I am participating in Tara's all about basketball class through Stanford CE. As for the class, the first two sessions have been more focused on the history of the women's game and Tara's great players and greatest hits. Hopefully, some of the Xs and Os come up soon.
The past week, one of the guest speakers was Jennifer Azzi, who was, in my mind, the analog to Andrew Luck for the WBB program. She was a prized recruit, pulled out of a basketball-crazy state who took a chance on a beaten-down, irrelevant program. And her success, along with the collective influence of solid players, a great coach and great culture helped build a powerhouse. Of course, Tara (and to be clear, Amy Tucker) not only built the program, they had the drive and good sense not to F-it up with laziness and negligence.
According to Azzi, Amy Tucker recruited her, but, in her mind, Stanford was not under consideration because the program was nowhere, and Pat Summit was down the road. What turned her around was meeting with Tara, and Tara impressing Azzi's dad to the point where he convinced Jennifer that Tara was a winner, would produce a championship in the near future and that Stanford was too life-changing to turn down. In other words, a coach sold a dream and delivered. The rapidity that Tara produced a champion parallels what Harbaugh did, though at least Harbaugh had some institutional history upon which to draw, In both cases, coaches, through force of personality and credibility became the fulcrum and inflection point.
This is not to say that Stanford can only succeed if it finds GOAT/generational coaches like Tara and Harbaugh. That certainly helps. But at the time Tara and Harbaugh were making their pitches, their bona fides were not established. Clearly, in the living room, they have an X factor. And clearly, the world has changed a great deal since their early tenures. One only need look at how competitive the WBB world is.
What the comments do underscore to me is something increasingly discussed here, which is whether, Xs and Os aside, Troy Taylor is capable of selling a dream and building a culture with hungry, true-believers who can be persuaded to take a different path/chance. In addition to football IQ, I think Luck and Levin really need to over-index on finding a coach that can instill belief when they start the next search. Denny Green had a bit of this following the Wiggin/Jack Elway malaise. We need our Ted Lasso or Cignetti or Coach Prime. People like them or Tara or Harbaugh or Dick Gould not only can be alchemists, they can build fan and community support.
#fundthebuyoutnow!
The past week, one of the guest speakers was Jennifer Azzi, who was, in my mind, the analog to Andrew Luck for the WBB program. She was a prized recruit, pulled out of a basketball-crazy state who took a chance on a beaten-down, irrelevant program. And her success, along with the collective influence of solid players, a great coach and great culture helped build a powerhouse. Of course, Tara (and to be clear, Amy Tucker) not only built the program, they had the drive and good sense not to F-it up with laziness and negligence.
According to Azzi, Amy Tucker recruited her, but, in her mind, Stanford was not under consideration because the program was nowhere, and Pat Summit was down the road. What turned her around was meeting with Tara, and Tara impressing Azzi's dad to the point where he convinced Jennifer that Tara was a winner, would produce a championship in the near future and that Stanford was too life-changing to turn down. In other words, a coach sold a dream and delivered. The rapidity that Tara produced a champion parallels what Harbaugh did, though at least Harbaugh had some institutional history upon which to draw, In both cases, coaches, through force of personality and credibility became the fulcrum and inflection point.
This is not to say that Stanford can only succeed if it finds GOAT/generational coaches like Tara and Harbaugh. That certainly helps. But at the time Tara and Harbaugh were making their pitches, their bona fides were not established. Clearly, in the living room, they have an X factor. And clearly, the world has changed a great deal since their early tenures. One only need look at how competitive the WBB world is.
What the comments do underscore to me is something increasingly discussed here, which is whether, Xs and Os aside, Troy Taylor is capable of selling a dream and building a culture with hungry, true-believers who can be persuaded to take a different path/chance. In addition to football IQ, I think Luck and Levin really need to over-index on finding a coach that can instill belief when they start the next search. Denny Green had a bit of this following the Wiggin/Jack Elway malaise. We need our Ted Lasso or Cignetti or Coach Prime. People like them or Tara or Harbaugh or Dick Gould not only can be alchemists, they can build fan and community support.
#fundthebuyoutnow!
