AFAIK, no statement on that has been released (yet). Did I miss it or is it still unknown?

[Goose]

Kudos to David Shaw for finally pushing the school to bend a little on the early enrollee front.

I am not sure this is now "policy" or just a potentially one-time experiment. AFAIK, no statement on that has been released (yet). Did I miss it or is it still unknown?

[SamuelMcF]

OF, you missed the prior thread on this! https://thecardboard.org/board/showthread.php?tid=21381

As far as we know, this discussion was happening for a couple years now. According to Shaw in a presser, Covid weirdness and the paucity of students on campus for the spring made this the perfect time for a "test run." It seems like something he wants to stay, and hopefully not just a one-off. (And would be big for our recruiting - we've missed out on studs because they were dead-set on enrolling early.)

[SamuelMcF]

OF, you missed the prior thread on this! https://thecardboard.org/board/showthread.php?tid=21381

As far as we know, this discussion was happening for a couple years now. According to Shaw in a presser, Covid weirdness and the paucity of students on campus for the spring made this the perfect time for a "test run." It seems like something he wants to stay, and hopefully not just a one-off. (And would be big for our recruiting - we've missed out on studs because they were dead-set on enrolling early.)

[needle]

The more I think about it, this doesn’t go far enough. The football frosh should be allowed to enroll in winter quarter. What are they doing right now, assuming they finished HS in December?

[needle]

The more I think about it, this doesn’t go far enough. The football frosh should be allowed to enroll in winter quarter. What are they doing right now, assuming they finished HS in December?

[BostonCard]

The more I think about it, this doesn’t go far enough. The football frosh should be allowed to enroll in winter quarter. What are they doing right now, assuming they finished HS in December?

Why?  Because other schools do it?  Because not doing this might cause us to miss out on recruits who really, really want to start school early? This seems like something that is being driven purely by athletics and a desire for the student athletes to learn to improve their football (and for us to not lose out on them), not by "student-athletics" or any effort to either to improve their academic or social experience.

BC

[BostonCard]

The more I think about it, this doesn’t go far enough. The football frosh should be allowed to enroll in winter quarter. What are they doing right now, assuming they finished HS in December?

Why?  Because other schools do it?  Because not doing this might cause us to miss out on recruits who really, really want to start school early? This seems like something that is being driven purely by athletics and a desire for the student athletes to learn to improve their football (and for us to not lose out on them), not by "student-athletics" or any effort to either to improve their academic or social experience.

BC

[VB Card]

The more I think about it, this doesn’t go far enough. The football frosh should be allowed to enroll in winter quarter. What are they doing right now, assuming they finished HS in December?

 

The football team isn't even returning to campus for another 2 weeks and will only end up being on campus for less than a month of winter quarter. No need for these guys to enroll in winter quarter, let them just get a taste of Stanford with the spring quarter and spring practice.

[VB Card]

The more I think about it, this doesn’t go far enough. The football frosh should be allowed to enroll in winter quarter. What are they doing right now, assuming they finished HS in December?

 

The football team isn't even returning to campus for another 2 weeks and will only end up being on campus for less than a month of winter quarter. No need for these guys to enroll in winter quarter, let them just get a taste of Stanford with the spring quarter and spring practice.

[OutsiderFan]

OF, you missed the prior thread on this! https://thecardboard.org/board/showthread.php?tid=21381

As far as we know, this discussion was happening for a couple years now. According to Shaw in a presser, Covid weirdness and the paucity of students on campus for the spring made this the perfect time for a "test run." It seems like something he wants to stay, and hopefully not just a one-off. (And would be big for our recruiting - we've missed out on studs because they were dead-set on enrolling early.)

Sorry. Was just reacting to the email I received and figured it was newsworthy because it came from an official source.  Should have realized it was put out on the internet long before the message I saw was sent and checked board to see if it was already discussed.

In any case, how do other schools on quarters do early enrollees for football? Will Spring Practice start before Spring quarter does, so Spring enrollees will only get the second half of Spring Practice? And even if they aren't enrolled, what prevents them from working with the Football program in some unofficial capacity before they are enrolled?

[OutsiderFan]

OF, you missed the prior thread on this! https://thecardboard.org/board/showthread.php?tid=21381

As far as we know, this discussion was happening for a couple years now. According to Shaw in a presser, Covid weirdness and the paucity of students on campus for the spring made this the perfect time for a "test run." It seems like something he wants to stay, and hopefully not just a one-off. (And would be big for our recruiting - we've missed out on studs because they were dead-set on enrolling early.)

Sorry. Was just reacting to the email I received and figured it was newsworthy because it came from an official source.  Should have realized it was put out on the internet long before the message I saw was sent and checked board to see if it was already discussed.

In any case, how do other schools on quarters do early enrollees for football? Will Spring Practice start before Spring quarter does, so Spring enrollees will only get the second half of Spring Practice? And even if they aren't enrolled, what prevents them from working with the Football program in some unofficial capacity before they are enrolled?

[BobK]

Spring practice this year is late March start date
Shaw spoke about the early enrolled last week in his press conference and his LOI zoom

[BobK]

Spring practice this year is late March start date
Shaw spoke about the early enrolled last week in his press conference and his LOI zoom

[Papa John]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

[Papa John]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

[slide]

on a Shaw controllable decision, how about allowing Spring Official Visits?  

[two assumptions:  NCAA allows Spring Official Visits starting April 15 and SCC COVID protocol would allow such visits.]

[slide]

on a Shaw controllable decision, how about allowing Spring Official Visits?  

[two assumptions:  NCAA allows Spring Official Visits starting April 15 and SCC COVID protocol would allow such visits.]

[Jamesy]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

The biggest issue (IMO) is that pretty much 100% of students live on campus. Where are you going to put these early enrollees? There isn't enough turnover to house them and even then, they'd be scattered throughout campus.

[Jamesy]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

The biggest issue (IMO) is that pretty much 100% of students live on campus. Where are you going to put these early enrollees? There isn't enough turnover to house them and even then, they'd be scattered throughout campus.

[SamuelMcF]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

The biggest issue (IMO) is that pretty much 100% of students live on campus. Where are you going to put these early enrollees? There isn't enough turnover to house them and even then, they'd be scattered throughout campus.

Considering we'd only be talking about a tiny handful of early enrollees for just football, I don't know how much of a problem that would be. Shaw himself said in his presser that we're not talking about the whole football freshman class - it would just be a few guys whom admissions has determined "are ready for the next step early." You can't find what, 2-3 doubles somewhere in the spring? Total?

[SamuelMcF]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

The biggest issue (IMO) is that pretty much 100% of students live on campus. Where are you going to put these early enrollees? There isn't enough turnover to house them and even then, they'd be scattered throughout campus.

Considering we'd only be talking about a tiny handful of early enrollees for just football, I don't know how much of a problem that would be. Shaw himself said in his presser that we're not talking about the whole football freshman class - it would just be a few guys whom admissions has determined "are ready for the next step early." You can't find what, 2-3 doubles somewhere in the spring? Total?

[Treebound]

I can see this as a Stanford test with Covid, but it will likely be hard to keep going once things open up.  You would likely need to offer early enrollment to all students as Papa John suggested and I don't think that will sit well with student affairs given the focus on freshmen orientation in a normal school year.  

That being said, the arms race is on as $C offered my two oldest children early admission and free tuition if they skipped their senior year of high school and became trojans.  Neither was a recruited athlete, but that was an interesting offer.  Thankfully, they both matriculated to Stanford and very much enjoyed their senior year of high school.

[Treebound]

I can see this as a Stanford test with Covid, but it will likely be hard to keep going once things open up.  You would likely need to offer early enrollment to all students as Papa John suggested and I don't think that will sit well with student affairs given the focus on freshmen orientation in a normal school year.  

That being said, the arms race is on as $C offered my two oldest children early admission and free tuition if they skipped their senior year of high school and became trojans.  Neither was a recruited athlete, but that was an interesting offer.  Thankfully, they both matriculated to Stanford and very much enjoyed their senior year of high school.

[82lsju]

I can see this as a Stanford test with Covid, but it will likely be hard to keep going once things open up.  You would likely need to offer early enrollment to all students as Papa John suggested and I don't think that will sit well with student affairs given the focus on freshmen orientation in a normal school year.  

with the implementation of the new "residential neighborhoods" for undergrad housing this coming fall I wonder if that changes the emphasis on frosh orientation, although in the Q&A it sounds like all frosh (except those who want to live in a theme house that takes frosh) will be in all frosh dorms with no more four class dorms

https://resx.stanford.edu/?mkt_tok=eyJpI...yRu7LPpOd8

[82lsju]

I can see this as a Stanford test with Covid, but it will likely be hard to keep going once things open up.  You would likely need to offer early enrollment to all students as Papa John suggested and I don't think that will sit well with student affairs given the focus on freshmen orientation in a normal school year.  

with the implementation of the new "residential neighborhoods" for undergrad housing this coming fall I wonder if that changes the emphasis on frosh orientation, although in the Q&A it sounds like all frosh (except those who want to live in a theme house that takes frosh) will be in all frosh dorms with no more four class dorms

https://resx.stanford.edu/?mkt_tok=eyJpI...yRu7LPpOd8

[BostonCard]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

The biggest issue (IMO) is that pretty much 100% of students live on campus. Where are you going to put these early enrollees? There isn't enough turnover to house them and even then, they'd be scattered throughout campus.

Considering we'd only be talking about a tiny handful of early enrollees for just football, I don't know how much of a problem that would be. Shaw himself said in his presser that we're not talking about the whole football freshman class - it would just be a few guys whom admissions has determined "are ready for the next step early." You can't find what, 2-3 doubles somewhere in the spring? Total?

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I'm not sure openning something to a tiny handful of early enrollees in football is healthy.  As misguided as the letter to the Stanford Daily complaining about extra "benefits" that athletes accrue was, the more that the experience between student athletes and non-athlete students diverges, the louder the complaints we will hear about special treatment for athletes.

BC

[BostonCard]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

The biggest issue (IMO) is that pretty much 100% of students live on campus. Where are you going to put these early enrollees? There isn't enough turnover to house them and even then, they'd be scattered throughout campus.

Considering we'd only be talking about a tiny handful of early enrollees for just football, I don't know how much of a problem that would be. Shaw himself said in his presser that we're not talking about the whole football freshman class - it would just be a few guys whom admissions has determined "are ready for the next step early." You can't find what, 2-3 doubles somewhere in the spring? Total?

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I'm not sure openning something to a tiny handful of early enrollees in football is healthy.  As misguided as the letter to the Stanford Daily complaining about extra "benefits" that athletes accrue was, the more that the experience between student athletes and non-athlete students diverges, the louder the complaints we will hear about special treatment for athletes.

BC

[needle]

A HS student graduates in December but cannot enroll in college until more than two months later? 

It seems like they would have limited opportunities to get ahead academically during this time period (unless there are some fully remote classes they can take, which...can vary widely in quality of experience, to say the least), and they also might be missing out on the structure/safety of a well-managed strength and conditioning program. By only allowing early enrollment in the spring quarter, it seems to create a mostly wasteful late Dec.-mid-March time period for these students.

[needle]

A HS student graduates in December but cannot enroll in college until more than two months later? 

It seems like they would have limited opportunities to get ahead academically during this time period (unless there are some fully remote classes they can take, which...can vary widely in quality of experience, to say the least), and they also might be missing out on the structure/safety of a well-managed strength and conditioning program. By only allowing early enrollment in the spring quarter, it seems to create a mostly wasteful late Dec.-mid-March time period for these students.

[VB Card]

A HS student graduates in December but cannot enroll in college until more than two months later? 

It seems like they would have limited opportunities to get ahead academically during this time period (unless there are some fully remote classes they can take, which...can vary widely in quality of experience, to say the least), and they also might be missing out on the structure/safety of a well-managed strength and conditioning program. By only allowing early enrollment in the spring quarter, it seems to create a mostly wasteful late Dec.-mid-March time period for these students.

 

LOL you're complaining about them not having anything to do for three months? I'm sure they're ecstatic. Doing their own workouts and enjoying their final downtime before heading off to a grueling next 4-5 years.

[VB Card]

A HS student graduates in December but cannot enroll in college until more than two months later? 

It seems like they would have limited opportunities to get ahead academically during this time period (unless there are some fully remote classes they can take, which...can vary widely in quality of experience, to say the least), and they also might be missing out on the structure/safety of a well-managed strength and conditioning program. By only allowing early enrollment in the spring quarter, it seems to create a mostly wasteful late Dec.-mid-March time period for these students.

 

LOL you're complaining about them not having anything to do for three months? I'm sure they're ecstatic. Doing their own workouts and enjoying their final downtime before heading off to a grueling next 4-5 years.

[82lsju]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

The biggest issue (IMO) is that pretty much 100% of students live on campus. Where are you going to put these early enrollees? There isn't enough turnover to house them and even then, they'd be scattered throughout campus.

Considering we'd only be talking about a tiny handful of early enrollees for just football, I don't know how much of a problem that would be. Shaw himself said in his presser that we're not talking about the whole football freshman class - it would just be a few guys whom admissions has determined "are ready for the next step early." You can't find what, 2-3 doubles somewhere in the spring? Total?

and there is always the turnover of spaces from students studying abroad spring quarter so I'd think they can find a few rooms...

[82lsju]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

The biggest issue (IMO) is that pretty much 100% of students live on campus. Where are you going to put these early enrollees? There isn't enough turnover to house them and even then, they'd be scattered throughout campus.

Considering we'd only be talking about a tiny handful of early enrollees for just football, I don't know how much of a problem that would be. Shaw himself said in his presser that we're not talking about the whole football freshman class - it would just be a few guys whom admissions has determined "are ready for the next step early." You can't find what, 2-3 doubles somewhere in the spring? Total?

and there is always the turnover of spaces from students studying abroad spring quarter so I'd think they can find a few rooms...

[needle]

LOL you're complaining about them not having anything to do for three months? I'm sure they're ecstatic. Doing their own workouts and enjoying their final downtime before heading off to a grueling next 4-5 years.

Uh, not every kid has the type of wonderful upbringing/circumstances where "downtime" is just a carefree experience. I don't know anything about any of the recruits individually, but one attends a HS where 94.7% of the kids are considered economically disadvantaged. For a certain category of kid, not having a structure in place like school can really be disadvantageous.

[needle]

LOL you're complaining about them not having anything to do for three months? I'm sure they're ecstatic. Doing their own workouts and enjoying their final downtime before heading off to a grueling next 4-5 years.

Uh, not every kid has the type of wonderful upbringing/circumstances where "downtime" is just a carefree experience. I don't know anything about any of the recruits individually, but one attends a HS where 94.7% of the kids are considered economically disadvantaged. For a certain category of kid, not having a structure in place like school can really be disadvantageous.

[chrisk]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

The biggest issue (IMO) is that pretty much 100% of students live on campus. Where are you going to put these early enrollees? There isn't enough turnover to house them and even then, they'd be scattered throughout campus.

Considering we'd only be talking about a tiny handful of early enrollees for just football, I don't know how much of a problem that would be. Shaw himself said in his presser that we're not talking about the whole football freshman class - it would just be a few guys whom admissions has determined "are ready for the next step early." You can't find what, 2-3 doubles somewhere in the spring? Total?

and there is always the turnover of spaces from students studying abroad spring quarter so I'd think they can find a few rooms...

No study abroad this spring, but at least frosh and sophs won’t be on campus

[chrisk]

New thread so I'll re-chime in. I think this policy should be extended to all students. A number of universities allow early enrollment for non-athletes who complete their admissions requirements in semester seven. We already have early admissions in December, so that piece of the puzzle is set.

I'm not so crazy about making this a perk for athletes only, or, even worse, football only.

The biggest issue (IMO) is that pretty much 100% of students live on campus. Where are you going to put these early enrollees? There isn't enough turnover to house them and even then, they'd be scattered throughout campus.

Considering we'd only be talking about a tiny handful of early enrollees for just football, I don't know how much of a problem that would be. Shaw himself said in his presser that we're not talking about the whole football freshman class - it would just be a few guys whom admissions has determined "are ready for the next step early." You can't find what, 2-3 doubles somewhere in the spring? Total?

and there is always the turnover of spaces from students studying abroad spring quarter so I'd think they can find a few rooms...

No study abroad this spring, but at least frosh and sophs won’t be on campus