Does anybody have any idea what's going on with McLaughlin? As arguably our best and most senior linemen, it is a mystery to me why he is not playing. Matt has articulated the possible idea that the coaching staff is trying to develop youth, but that does not seem to make sense, especially given his proven (relatively speaking) success and the hope that old men with skills are encouraged to stick around for 5th years. THis seems to discourage that idea.

Do we know this is the reason? Could he be in the doghouse or otherwise unable to play?

I would love id Ben or anyone with knowledge could cast some light on this or seek an explanation from the staff.

Read that here.

I guess we are in the ACC!
Stanford faces #1 UNC in field hockey Friday home match at 5 PM.
Stanford men faces NC State at 6:30 at Cagan
Then at Maples, Stanford women faces NC State in V'Ball

Read that here.

Read and watch that here.

Michael Thorbjornsen shoots a 63 (-9) in the first round of the Sanderson Farms Championship and is in 2nd place, three shots back

This bill seems pretty focused on Stanford and USC. . . .Any impact on the billion dollar endowment?

1. We are who we thought we were: a try-hard, resilient team that is competing despite talent deficiencies in many areas, showing encouraging but still somewhat tentative signs of progress, and being a competent quarterback away from mediocre. This game encapsulated all of that. I would have loved if any number of things could have gone differently to make it a potentially thrilling competitive effort on the road in the wake of a hurricane against one of the conference's best teams. There are no shortage of contenders of pivotal what-could-have-beens - Lamson not fumbling, Bailey's near shoestring tackle and/or Green's catastrophic non-contact injury going differently to force a Clemson opening series field goal, pass interference/holding being called when Ayomanor was harassed on the end zone interception, the initial call on Bailey's pass breakup standing as a sack and forced fumble, to say nothing of QB1's abysmal decision-making and throwing execution or Taylor's debatable fourth down aggressiveness. But close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear war, plus all teams in all games have some things that break their way and some that don't. The truth is that this game was fairly representative of our 2024 team. Still, I think we played better than the final score indicates. [For what it's worth, using Sagarin numbers heading into this weekend, the TCU margin was befitting the #97 team, Cal Poly was befitting #63, Syracuse was befitting #32, and Clemson was befitting #113.....while I don't think last night built on our impressively linear progress, I do think the final score does not do justice to our competitiveness.]

2. The 26 point margin of loss compares to other Death Valley results of Appalachian State losing by 44 and NC State losing by 24. Our negative 1.56 net yards per play compares to positive 3.83 for Georgia (at a neutral site), negative 4.56 for Appalachian State, and negative 1.49 for NC State. Allowing Clemson to get 2.36 net points per non-garbage drive made the #11 net points per drive team look like the #10 net points per drive team. In other words, even with Daniels' terribly costly decision-making we played Clemson extremely straight up compared to their norm this season and basically equivalent to NC State, which in computer models is considered a slightly better team than us. Based on the Appalachian State and NC State results, it seems like a pretty fair result. Nonetheless, Taylor's fourth down decisions made the score wider than it could have been.

3. Reasonable minds can differ, I think, on whether Taylor made the right calls but it is so striking how incredibly aggressive he is being. I appreciate that Taylor views his fourth down aggressiveness as playing to win the game - and I can only hope it is being internalized/embraced as such by the players and contributing to a competitive culture - but I'm not sure his level of aggressiveness actually increases our chances. He is coaching like the head of a program with nothing to lose, which may be fair enough given the crater we've been in the last half decade, but I am not sure we actually are so bad to just throw all caution to the wind. Taylor coaches like he's assuming we need to be desperate on fourth downs, yet we are top 90 in the country in both offense and defense according to SP+; if that held, it would be the first time Stanford has been that balanced since 2019. I think it might be better from a short-term win optimization standpoint if Taylor started coaching like the subpar team we are rather than the hopeless team he inherited. He and April have done well to give us a puncher's chance and we arguably squander that with things like going for it from our own 34 on the fourth play of the game and going for it on 4th and 5 from the 10 when our lack of red zone competence (113th in both red zone scoring percentage and red zone touchdown percentage) makes that a very low percentage play and three points would have meant a lot in terms of momentum to make the game 20-10 deep in the third quarter in a game in which we had weathered a lot of adversity against a national power on the road. [No beef whatsoever on the last fourth down attempt even though it was from our own 34, as a first down was the only thing that could have prevented the game from entering garbage time at that stage. What I take exception to is having QB1 do the sneak rather than our dedicated, pretty good at it short yardage QB. I think Taylor may have gotten Daniels hurt and we also would have had a better chance converting if Lamson took that snap.] All that said, if the theory of the case is that this fourth down abandon inculcates a winning mentality (playing to win rather than to keep it close) that very well could pay longer-term dividends that justify it. Totally in the realm of the plausible/debatable I think.

4. If my morning after thoughts posts tallied up a winner between our offense and defense each week, this season it would be 3-0 for the defense in the FBS contests. We gave up 3.00 points per non-garbage drive, which is better than Clemson's average of 3.93, making the #9 points per drive offense look like the #28 points per drive offense, and that understates how impressively the defense did since the non-garbage touchdowns were all on drives starting in tremendous field position (our 34, Clemson 46, our 43, our 34). While we gave up our highest yards per play yet this season, that kind of thing will happen when you play a great offense. We actually held Clemson under their season average in yards per play and did better than their non-Georgia opponents did by well over a yard per play compared to NC State and over three yards per play compared to Appalachian State. The biggest story is the run defense. We really might be on to something there. 150 yards on 5 yards per carry is a nice performance against the #11 yards per carry rushing offense in the country. This was a massively tougher assignment than our previous three games and we passed the test, in fact having a whopping 3.15 fewer yards per carry allowed than NC State. Now, NC State has a bad run defense but to me the bottom line is that we have held every single opponent this season under their average in yards per carry and were three yards away against TCU for the same being true on total rushing yards. This really might be a very good run defense.

5. Perhaps a spicy take, but I think some people are being way too harsh about Stanford's pass defense in this game, including the much-maligned Manley. We held Clemson slightly below their season averages in passer rating, yards per attempt, and total yards and massively below the average in completion percentage. Klubnik is #4 in the nation in Total QBR, truly one of the best players in the country, and we made life about exactly as hard on him as did NC State, which has a thoroughly mediocre pass defense. I will happily take a mediocre performance by the Stanford pass defense at this point given the limitations of everybody but Wright. This was a pretty good result for a pass defense that has to put guys like Leigber and Morris out there and hope for the best. At this stage of the season, our three FBS games have been against three of the four best passer rating teams we play this season. I would expect Louisville and SMU to be challenges for our pass defense but we have a number of games left that are much easier sledding in this phase. The contrast may seem immediate next week when we go up against the #103 passer rating team in the nation in Virginia Tech.

6. The offense was much less encouraging. We score 0.64 points per non-garbage drive, much worse than Clemson's average allowed of 1.97, making the #56 points per drive defense look like the #3 points per drive defense. While we got yards, that overstates our effectiveness relative to opponent since Clemson does not have a very good defense (we are #98 in yards per play defense this season and they are #99). The harsh reality is that we had fewer yards per play than anybody they've played this season, even Appalachian State. The main culprit is obvious. Our passing sucked, the worst game for us statistically in every respect even though Clemson has a slightly worse pass defense than TCU and Syracuse. Clemson dominated Daniels and the passing game similar to how they did against App State, also a bad passing team. We were a lot better running the ball - including very notably Daniels himself - and that's the silver lining on this side of the ball. We were right around 5.4 yards per carry for the second game in a row, which feels like major progress, but optimism needs to be tempered somewhat by recognition of the defenses we have been playing. Syracuse stinks at run defense and Clemson is even worse statistically (#120, third worst Power Four run defense), though garbage time has significantly distorted their stats. All in all I call yesterday a triumph of the Stanford run game - hard not to with the yards total we had, the most Cardinal rushing yards since 2018 and the fifth most rushing yards Clemson has given up in the last 8+ seasons - but one that is nonetheless less impressive than it seemed to the naked eye. Clemson has some issues in run defense.

Here is the women's basketball recruiting notes thread for August. If you missed anything from June/July, click here.


The 2024-25 roster is here. By my calculations, the following players are on scholarship: Nunu Agara, Shay Ijiwoye, Talana Lepolo, Chloe Clardy, Harper Peterson, Elena Bosgana, Brooke Demetre, Mary Ashley Stevenson, Stavi Papadaki, Jzaniya Harriel, Tess Heal, Courtney Ogden, and Kennedy Umeh. That's 13. Women's basketball can add two more scholarships players than men's basketball with 15 being their limit. Lauren Green as a junior is the lone walk on.

The only true seniors on the roster are Demetre and Bosgana. Harriel is a redshirt junior, so she has an extra year if she wants to use it. Given they have a more flexibility than men's basketball, there isn't the same kind of scholarship crunch that the men's team has. That said with four players coming in next year, that puts them at 15 scholarship players for next year if Harriel returns and nobody else leaves besides Demetre and Bosgana.

In case you aren't aware of who the four 2025 commits are, they are 5-star point guard Hailee Swain, 5-star forward Alexandra Eschmeyer, 4-star forward Nora Ezike, and 4-star wing Carly Amborn. That's actually a pretty strong class coming in next year. Of that group, I'm most excited to see what Swain becomes. Her stock continues to rise and I think she's really excited to become a leader on the floor.

One target who they seem to be in a good spot with is 5-star forward Amari Byles. Her visit went really well. Kate Paye is making a positive impression on her. I think if people are worried about whether or not Paye will be able to recruit well, I think that part will be fine provided she can coach the team to wins. So long as she wins, I think the recruiting side will hold up. I get the sense Paye is well liked by her players and that she'll be a coach who they'll like playing for.

That's pretty much what I got for this month, but I'm sure @Bobbk and @Jacob Rayburn will bring in some more insights as well.

It's all about the kids.

Stanford MBB Schedule

Just Stanford Schedule

Troy Taylor, Gaethan Bernadel, and Micah Ford will speak to us. I’ll add a video in here as soon as I can.

Stanford release is here.

Alrighty, September is upon us, which means it is time for a new recruiting notes thread. If you missed anything from the August thread, click here.


The offer has already been made for September to 2026 4-star inside linebacker Zach Weeks. @SamuelMcF had a little more info on him when he posted the offer in the August thread. His brother Whit was previously a Stanford target, so that name should ring a bell.

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With the Cal Poly game coming up this weekend, I will be checking for a visitors and will drop that info in here as soon as I get it. 2025 4-star athlete/cornerback Dalen Penson, a Georgia Tech commit, is reportedly going to be visiting Stanford this weekend. I'll check to confirm that along with the rest of the visitors list. Stanford offered him in June.

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With the 2025 class, the main targets left are Dalen Penson as mentioned above, 4-star offensive tackle Andrew Babalola, and possibly Penn State commit 4-star running back Tiqwai Hayes.

It feels like there's a real chance with Penson. Especially if he does indeed end up visiting this weekend. Babalola is hard to tell. He's keeping things pretty close to the vest and the best I can say from the Stanford side is they seem to feel they have a chance, but at the same time he hasn't made it known what he'll do. So, I wouldn't get your hopes up about him, but I also wouldn't totally give up, either. It's just been a hard one to figure out. As for Hayes, my intel indicates it's likely he visited in June but didn't want anyone to know. The longer nothing happens on that front, the less likely it is that something will, but it's worth mentioning him as a possible guy that they could flip.

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The rest of the 2025 class I think is pretty much what it is. Stanford has 20 commitments right now and a class ranked 36th in the latest Rivals team rankings. Check out the class here in case you need to refresh your memory on who they have coming in. Looking ahead to the 2026 class, what will really give us a good sense of where things are is who of the group visits this fall. If you want to check out who has already visited Stanford among the 2026 class, click here.

Only other thing I wanted to mention real quickly with the 2025 class is 4-star quarterback Bear Bachmeier. Fortunately his knee injury will only sideline him for a few weeks and that he didn't tear his ACL. So that's great news. Other schools continue to push for him until he signs, so Stanford has to remain vigilant in maintaining a strong relationship with him and making sure nobody swoops him up. Notre Dame and Oregon are two programs that are actively on him at the moment.

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Regarding names to keep an eye on in the 2026 class, here are a few I want to highlight:

3-star offensive tackle Dylan Biehl who I just did an article on is one who I feel Stanford has really good odds with. Not a top target per se, but a guy who checks off all the boxes they are looking for and has some intriguing physical tools at that position. A guy who they should land. He is tentatively targeting the Virginia Tech game on October 5th as a game to attend.

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4-star wide receiver Madden Williams out of St. John Bosco in Southern California. He visited for Stanford's Elite Day in January. I'm sure Stanford will be doing all they can to get him out on a visit during the season.

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4-star wide receiver Trent Mosely. Younger brother of Stanford wide out Emmett Mosley. Stanford is almost certainly going to get him out on a visit for a game this fall. He's a top target at that position for sure. Notre Dame is arguably the biggest threat here. They're on him hard.

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4-star offensvie guard Breck Kolojay is another key name in the 2026 class. He visited Stanford a couple falls ago and was offered a couple weeks back. He's a guy who we should be expecting to visit again this fall.

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3-star wide receiver Kenneth Moore III out of Stockton visited earlier this summer and landed an offer shortly thereafter. He's a guy who has a lot of promise and upside. If I recall correctly, @fborg81 was gushing about his speed after his camp visit in June.

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Lastly, there's some other 4-star level offensive lineman who they have recently offered as well. The full offers list is here. While we can rightly joke that every position is a position of need, I think that's especially true with offensive line and the staff knows that. They really want to make sure they can land some talent up front. I think these recent offers reflect that. Which of that group takes a visit this fall for a game will give us a good sense of who the staff is building good momentum with. Of course, ideally they land Andrew Babalola, but as I've said, that's looking like a coin flip at best.


If anyone has any additional questions, feel free to comment below. I didn't include any 2027 guys in this breakdown. Just trying to simplify things and keep things focused on the next two classes. But if anyone wants to see who has been offered in 2027, click here. It's only four guys at the moment.

Read that here.

Read that here. Courtesy of Adam Gorney.

Nothing conclusive on Ashton Daniels, but I'm hearing it's possible he has a broken foot. I'll let you know once I learn more, but that's the latest on him. He was in a boot after the game as was seen on television. As for Mudia Reuben, he will medical redshirt this year, so he's done. Been told he has a broken tibia and something with his foot.

ARROW UP - OFFENSE

5 DAVIS JR - Frosh was still in there but usage was way down.
8 LAMSON - Not a good day in his short yardage package. Didn't look comfortable when he took over but did deliver a nice ball to Mosley for a score.
10 MOSLEY V - It appears we have a legit WR2. CTT got him involved early in various ways. Damn good catch for the late TD.
Login to view embedded media 13 AYOMANOR - Stanford is hitting at 50% when targeting one of the best WR in college football. Not ideal.
14 DANIELS - Things were not any better for QB1. There was one great throw surrounded by a lot of awful. But hey, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Login to view embedded media Login to view embedded media 20 FORD - RB1 looked the part.
24 BACHMEIER - Another bad drop in this one. In danger of getting phased out in the passing game.
26 IRVIN - FB1 played another good one.
55 PALE - 2nd yr player is developing slowly. He is going to have to make big strides in conditioning.
57 ROGERS - Playing well again and his usual solid work in pass pro has returned from struggles in G1
58 HOUSE - Encouraging game in pass pro.
Login to view embedded media 69 MAIKKULA - Strength is in pass pro, as is the case with the OL across the board. Can't blame protection for any QB shortcomings lately.
78 BAKLENKO - Kept the QB clean. He is going to be the guy moving forward apparently. All of these young OL have to have an all america offseason.
84 CISSE - Usage way down in the pass game with the emergence of Mosley. He will settle into a nice WR3 role.
86 ROUSH - No targets. Blocking has been a disappointment. Trajectory going the wrong way.
88 BLACKBURN - Still getting his handful of Lamson package snaps each game.


ARROW DOWN - OFFENSE

3 FARRELL - No snaps
15 BUTLER - No snaps
25 BROWN - Hate to do it to a walk-on freshman, but no snaps after playing in the last 2 games.
34 HAMPTON - No snaps
67 ANDERSON - No snaps
71 MCLAUGHLIN - CTT has now confirmed the 5th yr senior will not be part of the starters moving forward.
72 UKE - No snaps
73 SYMONDS - No snaps
76 LEYRER - See McLaughlin
83 HARRIS - Has not been able to dig out of big first week hole.
89 UNGAR - No snaps



ARROW UP - DEFENSE

0 BERNADEL - Not a very productive game and snap count was down with Galvan arriving on the scene.
4 MANLEY - Feels like he is never in phase with the receiver. Always on the chase. Luckily PI is only 15 yards in college. Thought Dabo was going to make the official cry after the no call on first pass attempt of the game.
5 GREEN - Starter at NB went down very early.
6 WRIGHT - He was sooo good at Clemson. Was born to play the nickel.
Login to view embedded media Login to view embedded media 8 SINCLAIR - Not a good night. Very bad.
11 TAFITI - The weak link of the front seven to date. I feel betrayed
14 AYBAR - Love the way he has played the last 2 weeks.
18 SUMLIN - Going to give the freshman an arrow here. Second appearance in 4 games, both on the last series, but the staff is throwing him a bone.
21 EDWARDS - Played his best game in '24. Solid all the way around.
23 BAILEY - Only 16 snaps. Looked healthy to me.
28 RICHARDSON - Same as Sumlin, another frosh that has now appeared in 2 games. Got the last 2 series at Clemson.
31 MORRIS - 50 snaps replacing Wright at CB. He has not been a good player this year.
32 LEIGBER - Would be interesting to see this guy at ILB next year. Just hard to trust in coverage but he moves well going forward.
Login to view embedded media 35 ROSE - Very active in a limited backup role at ILB
40 PHILLIPS - Back as a starter and solid after a week off.
43 GALVAN- April used him as a pass rush sub for Bernadel in his first Stanford game. I'm intrigued. Looked good.
Login to view embedded media 44 COOPER - 25 snaps mostly for Aybar. Pretty decent game.
91 PATTERSON - Used with Galvan and Bailey in the special pass rush sub package for Clemson. I loved it. This guy just wants to get to the QB. Hurried Klubnik a handful of times.
94 FRANKLIN - Starter at DL was his usual consistent self.
97 ROWELL - Really like this guy. Plays with so much effort and emotion.

ARROW DOWN - DEFENSE

9 NICHOLSON - Again, hate to do it to a freshman, but other DB's in the class are getting on the field.
17 FRAUSTO-RAMOS - Last series at safety
27 PORTER - Was not asked to replace Wright after he moved to NB
45 STAPLES - Saw his snaps reduced to garbage time with the full health of the DL.
61 MAYBERRY - No snaps
75 BM-O - See Staples
98 BUCKEY - Nothing last week and a handful of late snaps on Saturday.

At the one third point, how our players rank nationally compared to positional peers according to PFF, listed by percentile:

David Bailey - 99th
Collin Wright - 94th
Gaethan Bernadel - 74th
Clay Patterson - 73rd
Ismail Cisse - 69th
Braden Marceau-Olayinka - 59th
Connor McLaughlin - 57th
Levi Rogers - 49th
Jay Green - 48th
Scotty Edwards - 47th
Tristan Sinclair - 47th
Wilfredo Aybar - 47th
Tobin Phillips - 46th
Zach Rowell - 45th
Ashton Daniels - 45th
Anthony Franklin - 44th
Elic Ayomanor - 43rd
Mitch Leigber - 41st
Micah Ford - 36th
Simione Pale - 25th
Zahran Manley - 24th
Luke Baklenko - 19th
Sam Roush - 18th
Ernest Cooper - 17th
Kahlil House - 16th
Tevarua Tafiti - 15th
Jake Maikkula - 10th
Jack Leyrer - 9th
Aaron Morris - 7th

As discussed elsewhere, PFF is flattering to Daniels compared to other metrics but Daniels’ defenders could reasonably view this as external validation he isn’t close to the weakest link. Other metrics would have him at the bottom.

Among kickers, Emmett Kenney is 97th percentile in field goals and Flintoft is 89th percentile in punting, which I think is worth sharing but not apples to apples with offense and defense.

Obviously Bailey and Wright have had our best seasons.

Obviously we all are tracking that one of our best players is benched while the guy at his position is bottom quintile of all tackles nationally.

The front seven has emerged as the strength of the team, especially when you consider Wright’s style kind of makes him an honorary box player.

Tafiti, Cooper, and Roush are such disappointments.

No point bagging on Morris. He’s doing a lot more than his recruiting profile would have predicted. We just have awful cornerback depth behind Wright and Manley.

Read that here.

They're at the Molly co-hosted by Oregon State and Cal. After two rounds, they're in 1st and the only team under par. They have a 16 stroke lead with one round to go. They went -1 and -4 after rounds 1 and 2.
Paula Martin Sampedro is T1st at -6. Frosh Meja Ortengren is at -1 T6th and another frosh, Nora Sundberg is at +1 in 11th by herself. Kelly Xu and Leigh Chien (playing as an individual) are at +2. Kelly had a quadruple in the early holes of round 1 and is slowly battling back. Andre Rivuelta is +4 and Carol Sturdza playing as an individual is +7.
What I find most interesting is that Megha Ganne is missing from this tournament. During the big Match vs Cal, she had 5 birdies in a row and finished -8 in 14 holes as her team won 5&4.

A former Stanford player, Angelina Ye has been playing in the Annika All Pro Women's tour. Angelina finished in 9th and won $15,000 and paid qualification into Round 1 of the LPGA Q-school.

Buried in the spring championship thread was the news that Rachel Heck was staying an amateur and pursuing other goals instead of being a pro golfer. I probably missed them being posted on at CSR, but here are the articles written about her not pursuing the pro game.

3/25/2024
By Rachel Heck
When I was little, my dad told me golf would take me far. I dreamed of U.S. Open trophies.
Growing up, I missed out on sleepovers, summer camps, school plays, and more to practice and compete. I grew to love the sport, but it was difficult for me to comprehend why my life looked so different from those of my classmates. During our local theater's summer camp rendition of “The Little Mermaid,” my friend Haley was Sebastian, my friend Mary Olivia was Flounder, and I was practicing putting.
Having my name etched into the Hall of Fame would surely be worth it.
Each year, I fell more and more in love with the game. I spent countless evenings playing putting contests with my dad and sisters under the lights of Windyke Country Club. I laughed and competed and celebrated each win as if I had won a major. I was training to win the U.S. Open. My dad was just spending time with his daughters.
By middle school, my dedication was solidified. I was a golfer, and I would be the best golfer to ever live. I followed my older sister Abby on college visits, knowing in the back of my mind that if I did go to college, I would only stay a year or so. In the meantime, I begged my parents to let me do online high school, or at least send me to a golf academy in Florida. They responded with a firm, resounding, “No.”
I was frustrated. Why had I given up so much for this game, just to attend “normal” high school and do “normal” high school things? Very little about my life felt normal. I was a golfer, and attending school from 8:00 to 3:15 was only getting in the way of that. If I was going to go to high school and college, though, I was going to do it right. During my freshman year, I took the ACT and SAT, and in January, Coach Anne Walker offered me a coveted spot on the Stanford Women’s Golf Team. Someone once told me, “If you’re smart enough to go to Stanford, you’re not dumb enough not to go.” It was a no-brainer. Stanford would undoubtedly be the perfect stepping stone into a professional career.
That summer, I qualified for the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open. At age 15, I was the youngest player in the field. Reflecting on that week never fails to bring tears to my eyes. With my dad by my side, I walked around awestruck for seven days. My practice routine that week was dictated by what my idols were doing— If Michelle Wie was putting, I was putting, and you could find my mom sneaking pictures from behind the ropes. My dad would walk out and pretend to give me advice. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I just want to be next to you,” he would whisper. With trembling hands, I made a 4-footer to make the cut on Friday. On Sunday, I was paired with Lexi Thompson. I was on top of the world. That week, I got to live my dreams and catch a preview of what my future would surely become.
Fast-forward past my first experiences playing for the United States, another major championship, and too many AJGAs to count, and now I am a junior in high school with the most pressing issue in my life being whether I would play in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur or the ANA Inspiration. That was, however, until I suffered a back injury that forced me to put the clubs down for a couple of months. What should have been nothing but a small roadblock on my journey as an athlete turned into an existential crisis. Without golf, I was lost. I was faced with the question, “Who am I?” Without golf, I had no idea.
Even when I was able to start playing again, I knew something was not right. I did not recognize myself anymore, on or off the course. All my joy was gone, and all my smiles were fake. That fall, I became severely depressed. In that period of darkness, I realized I needed something more than golf, and I vowed that I would find it.
I told my parents I wanted, perhaps, to try Air Force ROTC. They told me I was crazy. It would be simply impossible to keep up with Stanford academics, Division I golf, a social life, and the military.
I watched a sermon recently, in which the pastor explained that God places huge ambitions into our hearts, but he does not tell us how we will achieve them. He does, however, always show us the next step. I surely had no idea how ROTC was going to work with my schedule, but I knew that joining was my next step.
My freshman year at Stanford felt like the culmination of everything for which I had ever dreamed. I successfully completed my first year at Stanford, highlighted by a clean sweep of the postseason and capped off with the Annika Award. I asked God, “Why is this happening now? I have so many years of golf ahead of me, so why is everything coming together now?”
What I didn’t know was that the next few years would be riddled with sickness and injuries and invisible trials that I’m grateful I could not have foreseen. What I didn’t know is that the next time I would potentially play a full postseason would be my senior year. I have grappled with anger, hope, depression, joy, and everything in between, but amid each trial in which I so desperately sought the clarity of a deeper meaning, God always showed me the next step. Right now, the next step is not professional golf.
During these turbulent years largely away from the game, I fell in love with life again. Even though the late nights of writing papers bring immense stress, I absolutely love what I study. Even though I dread waking up at 4 a.m. on Fridays, I cherish every memory made with my ROTC wingmen. Even though it scares me to step away from the game and into an unknown future, I could not be more excited.
It’s hard to imagine how it will feel to put my clubs away at the end of the season. How will it feel to stand over my last putt? How will I feel waving back to my teammates one last time? I still look forward to playing amateur events and, hopefully, many more USGA Championships. However, it will be undeniably different. Taking a step away from the game that has given me everything has been a gut-wrenching decision. To say golf has given me the most incredible memories is to minimize the experiences I ask God every day why I deserve.
I was strongly considering attributing my decision to my injuries. It is true that even if I wanted to, I do not know if my body would hold up on tour. But frankly, after a couple of years of painful deliberation, I have come to realize that I do not want to play professional golf. I do not want a life on the road and in the public eye. I no longer dream of the U.S. Open trophies and the Hall of Fame. And I realize now that these dreams were never what my dad intended when he first put a club in my hand. He pushed me when I was young so that I could find myself in the position I am right now: Stepping into the future equipped with the skills to tackle any challenge and the courage to pave my own path. He insisted I lived a “normal life” so that I could recognize that true happiness does not come from accolades but from the love of those around me. He gave me everything so that I could leave college feeling as though I had the world in the palm of my hand. In the spring he and my mom will pin on my Lieutenant bars. They will watch me walk across the stage and receive my Stanford degree. I will begin an internship in private equity. Golf did, indeed, take me far.
So here’s to new roads, and new challenges. Here’s to the people who made me, me. Not Rachel the golfer. Just Rachel. I do not know what the future holds. However, I am grateful to God for showing me the next step, and I am grateful to the game that gave me the world.
Rachel Heck is a senior on the Stanford women's golf team, whose impressive career includes NCAA individual (2021) and team (2022) championships, two Curtis Cups (2021, 2022), and eight collegiate victories, tied for the third most in school history. She appeared in our "A Week in the Life" documenting the 2022 Stanford women's golf team, which you can watch here.
When she graduates from Stanford with a degree in Political Science, she will begin an internship in private equity and be pinned as a Lieutenant of the United States Air Force.
'I couldn't have scripted it any better': Rachel Heck chooses a career away from pro golf
Heck helped Stanford Women's Golf to two team national championships in three years. Now she'll go pro in something other than golf.

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Jackson McVey is on campus this weekend.

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