A thought came to mind over the weekend that I want to type out and see if it can stand up outside of my own mind. We've spent a lot of time on this forum discussing, and often worrying, about recruiting transfers and how we can compete. I think that a lot of attention has been on what the big spenders are doing and that it's intimidating from our perspective.

Talk of promising starting positions to transfers is what really raised my eyebrows this weekend. We're seeing college programs trying to pull off a long-term plan of developing underclassmen and recruiting free agents using tactics that include such promises. I'm curious to see what problems arise in some programs along the lines of culture and camaraderie. If you're consistently bringing in large numbers of one- or two-year free agents, I think you're setting yourself up to eventually have a situation where a season crumbles against pressure that guys aren't willing to face together.

Maybe I'm being too romantic about the game and importance of locker room togetherness, but I don't think we should take it as a given that we should be worried about teams bringing in massive numbers of transfers.

I trust some coaching staffs more than others to effectively integrate the right transfers into their program and keep the core of the team intact: Utah, Washington, Oregon State, and USC — mostly because the roster will always be so talented that guys band together out of mutual respect and ambitious goals.

I'm not sure I need to worry yet about how much transfer recruiting is going to help everyone else. Until they prove otherwise, I expect Oregon and UCLA to shoot themselves in the foot and maybe a kneecap every year. It just seems to be what they do more often than not. We beat No. 3 Oregon in 2021 ... .

Stanford could have been one of the programs that was set up really well to combat transfer armies with a group of talented players who had trained and played together for two to four years. If the program hadn't been allowed to rot, I think that's exactly what we'd have right now — a roster of mostly good/some great HS recruits we developed. But we did fall apart, and now we have to build that type of program and move up in the Pac-12 against teams that from time to time will get it right with which transfers they bring in and will suddenly be a lot better.

I guess all of this is to say: I'm not going to assume that more transfers is a good thing or that all of our opponents are getting this right and we're being left far behind as a result. I have to think that it's going to be challenging for some staffs to maintain the culture they want if they're making promises to free agents and bringing in 15 upperclassmen a year. Or I'm hilariously wrong. We'll all find out eventually.

but he deserves another written beating after what he did to our program.

Many of you read the Athletic. People like AMV and I who get the Eagles feed were sent two articles this week that demonstrate Shaw’s low level of offensive acumen.

A few days ago, there was an article featuring the Eagles QB draw plays that have a league-leading 92% success rate. The author explained the many variations on the jumbo package that lead to success. This, of course, included deception, motion, and having players who could play different roles in the formation.

Today’s article was about the Eagles’ OC who is a Norv Turner disciple.

“I thought Norv just had an unbelievable feel for the game, calling the game, when to call shots,” Steichen said. “He always said, ‘Shoot, the best games I’ve ever called is when I really am not looking down at the call sheet.’”

Did I miss something regarding early enrollees? I recall hearing that Tiger Bachmeier was enrolling in winter quarter, but I don't know if I've seen anything else. After all of Shaw's excited talk all throughout 2022 that we would be expanding the early enrollee program.....did we in actuality cut in half the early enrollee program?

fborg81 said:

I feel pretty strongly that Schultz will play through two contracts.

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Longwinded said:

I have always supported your opinion Schultz technically is a good blocker, but his upper body simply lacks the mass to effectively compete at the next level. His shoulders are too narrow, which means he doesn't fill space. (Compare him to his TE compatriots in the photo in the linked article below, especially to Smith on his left.) The lack of girth means he's easy to cover, too, because he creates no space when a LB or safety is leaning on him on those routes over the middle. Unlike Smith, who is "open" even when he is not, Schultz looks blanketed to his quarterback. He's easy to reach around and deflect balls. If you watch Smith run, he is not very quick or fast, but he's a legitimate target on virtually every play.Schultz is probably more athletic, but he is not the same target.

There's gotta be a reason Schultz is one of the least productive receiving TEs we've put out there in years...and I think the issue is structural, no matter how excellent he is at the fundamentals.

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Schultz’s shoulders are getting up there with Brook’s hips.

If true, this is insane on so many levels. First, a hs qb gets a $13m NIL offer from a Florida collective? So he flips because NIL $ >>>>> any semblance of the academic or other fit with a school.

Then the collective fails to come up with the $$ (no surprise- this kind of spending seems totally unsustainable - this is NFL $).

So now the kid is a literal free agent I guess? Highest offer wins!

Read that here.

This showed up on my YouTube feed. Not super interesting but has over 500K views.

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Read that here.

Read that here.

Read that here.

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Read that here.

I'm fairly new to the Farm Report and have been having an annoying user issue. Sometimes, but not all times, the page seems to freeze when I type. Nothing will show for a few seconds or so, then a blast of letters will appear. I don't have this issue elsewhere and I'm running Safari on an eight month old mac. Thanks for any insights.

Read that here.

Was a post asking if we could keep the streak alive.

This WBB team can win it all, easily.

But it depends.

First and foremost it depends on Cameron Brink.

She can't help us if she is sitting on the bench. She has to play 35 minutes a game. Last night she only played 26 minutes. They could stay with us when she was out. When she finally came back in in the 4th quarter it was total dominance.

Her playing 35 minutes is impacted by 3 things: A. Cameron could change her defensive game by being not so aggressive. Given her proclivities, I'm not counting on this happening. B. The refs could not call the ticky tacky stuff. Think that happened last night. C. Tara lets her foul out. I don't get the aversion to playing her when she has 3 or 4 fouls.

Secondly, it depends upon us not having cold outside shooters. Demetre or Jones or Jump can quickly shoot us out of the game when they are cold. Not sure of what to make of Emma-Nnopu last night but she played great defense , no TOs, 2-3 FG. Jones was 0-4 on 3s, 6-18 FGs.

Thirdly, we need to figure out who is the fifth best player on this team. I and Tara seem to have concluded it isn't Iriafin. Although she still starts Kiki. I think it is Betts but that's obviously not happening. I want us to go big. But if we go small I would be OK with more minutes for Nivar. Emma-Nnopu is an interesting new option.

Fourth, please take the ball out of Jones's hands and keep her from forcing things. She is not a point guard.

I am rooting for Davis Mills and hoping for a second half of the season turnaround for the Texans, but first half total of 5 yards for the offense doesn’t look good.

This may be a bit premature but I researched a number of players that aren't currently in the transfer portal but could be of major interest to Stanford if that were ever to change:

** = Stud Playmaker

** EDGE Donovan Ezeiruaku__(Boston College)
Class: True Sophomore
Eligibility: 2 Years
Awards: 1st Team All ACC (2022)
Notable Stats: 7.5 sacks in 2022
Academics: Offers from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia out of high school
Case for Transfer: 3-9 season in 2022

EDGE Xavier Carlton__(Cal)
Class: Redshirt Sophomore
Eligibility: 2 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: 4.5 sacks in 2022
Academics: Offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: 3-9 season in 2022, same lame duck coaching staff fully retained

DT Ty Robinson__(Nebraska)
Class: Redshirt Junior
Eligibility: 2 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: 2.5 sacks + 4 TFLs + 24 tackles in 2022
Academics: Academic Honor Roll (2020) + offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: 4-8 season in 2022 + DC & Position Coach fired + new defensive scheme in 2023

DT Quintin Somerville__(UCLA)
Class: Redshirt Freshman
Eligibility: 3 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: Buried on the depth chart at UCLA

DT Keanu Williams__(Oregon)
Class: Redshirt Freshman
Eligibility: 3 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: Buried on the depth chart at Oregon

DT Derek Wilkins__(Cal)
Class: Redshirt Freshman
Eligibility: 3 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: Buried on the depth chart at Cal

DT Jacob Schuster__(Minnesota)
Class: Redshirt Freshman
Eligibility: 3 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: Buried on the depth chart at Minnesota

** ILB Maema Njongmeta__(Wisconsin)
Class: Redshirt Junior
Eligibility: 2 Years
Awards: 3rd Team All Big Ten (2022)
Notable Stats: 3.5 sacks + 95 tackles in 2022
Academics: Academic All Big Ten (2020 - 2022)
Case for Transfer: DC & Position Coach fired + Position Coach hired by Stanford

ILB Kalel Mullings__(Michigan)
Class: Redshirt Sophomore
Eligibility: 2 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Academic All Big Ten (2021 - 2022) + offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: Buried on the depth chart at Michigan

** DB Quinton Newsome__(Nebraska)
Class: Redshirt Junior
Eligibility: 1 Year
Awards: Honorable Mention Big Ten (2022)
Notable Stats: 44 tackles + 2 sacks + 4 TFLs + 10 PBUs in 2022
Academics: Academic All Big Ten & Honor Roll (2022) + offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: 4-8 season in 2022 + DC & Position Coach fired + new defensive scheme in 2023

DB Jalen Perry__(Michigan)
Class: Redshirt Junior
Eligibility: 2 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Academic All Big Ten (2020 - 2022) + offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: Buried on the depth chart at Michigan

OT Nolan Rucci__(Wisconsin)
Class: Redshirt Freshmen
Eligibility: 3 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: Buried on the depth chart at Wisconsin

OT Chad Lindberg__(Georgia)
Class: Redshirt Sophomore
Eligibility: 2 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Academic Honor Roll (2020 - 2021) + offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: Buried on the depth chart at Georgia

OC/OG Owen Prentice__(Washington)
Class: Redshirt Freshman
Eligibility: 3 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: Buried on the depth chart at Washington

** WR J. Michael Sturdivant__(Cal)
Class: Redshirt Freshman
Eligibility: 3 Years
Awards: Freshman All-American (2022) + Honorable Mention Pac-12 (2022)
Notable Stats: 755 YDs + 7 TDs in 2022
Academics: Offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: 4-8 season in 2022 + OC & Position Coach fired + starting QB transferred out

** WR Luke McCaffrey__(Rice)
Class: Redshirt Junior
Eligibility: 2 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: 723 YDs + 6 TDs in 2022
Academics: Academic All Big Ten (2020) + Academic Honor Roll (2019-2020)
Case for Transfer: 5-7 season in 2022 + opportunity to showcase talent at P5 Level

TE Max Wright__(Texas A&M)
Class: Redshirt Senior
Eligibility: 2 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Academic Honor Roll (2021) + offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: 5-7 season in 2022 + minimal playing time amassed in 5 years at Texas A&M

TE Hudson Henry__(Arkansas)
Class: Redshirt Junior
Eligibility: 2 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: Minimal playing time amassed in 4 years at Arkansas + participated in Senior Night

TE Erik Olsen__(Colorado)
Class: Redshirt Freshmen
Eligibility: 3 Years
Awards: None
Notable Stats: None
Academics: Academic Honor Roll (2021) + offered by Stanford out of high school
Case for Transfer: 1-11 season in 2022 + HC, OC, and Position Coach fired

Just as a quick reminder, these are all the players of interest that are *NOT* in the transfer portal. There's about 2-3 other threads covering the ones that are, so let's save any commentary on those players for the other threads. While there are a few names at QB position that I'm also keeping an eye on (Miller Moss, Sam Huard, etc.), these are the select few that caught my attention given their connections to Stanford and the positions of need they would help fill. Who knows if any of them even bother entering the portal but in the event that they do, I hope our coaches put out a full court press on these guys.

Beyond these players, does anyone know of any other names that could be of interest to Stanford but aren't yet in the portal?

Side Note: What a crazy new world we're living in where we can even indulge this conversation.

_

I have been posting about starters and gotten some push back. So, I guess I have to 'splain it better.

Against Cal Iriafin started. She played 11 minutes. Demetre (who didn't start) played 24 minutes. Heck, Emma-Nnopu played 13 minutes, more than our nominal starter.

Nivar and Betts played a total of 2 minutes each.

The great Cameron Brink only played 29 minutes and finished the game with 3 fouls.

So, help me out here. What does our coach see that I don't? Maybe defensive matchups? I've got no clue.

moving into a part of Bishop Ranch property (which Chevron just moved out of). Exit off I-680, closer to Dublin than to Walnut Creek. Visitors & employees will need a car to get there.

OK, y’all, I’m trying to figure out what’s next—and what should be next—for the mighty, mighty Cardinal. Cradle of quarterbacks, offensive innovator, home of Nelson and McCaffrey…

What do people think?

Read that here.

was sent out by Bernard Muir yesterday to Buck-Cardinal donors
Besides the usual Women's BBall, WWP, etc & Olympic sports congrats, Revenues and Expenses (and their breakdowns) included:
Total Revenues (including donors, TV, Tix sales etc) were $134.1 Million
Total Expenses Salaries, Operations, Maint, etc........were $145.6 Million

Total Net Loss.............................................................................. $11.5 million

I see that Stoney Brook plays tonight at 6:00 on the CBS Sports Network. I hear their starting post player may be admissible.

He has now presided over the football and basketball debacles. What pictures does he have to keep his job?