[TrumpCard]

Stanford's football program is doing just fine.  For any of those concerned that the lower win total in 2014 was a sign that Stanford football was on the way down, it's time to reconsider.  Stanford's near-term future at QB is secure after landing the top QB in California for the second time in three years.  Stanford has shown that it continues to be the destination of choice for elite athletes who want the best education they can get.  Sure, U$C has done a great job with recruiting.  UCLA and Oregon too.  Stanford has its niche, however, and from what I have seen, U$C, UCLA, and Oregon are not taking too many recruits from Stanford's niche.  KJ Costello is following a well-worn path of academically-oriented elite athletes who have had the option to go to U$C, UCLA, and/or Oregon and still chose Stanford.  As long as kids keep making that choice, Stanford is likely to contend for the conference title with regularity. 

[TrumpCard]

Stanford's football program is doing just fine.  For any of those concerned that the lower win total in 2014 was a sign that Stanford football was on the way down, it's time to reconsider.  Stanford's near-term future at QB is secure after landing the top QB in California for the second time in three years.  Stanford has shown that it continues to be the destination of choice for elite athletes who want the best education they can get.  Sure, U$C has done a great job with recruiting.  UCLA and Oregon too.  Stanford has its niche, however, and from what I have seen, U$C, UCLA, and Oregon are not taking too many recruits from Stanford's niche.  KJ Costello is following a well-worn path of academically-oriented elite athletes who have had the option to go to U$C, UCLA, and/or Oregon and still chose Stanford.  As long as kids keep making that choice, Stanford is likely to contend for the conference title with regularity. 

[PrinceLightfoot]

I exhaled when we kept our coaches intact. Turley, Anderson, Bloomgren, and Taylor were all nearly gone.

Does anyone want to make a prediction on the final class ranking for this recruiting cycle? I have us pegged for a consensus  top 15 ranking not only because of the quality of the players but also because this is going to be a larger class. Let the good times continue to roll!

[PrinceLightfoot]

I exhaled when we kept our coaches intact. Turley, Anderson, Bloomgren, and Taylor were all nearly gone.

Does anyone want to make a prediction on the final class ranking for this recruiting cycle? I have us pegged for a consensus  top 15 ranking not only because of the quality of the players but also because this is going to be a larger class. Let the good times continue to roll!

[2 for 2028]

Top 8

[2 for 2028]

Top 8

[CTcard]

I exhaled when we kept our coaches intact. Turley, Anderson, Bloomgren, and Taylor were all nearly gone.

Many seemed to mourn at that point - though that was more on the other boards (and not for Turley or Anderson).

[CTcard]

I exhaled when we kept our coaches intact. Turley, Anderson, Bloomgren, and Taylor were all nearly gone.

Many seemed to mourn at that point - though that was more on the other boards (and not for Turley or Anderson).

[Hulk01]

This could be a very good class, to be sure.  But 2012 set up much better for us, and it showed at the end. 

2012 presented the most remarkable group of elite Western offensive linemen ever: Tuerk, Banner, Seumalo, Murphy, Fanaika, Peat, Garnett, Magnuson.  Even more in our favor, a remarkable number of them were good students.  It's much easier for us to pull kids within driving distance than from cross country, and that's what we face in this class.  Take the OLs again.  Right now, the elite OLs with admittable grades scores are Bredeson (Wisconsin), Menet (Pennsylvania), Farniok (South Dakota), and Owens (Texas).  Thomas Schaffer (Illinois) doesn't have the four-star rating but showed enough for us to offer.  And we seem to be holding on offering yet another three time zone guy, Clark Yarbrough, from Ed Reynold's alma mater in Virginia. 

Not a single guy from a Pac-12 state.  Our yield in the Pac-12 states is extraordinary.  But for the Top 250 guys who are key to a high class ranking, our yield from Texas and points East has been one or two guys per year: Lyons, Vaughters, Watkins, Carter, Kalambayi. Solomon Thomas.  So our class ranking is heavily dependent on the number of elite and qualified guys in our time zone, and this isn't a great year in the West.  Weak years in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, and only one guy (Fehoko) in Utah, states that have given us class rank boosters like Joey Alfieri, Garnett, Casey Tucker, Sean Barton, Dalton Schultz, Cameron Scarlett, and Brandon Fanaika.

It looks like it will be an excellent class.  But anything above 12th-13th depends entirely on several guys who live a long way from Palo Alto.  Much like during elections, Georgia, Texas, and Pennsylvania are three key states for us this year, and we need to pull some highly-recruited guys out of the Midwest, which has been difficult for us forever.

[Hulk01]

This could be a very good class, to be sure.  But 2012 set up much better for us, and it showed at the end. 

2012 presented the most remarkable group of elite Western offensive linemen ever: Tuerk, Banner, Seumalo, Murphy, Fanaika, Peat, Garnett, Magnuson.  Even more in our favor, a remarkable number of them were good students.  It's much easier for us to pull kids within driving distance than from cross country, and that's what we face in this class.  Take the OLs again.  Right now, the elite OLs with admittable grades scores are Bredeson (Wisconsin), Menet (Pennsylvania), Farniok (South Dakota), and Owens (Texas).  Thomas Schaffer (Illinois) doesn't have the four-star rating but showed enough for us to offer.  And we seem to be holding on offering yet another three time zone guy, Clark Yarbrough, from Ed Reynold's alma mater in Virginia. 

Not a single guy from a Pac-12 state.  Our yield in the Pac-12 states is extraordinary.  But for the Top 250 guys who are key to a high class ranking, our yield from Texas and points East has been one or two guys per year: Lyons, Vaughters, Watkins, Carter, Kalambayi. Solomon Thomas.  So our class ranking is heavily dependent on the number of elite and qualified guys in our time zone, and this isn't a great year in the West.  Weak years in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, and only one guy (Fehoko) in Utah, states that have given us class rank boosters like Joey Alfieri, Garnett, Casey Tucker, Sean Barton, Dalton Schultz, Cameron Scarlett, and Brandon Fanaika.

It looks like it will be an excellent class.  But anything above 12th-13th depends entirely on several guys who live a long way from Palo Alto.  Much like during elections, Georgia, Texas, and Pennsylvania are three key states for us this year, and we need to pull some highly-recruited guys out of the Midwest, which has been difficult for us forever.

[winflop]

I exhaled when we kept our coaches intact. Turley, Anderson, Bloomgren, and Taylor were all nearly gone.

^^^This*1000 (except for Bloomgren, who I could take or leave)

[winflop]

I exhaled when we kept our coaches intact. Turley, Anderson, Bloomgren, and Taylor were all nearly gone.

^^^This*1000 (except for Bloomgren, who I could take or leave)