I've been covering Stanford football recruiting since the 2010 class, and the last few weeks represent somewhat uncharted territory in the time I've been on the beat.
There is one exception: Signing Day (and the week leading up to Signing Day), 2012, when Stanford landed a trio of five-star prospects (Peat, Murphy, Shittu), as well as Garnett, Hoffpauir and Rector. In quantity and ranking, that stretch surpasses this one.
But I haven't seen anything like this, not in the spring, and with that lone exception, not ever.
Stanford has landed four top-200 players in the last three weeks - Costello, Edmonds, Robinson and Smith. By comparison, they signed five top-200 prospects in both the 2014 and 2015 classes. They signed three top-200 prospects in 2013.
When all is said and done, Robinson, Smith and Costello will probably be top-100 prospects. Edmonds could be in the conversation as well.
Stanford signed one top-100 prospect in '13 (Kalambayi), three in '14 (Chryst, McCaffrey, Thomas) and one in '15 (Irwin).
Beyond the lofty rankings, each of these guys have truly elite offer lists. Very few programs would turn any of them down. There are a few exceptions, I guess (i.e. a pure read-option offense might prefer a mobile QB, maybe a school that doesn't use the TE would pass on Smith), but essentially, all four of these guys could name their college destinations. And all four picked Stanford.
Even among Stanford's higher ranked recruits in the '13 - '15 classes, you could probably count the number of guys on one hand who could truly name their college destination like this quartet could.
So, clearly, there's undeniable momentum within the Cardinal program right now. On the heels of completing the 2015 season with three straight wins, then retaining several important assistants despite the best efforts of Jim Harbaugh, Mark Richt and co., then sweeping the admissable prospects down the stretch in the 2015 class, and now with a scorching start to 2016 recruiting, things are going extremely well for the Cardinal.
And, there are several other highly-ranked 2016 prospects who are also very close to committing.
This, of course, marks a very different recruiting class progression than the last few years. Whereas in '13 - '15 Stanford landed many of its most highly touted recruits closer to Signing Day (after official visits and admissions decisions), this year they've landed several 10-plus months out.
So, in all likelihood, there will be some nervous moments at some point with some of these spring commits, whether it be due to admissions or the lure of another program. And, of course, if Stanford has a disappointing 2015 season, who knows what will happen.
The good news for Stanford is that all of the commits so far (and the future spring commits) are in contact, and several are friends. As one recruit told me the other day: "We are getting close as friends more than teammates. It's what's helping build this class."
So, as other schools try to their best to separate the likes of Robinson, Edmonds, Smith and co. from their Stanford commitments over the next 10 months, keep that in mind. (Also, the number of non-admissions related Stanford decommits has been pretty low over the last few years.)
In any event, this has been a special, near-unprecedented stretch for Stanford football recruiting. and it should continue as the spring rolls on. There are still plenty of 2016 spots to fill and still plenty of prospects who have yet to visit campus, but this has the potential to be a memorable and impactful recruiting class.
There is one exception: Signing Day (and the week leading up to Signing Day), 2012, when Stanford landed a trio of five-star prospects (Peat, Murphy, Shittu), as well as Garnett, Hoffpauir and Rector. In quantity and ranking, that stretch surpasses this one.
But I haven't seen anything like this, not in the spring, and with that lone exception, not ever.
Stanford has landed four top-200 players in the last three weeks - Costello, Edmonds, Robinson and Smith. By comparison, they signed five top-200 prospects in both the 2014 and 2015 classes. They signed three top-200 prospects in 2013.
When all is said and done, Robinson, Smith and Costello will probably be top-100 prospects. Edmonds could be in the conversation as well.
Stanford signed one top-100 prospect in '13 (Kalambayi), three in '14 (Chryst, McCaffrey, Thomas) and one in '15 (Irwin).
Beyond the lofty rankings, each of these guys have truly elite offer lists. Very few programs would turn any of them down. There are a few exceptions, I guess (i.e. a pure read-option offense might prefer a mobile QB, maybe a school that doesn't use the TE would pass on Smith), but essentially, all four of these guys could name their college destinations. And all four picked Stanford.
Even among Stanford's higher ranked recruits in the '13 - '15 classes, you could probably count the number of guys on one hand who could truly name their college destination like this quartet could.
So, clearly, there's undeniable momentum within the Cardinal program right now. On the heels of completing the 2015 season with three straight wins, then retaining several important assistants despite the best efforts of Jim Harbaugh, Mark Richt and co., then sweeping the admissable prospects down the stretch in the 2015 class, and now with a scorching start to 2016 recruiting, things are going extremely well for the Cardinal.
And, there are several other highly-ranked 2016 prospects who are also very close to committing.
This, of course, marks a very different recruiting class progression than the last few years. Whereas in '13 - '15 Stanford landed many of its most highly touted recruits closer to Signing Day (after official visits and admissions decisions), this year they've landed several 10-plus months out.
So, in all likelihood, there will be some nervous moments at some point with some of these spring commits, whether it be due to admissions or the lure of another program. And, of course, if Stanford has a disappointing 2015 season, who knows what will happen.
The good news for Stanford is that all of the commits so far (and the future spring commits) are in contact, and several are friends. As one recruit told me the other day: "We are getting close as friends more than teammates. It's what's helping build this class."
So, as other schools try to their best to separate the likes of Robinson, Edmonds, Smith and co. from their Stanford commitments over the next 10 months, keep that in mind. (Also, the number of non-admissions related Stanford decommits has been pretty low over the last few years.)
In any event, this has been a special, near-unprecedented stretch for Stanford football recruiting. and it should continue as the spring rolls on. There are still plenty of 2016 spots to fill and still plenty of prospects who have yet to visit campus, but this has the potential to be a memorable and impactful recruiting class.
