[Spiny_Norman]

Free story about Nygel Edmonds' commitment from Andy Drukarev.

https://stanford.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1784324

This comment stood out (emphasis is mine).

"Every time I explain to my friends or people that randomly come up to me, congratulate me, everybody knows Stanford," Edmonds said. "Everybody knows how great of a school it is academically and athletically. "

Here we see the Harbaugh/Shaw effect.  Stanford football is building a national brand with recognition among top recruits that would have seemed impossible previously.  I do not at all underestimate the Sherman/Luck effect either.  The result is that we have a shot a more talented players who in the past might have confused Stanford with Stamford or Sanford.  And players are setting goals earlier in their high school career to achieve academically in order to be qualified for Stanford. 

The foundation is strong and getting stronger. 

[Spiny_Norman]

Free story about Nygel Edmonds' commitment from Andy Drukarev.

https://stanford.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1784324

This comment stood out (emphasis is mine).

"Every time I explain to my friends or people that randomly come up to me, congratulate me, everybody knows Stanford," Edmonds said. "Everybody knows how great of a school it is academically and athletically. "

Here we see the Harbaugh/Shaw effect.  Stanford football is building a national brand with recognition among top recruits that would have seemed impossible previously.  I do not at all underestimate the Sherman/Luck effect either.  The result is that we have a shot a more talented players who in the past might have confused Stanford with Stamford or Sanford.  And players are setting goals earlier in their high school career to achieve academically in order to be qualified for Stanford. 

The foundation is strong and getting stronger. 

[Hank 91]

Free story about Nygel Edmonds' commitment from Andy Drukarev.

https://stanford.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1784324

This comment stood out (emphasis is mine).

"Every time I explain to my friends or people that randomly come up to me, congratulate me, everybody knows Stanford," Edmonds said. "Everybody knows how great of a school it is academically and athletically. "

Here we see the Harbaugh/Shaw effect.  Stanford football is building a national brand with recognition among top recruits that would have seemed impossible previously.  I do not at all underestimate the Sherman/Luck effect either.  The result is that we have a shot a more talented players who in the past might have confused Stanford with Stamford or Sanford.  And players are setting goals earlier in their high school career to achieve academically in order to be qualified for Stanford. 

The foundation is strong and getting stronger.

I had a conversation with Fullmetal about this when we ran into each other on campus a couple months ago. Imagine when Andrew Luck committed back in 2007. I have to believe that most people in Texas responded with something like, why the hell are you going there? In 2015, however, kids are congratulated for committing. People view Stanford for what it is -- the Holy Grail. These recruits realize what all of us already know -- being accepted to Stanford carries some extra cachet, but for these kids its even better. It says that they are amongst the elite both academically and athletically. It's really, really hard to find fault with that.

[Hank 91]

Free story about Nygel Edmonds' commitment from Andy Drukarev.

https://stanford.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1784324

This comment stood out (emphasis is mine).

"Every time I explain to my friends or people that randomly come up to me, congratulate me, everybody knows Stanford," Edmonds said. "Everybody knows how great of a school it is academically and athletically. "

Here we see the Harbaugh/Shaw effect.  Stanford football is building a national brand with recognition among top recruits that would have seemed impossible previously.  I do not at all underestimate the Sherman/Luck effect either.  The result is that we have a shot a more talented players who in the past might have confused Stanford with Stamford or Sanford.  And players are setting goals earlier in their high school career to achieve academically in order to be qualified for Stanford. 

The foundation is strong and getting stronger.

I had a conversation with Fullmetal about this when we ran into each other on campus a couple months ago. Imagine when Andrew Luck committed back in 2007. I have to believe that most people in Texas responded with something like, why the hell are you going there? In 2015, however, kids are congratulated for committing. People view Stanford for what it is -- the Holy Grail. These recruits realize what all of us already know -- being accepted to Stanford carries some extra cachet, but for these kids its even better. It says that they are amongst the elite both academically and athletically. It's really, really hard to find fault with that.

[washingtonismoney]

Drukarev interviews Fehoko: https://stanford.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1784755

[washingtonismoney]

Drukarev interviews Fehoko: https://stanford.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1784755

[CTcard]

[quote author=Spiny_Norman link=topic=9617.msg122477#msg122477 date=1437438878]
This comment stood out (emphasis is mine).

"Every time I explain to my friends or people that randomly come up to me, congratulate me, everybody knows Stanford," Edmonds said. "Everybody knows how great of a school it is academically and athletically. "

Here we see the Harbaugh/Shaw effect.  Stanford football is building a national brand with recognition among top recruits that would have seemed impossible previously...

Imagine when Andrew Luck committed back in 2007. I have to believe that most people in Texas responded with something like, why the hell are you going there? In 2015, however, kids are congratulated for committing. People view Stanford for what it is -- the Holy Grail.
[/quote]

Let's not get too carried away here.

It's clearly getting easier to recruit - pretty obviously success breeds success in an enterprise like this.

However, Stanford was never chopped liver and it still isn't the Holy Grail for all football players.

Folks like Edmonds and Luck would always have heard positive reinforcement about Stanford.
Edmonds attends a well-established private boarding school in Tennessee that sends a lot of kids to top universities.
While I am not certain what folks across Texas had to say, no one at Stratford High School in Houston was going to be shocked that their valedictorian would choose Stanford over other universities (and Luck's final six included Purdue, Rice, UVa, Northwestern, Alabama - only one football power (at that time)).


Stanford's always had the potential to be THE destination for academically inclined football players, much as it is THE destination for academically inclined athletes in many sports. It's pretty great that Stanford finally starting to more fully take advantage of that potential.

[CTcard]

[quote author=Spiny_Norman link=topic=9617.msg122477#msg122477 date=1437438878]
This comment stood out (emphasis is mine).

"Every time I explain to my friends or people that randomly come up to me, congratulate me, everybody knows Stanford," Edmonds said. "Everybody knows how great of a school it is academically and athletically. "

Here we see the Harbaugh/Shaw effect.  Stanford football is building a national brand with recognition among top recruits that would have seemed impossible previously...

Imagine when Andrew Luck committed back in 2007. I have to believe that most people in Texas responded with something like, why the hell are you going there? In 2015, however, kids are congratulated for committing. People view Stanford for what it is -- the Holy Grail.
[/quote]

Let's not get too carried away here.

It's clearly getting easier to recruit - pretty obviously success breeds success in an enterprise like this.

However, Stanford was never chopped liver and it still isn't the Holy Grail for all football players.

Folks like Edmonds and Luck would always have heard positive reinforcement about Stanford.
Edmonds attends a well-established private boarding school in Tennessee that sends a lot of kids to top universities.
While I am not certain what folks across Texas had to say, no one at Stratford High School in Houston was going to be shocked that their valedictorian would choose Stanford over other universities (and Luck's final six included Purdue, Rice, UVa, Northwestern, Alabama - only one football power (at that time)).


Stanford's always had the potential to be THE destination for academically inclined football players, much as it is THE destination for academically inclined athletes in many sports. It's pretty great that Stanford finally starting to more fully take advantage of that potential.

[washingtonismoney]

Hmmm: https://twitter.com/kekoa_cRAWford/statu...0633226240

[washingtonismoney]

Hmmm: https://twitter.com/kekoa_cRAWford/statu...0633226240

[BobK]

Wow this is very interesting.  Adding Crawford would be brobdingnagian.  But I understand many hurdles

[BobK]

Wow this is very interesting.  Adding Crawford would be brobdingnagian.  But I understand many hurdles

[TrumpCard]

Hmmm: https://twitter.com/kekoa_cRAWford/statu...0633226240

Crawford clearly likes that expression, but I don't know if it actually means that he's thinking about choosing Stanford.  The April visit, which was not touted as a big success, resulted in a similar comment:

[tweet]584516454407544832[/tweet]

[TrumpCard]

Hmmm: https://twitter.com/kekoa_cRAWford/statu...0633226240

Crawford clearly likes that expression, but I don't know if it actually means that he's thinking about choosing Stanford.  The April visit, which was not touted as a big success, resulted in a similar comment:

[tweet]584516454407544832[/tweet]

[TrumpCard]

247 has an article on Carlsbad LB Troy Cassidy that apparently indicates he has interest in Stanford.  He's reported to have a 4.0 gpa so at least the academic side is in order.  He also reports offers from UW, WSU, Utah, OSU, ASU, and UA.  If things fall apart with the Plan A guys, he could be a solid back-up plan.  Did he attend the June camp?  If not, I hope he comes to Friday Night Lights.

[TrumpCard]

247 has an article on Carlsbad LB Troy Cassidy that apparently indicates he has interest in Stanford.  He's reported to have a 4.0 gpa so at least the academic side is in order.  He also reports offers from UW, WSU, Utah, OSU, ASU, and UA.  If things fall apart with the Plan A guys, he could be a solid back-up plan.  Did he attend the June camp?  If not, I hope he comes to Friday Night Lights.

[TrumpCard]

If the staff can't fill all its needs from the current offerees, here are some guys who could earn an offer:

OL: Lucas Niang; Marcus Tatum; Michael Alves
WR: Kofi Boateng
DL: Carlo Kemp
LB: Joel Dublanko; Troy Cassidy
DB: Obi Eboh

Of this group, Cassidy and Kemp report 4.0 GPAs.  For the others, I either didn't see the GPA reported or the reported GPA is more modest.

I imagine there are more back up options that the staff is pursuing.  A lot happens that we don't see.

[TrumpCard]

If the staff can't fill all its needs from the current offerees, here are some guys who could earn an offer:

OL: Lucas Niang; Marcus Tatum; Michael Alves
WR: Kofi Boateng
DL: Carlo Kemp
LB: Joel Dublanko; Troy Cassidy
DB: Obi Eboh

Of this group, Cassidy and Kemp report 4.0 GPAs.  For the others, I either didn't see the GPA reported or the reported GPA is more modest.

I imagine there are more back up options that the staff is pursuing.  A lot happens that we don't see.

[Durty Nelly]

I do not think there will be a shortage of DB's.  Also, 2 top 2017 DB's are Stanford leans.

The currrent depth issues look to be on the DL and OL.

[Durty Nelly]

I do not think there will be a shortage of DB's.  Also, 2 top 2017 DB's are Stanford leans.

The currrent depth issues look to be on the DL and OL.

[BigEasyCard]

Running Back prospect Theo Dawson attending Stanford camp on July 31:

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/sports/hig...1c7a9.html

Quotes on academics:

Although his invite was earned on the gridiron, he never would have received the interest if not for his almost flawless GPA of 3.98.

“I got a B-plus sophomore year of chemistry,” Dawson said of the near-perfect average.

Dawson knows that there’s life after football and said he wants to attend a school with a reputation for both football and academic success.

Geaux Cardinal!

[BigEasyCard]

Running Back prospect Theo Dawson attending Stanford camp on July 31:

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/sports/hig...1c7a9.html

Quotes on academics:

Although his invite was earned on the gridiron, he never would have received the interest if not for his almost flawless GPA of 3.98.

“I got a B-plus sophomore year of chemistry,” Dawson said of the near-perfect average.

Dawson knows that there’s life after football and said he wants to attend a school with a reputation for both football and academic success.

Geaux Cardinal!

[TrumpCard]

In addition to Theo Dawson, we have Brandon Burton and Chacho Ulloa coming.  Tweets below.  I haven't been keeping a running list.  Does anyone have such a list?  Thanks.

[tweet]624082692842242048[/tweet]

[tweet]624044451258744832[/tweet]

[TrumpCard]

In addition to Theo Dawson, we have Brandon Burton and Chacho Ulloa coming.  Tweets below.  I haven't been keeping a running list.  Does anyone have such a list?  Thanks.

[tweet]624082692842242048[/tweet]

[tweet]624044451258744832[/tweet]

[oman]

Oh, it's Chacho, and not Chancho....

[oman]

Oh, it's Chacho, and not Chancho....

[TrumpCard]

Sometimes "game-changer" just means that the game went from a blowout to a comfortable win:

[tweet]624254452309098496[/tweet]

[TrumpCard]

Sometimes "game-changer" just means that the game went from a blowout to a comfortable win:

[tweet]624254452309098496[/tweet]

[washingtonismoney]

https://twitter.com/BFame24/status/624380151812337664

[washingtonismoney]

https://twitter.com/BFame24/status/624380151812337664

[TrumpCard]

Shaw could land a third recruit from Texas who has an offer from UT.  And to add insult to injury, UT might not finish second for any of them.  Smith chose Stanford over Alabama.  Williams is visiting OSU and Ark.  Stephens' other top choice is probably TAMU. 

[TrumpCard]

Shaw could land a third recruit from Texas who has an offer from UT.  And to add insult to injury, UT might not finish second for any of them.  Smith chose Stanford over Alabama.  Williams is visiting OSU and Ark.  Stephens' other top choice is probably TAMU. 

[oman]

UT and Strong are going to finish well, so it's not over.  This will be especially true if they avoid complete and total embarrassment to the Catholics and show some improvement over the year.

Losing UT prospects to Stanford, no big deal.  Losing them to TAMU?  Good God, what is wrong with the universe. 

[oman]

UT and Strong are going to finish well, so it's not over.  This will be especially true if they avoid complete and total embarrassment to the Catholics and show some improvement over the year.

Losing UT prospects to Stanford, no big deal.  Losing them to TAMU?  Good God, what is wrong with the universe. 

[socalstanfan1]

Sometimes "game-changer" just means that the game went from a blowout to a comfortable win:

[tweet]624254452309098496[/tweet]

I hope this is just last-second jitters, on my part (or maybe Butler's part), but is there possibly a concern about admissions? Reportedly Butler also just added Northwestern to his list of top schools. Coupled with his comments about C.al, it seems to me that he is either A) covering his bases by signaling serious interest in schools, just as a fallback, or B) legitimately concerned about admissions. I guess my concern is heightened since this has never been a player who sought the limelight on social media.

[socalstanfan1]

Sometimes "game-changer" just means that the game went from a blowout to a comfortable win:

[tweet]624254452309098496[/tweet]

I hope this is just last-second jitters, on my part (or maybe Butler's part), but is there possibly a concern about admissions? Reportedly Butler also just added Northwestern to his list of top schools. Coupled with his comments about C.al, it seems to me that he is either A) covering his bases by signaling serious interest in schools, just as a fallback, or B) legitimately concerned about admissions. I guess my concern is heightened since this has never been a player who sought the limelight on social media.

[TrumpCard]

I guess my concern is heightened since this has never been a player who sought the limelight on social media.

He announced a commitment date a month in advance.  The only reason to do that is to generate buzz.  If he didn't care about limelight, he would just make his commitment whenever he's ready.  Also, a couple of months ago, he gave an interview a while back claiming that he was hearing from the SEC and trolling for offers.  https://bwi.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1767244

is there possibly a concern about admissions?

I highly doubt there is a legitimate concern.  First, he submitted his application already.  If he were borderline, he'd wait for a re-take or for 7th semester grades.  Second, check out this statement about his academics:
[tweet]470818440681226240[/tweet]

Reportedly Butler also just added Northwestern to his list of top schools. Coupled with his comments about C.al . . . .

If he listed Oregon and Oklahoma, I would worry.  That would signal different decision criteria than he's stated in the past.  Listing Northwestern and kal reaffirms that academic opportunity is going to be the decisive factor, which means Stanford is going to win.  I think it's been 5 years  since an academically admissible recruit chose kal over Stanford and I don't remember any instance of a recruit choosing Northwestern. 

In sum, I see two possible reasons for the new statements by Butler: (1) idle talk to generate buzz; or (2) unnecessary worry about an admissions decision that is pretty clearly going to be favorable. 

[TrumpCard]

I guess my concern is heightened since this has never been a player who sought the limelight on social media.

He announced a commitment date a month in advance.  The only reason to do that is to generate buzz.  If he didn't care about limelight, he would just make his commitment whenever he's ready.  Also, a couple of months ago, he gave an interview a while back claiming that he was hearing from the SEC and trolling for offers.  https://bwi.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1767244

is there possibly a concern about admissions?

I highly doubt there is a legitimate concern.  First, he submitted his application already.  If he were borderline, he'd wait for a re-take or for 7th semester grades.  Second, check out this statement about his academics:
[tweet]470818440681226240[/tweet]

Reportedly Butler also just added Northwestern to his list of top schools. Coupled with his comments about C.al . . . .

If he listed Oregon and Oklahoma, I would worry.  That would signal different decision criteria than he's stated in the past.  Listing Northwestern and kal reaffirms that academic opportunity is going to be the decisive factor, which means Stanford is going to win.  I think it's been 5 years  since an academically admissible recruit chose kal over Stanford and I don't remember any instance of a recruit choosing Northwestern. 

In sum, I see two possible reasons for the new statements by Butler: (1) idle talk to generate buzz; or (2) unnecessary worry about an admissions decision that is pretty clearly going to be favorable. 

[Hank 91]

Sometimes "game-changer" just means that the game went from a blowout to a comfortable win:

[tweet]624254452309098496[/tweet]

The game changer could just be the realization that he's more talented than anyone currently playing defense for that team. That would be an eye-opener for a sixteen-year-old kid. Of course, he'll quickly realize the other side to that coin.

[Hank 91]

Sometimes "game-changer" just means that the game went from a blowout to a comfortable win:

[tweet]624254452309098496[/tweet]

The game changer could just be the realization that he's more talented than anyone currently playing defense for that team. That would be an eye-opener for a sixteen-year-old kid. Of course, he'll quickly realize the other side to that coin.