Welcome to the football recruiting notes thread for September! August thread is here in case you missed anything.
stanford.forums.rivals.com
Getting this up a bit later than I would have liked as this past weekend was crazy due to news of Stanford, Cal, and SMU joining the ACC. Not to mention the holiday. But anyways, on that note, my heart goes out to Oregon State and Washington State right now. I really hope they find their way into a power conference somehow. Big XII looking like a pipe dream right now, but they really do belong in a power conference. Especially since they've shown they put quality products on the football field.
As for Stanford, it's HUGE that they have a home. Absolutely HUGE. That news in and of itself could kick off and should kickoff the recruiting notes thread for this month. Recruits want to play against the best and compete at the highest level. The ACC is a conference at the highest level. P5, P4, whatever you wanna call it, the ACC is in that group. For all the mistakes Stanford has made and how it never should have gotten as dicey as it did, they survived. And the same can be said for their rivals across the bay in Berkeley.
I am cooking up a piece on reactions from recruits and athletes on joining the ACC. I'm hoping to get a few more responses to come in, but so far, the responses I've gotten have been positive from recruits. They're all excited to be in the ACC and also are excited to be coming to Stanford. Recruiting-wise, joining the ACC truly saved Stanford's bacon. Had they instead ventured into the wilderness that is independence, I think we would likely have seen at least a few defections of guys choosing to re-open their recruitments in order to play at the highest level.
Instead, the only one who has done so during this stretch is 2024 4-star OT Kai Greer, but as @fborg81 pointed out, it really doesn't seem that conference realignment had an impact on him since he's from North Carolina and thus could have played close to home. I think other reasons were at play. I did reach out to him about why he made the move he did and haven't heard back. As of now, the fact that the 2024 class has largely survived this realignment madness is a godsend for the program and really helps ensure that Troy Taylor can build the type of program that he wants to have. The 2024 class at the moment is ranked 22nd in the Rivals national team rankings with 27 total commitments.
As for the 2025 class, that class has three commits already and is ranked 23rd in the Rivals national team rankings: 3-star OL Siosiua Vete, 3-star OL Charlie Hoitink, and LB Maxwell Richardson (listed as an ATH, but is committing to Stanford as an LB). At this point, that's really where the staff is focusing their efforts right now. Especially since they have a conference now that they can sell to the 2024 guys to keep them calm and locked in.
The first home game of the season will be against Sacramento State on September 16th, so that's when they'll first be able to get guys out on visits to see games. I will do everything in my power to get a list before each home game and I feel confident that things will come through just fine on that front. The three most recent 2025 visitors who are listed in the database (July 26th & 27th) are 4-star OT Josh Petty, 3-star DE Adam Shovlin, and 4-star TE James Flanigan. I am hoping to get dates locked in with them to do an interview. Stanford feels like they are in a good spot with all three guys, which is exciting.
QB-wise, 4-star Bear Bachmeier is the name to keep an eye on due to his brother Tiger, who you all know is on the team. Bear visited in March and April, but it does seem like he's considering other options besides Stanford. Alabama and Notre Dame are on him hard. So even with the family connection, it's not a slam dunk Stanford will get him. Obviously a big thing to look for with him along with every other recruit of course is if he gets an official visit date set up. That will be key.
There's tons of other names I could go through, but I'll keep it to that for now. Obviously anybody who visited and hasn't committed elsewhere/trimmed Stanford off their list is in play. Circling back to the beginning of this thread, it's truly big that Stanford is going to the ACC and has a home. It allows them to keep playing with the big boys and then also, having this resolved before their first home game is significant because that's going to make it easier for them to set up visits with guys who they want to get on campus.
Even though a big part of Stanford's recruiting pitch is the academic side, it's the academic side coupled with power five athletics that makes them unique. It's that combination. Without power-five athletics, they're just Harvard on the West Coast and they don't want that. If you think about it, that's really what separates Stanford as a university from the Ivy League schools more than anything. It's the fact that they compete at the highest level of college athletics. It's such a big part of the Stanford brand and identity.
Having the ACC as home ensures that Stanford can continue to have that identity that they feel separates them from the Ivy League schools and truly makes them the special university that they are. I could go on and on about how important this is, but I think you all understand this well, so I'll stop here, haha.
Football Recruiting - Football recruiting notes: August
The football recruiting notes thread for August is here. In case you missed anything, check out the July thread here. With the 2024 class pretty much all wrapped up as Isaiah Garcia decided to stay home and go to Utah, the focus does appear to have shifted now onto the 2025 class as well as...
stanford.forums.rivals.com
Getting this up a bit later than I would have liked as this past weekend was crazy due to news of Stanford, Cal, and SMU joining the ACC. Not to mention the holiday. But anyways, on that note, my heart goes out to Oregon State and Washington State right now. I really hope they find their way into a power conference somehow. Big XII looking like a pipe dream right now, but they really do belong in a power conference. Especially since they've shown they put quality products on the football field.
As for Stanford, it's HUGE that they have a home. Absolutely HUGE. That news in and of itself could kick off and should kickoff the recruiting notes thread for this month. Recruits want to play against the best and compete at the highest level. The ACC is a conference at the highest level. P5, P4, whatever you wanna call it, the ACC is in that group. For all the mistakes Stanford has made and how it never should have gotten as dicey as it did, they survived. And the same can be said for their rivals across the bay in Berkeley.
I am cooking up a piece on reactions from recruits and athletes on joining the ACC. I'm hoping to get a few more responses to come in, but so far, the responses I've gotten have been positive from recruits. They're all excited to be in the ACC and also are excited to be coming to Stanford. Recruiting-wise, joining the ACC truly saved Stanford's bacon. Had they instead ventured into the wilderness that is independence, I think we would likely have seen at least a few defections of guys choosing to re-open their recruitments in order to play at the highest level.
Instead, the only one who has done so during this stretch is 2024 4-star OT Kai Greer, but as @fborg81 pointed out, it really doesn't seem that conference realignment had an impact on him since he's from North Carolina and thus could have played close to home. I think other reasons were at play. I did reach out to him about why he made the move he did and haven't heard back. As of now, the fact that the 2024 class has largely survived this realignment madness is a godsend for the program and really helps ensure that Troy Taylor can build the type of program that he wants to have. The 2024 class at the moment is ranked 22nd in the Rivals national team rankings with 27 total commitments.
As for the 2025 class, that class has three commits already and is ranked 23rd in the Rivals national team rankings: 3-star OL Siosiua Vete, 3-star OL Charlie Hoitink, and LB Maxwell Richardson (listed as an ATH, but is committing to Stanford as an LB). At this point, that's really where the staff is focusing their efforts right now. Especially since they have a conference now that they can sell to the 2024 guys to keep them calm and locked in.
The first home game of the season will be against Sacramento State on September 16th, so that's when they'll first be able to get guys out on visits to see games. I will do everything in my power to get a list before each home game and I feel confident that things will come through just fine on that front. The three most recent 2025 visitors who are listed in the database (July 26th & 27th) are 4-star OT Josh Petty, 3-star DE Adam Shovlin, and 4-star TE James Flanigan. I am hoping to get dates locked in with them to do an interview. Stanford feels like they are in a good spot with all three guys, which is exciting.
QB-wise, 4-star Bear Bachmeier is the name to keep an eye on due to his brother Tiger, who you all know is on the team. Bear visited in March and April, but it does seem like he's considering other options besides Stanford. Alabama and Notre Dame are on him hard. So even with the family connection, it's not a slam dunk Stanford will get him. Obviously a big thing to look for with him along with every other recruit of course is if he gets an official visit date set up. That will be key.
There's tons of other names I could go through, but I'll keep it to that for now. Obviously anybody who visited and hasn't committed elsewhere/trimmed Stanford off their list is in play. Circling back to the beginning of this thread, it's truly big that Stanford is going to the ACC and has a home. It allows them to keep playing with the big boys and then also, having this resolved before their first home game is significant because that's going to make it easier for them to set up visits with guys who they want to get on campus.
Even though a big part of Stanford's recruiting pitch is the academic side, it's the academic side coupled with power five athletics that makes them unique. It's that combination. Without power-five athletics, they're just Harvard on the West Coast and they don't want that. If you think about it, that's really what separates Stanford as a university from the Ivy League schools more than anything. It's the fact that they compete at the highest level of college athletics. It's such a big part of the Stanford brand and identity.
Having the ACC as home ensures that Stanford can continue to have that identity that they feel separates them from the Ivy League schools and truly makes them the special university that they are. I could go on and on about how important this is, but I think you all understand this well, so I'll stop here, haha.
