12/13 Shaw post-practice

Below is the full transcript of Stanford coach David Shaw's meeting with the media after Tuesday's practice.

Is there an update on Terrence Stephens?

DS: No, not yet.

Tell us a little bit about the schedule here. Everybody is talking about the debate of rust versus rest. You've proably figured this pace out by now?

DS: I like what we did last year. We've modified it a little bit. Coaches and players are trained in three day segments. So there's typically a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and you back off on Friday. So what we're going to do is Saturday is going to be like a Tuesday. So we'll go Saturday, Sunday, Monday. And then we'll give them a little bit of a break on Tuesday and then we'll go Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and then we'll run them the next day and then we'll give them some time off.

How much of this practice is talent evaluation, maybe finding a guy for next year as opposed to just prepping for Wisconsin?

DS: A lot of it. I would say the last third of those practices is a lot of young guy work. So we can get our older guys rested and when we do these practices starting Saturday, 75-80 percent of those practices will be the older guys getting ready for Wisconsin. It's going to be a shorter version of those practices so we can still get their legs back and the last part of the practice will be the young guys getting after it.

I don't suspect that you're a big time rah-rah guy here, but do you use the (2000 Rose Bowl loss as motivation?

I think some of our guys weren't born then. They don't remember, they had no part of it. The only guy involved in those proceedings right now is Barry Alvarez. He remembers it vividly, I'm sure. But we always talk about our last game doesn't help our last game, so surely a game more than 12 years ago isn't going to help this game either. It's two new teams going down to Anaheim to have a heck of a game.

Where were you in your career in 2000, the last time Stanford was down in the Rose Bowl?

DS: I was with the Oakland Raiders at the time. I watched the game from start to finish and was on the edge of my couch at the end. I know Stanford had the ball with a chance to go down and score and we couldn't convert a fourth down so I remember the game very well, but at the same time there is no carry over from that. Wisconsin earned that victory, Ron Dayne had a heck of a game. I just remember Stanford guys trying to hold on to him when he was running around. That was a long time ago and this is a new game.

Ron Dayne was a little different type of running than Montee Ball, but Montee Ball is still the guy?

DS: He was a Doak Walker winner, over 1800 yards rushing, and that's without a fast start. A lot of guys get big yardage after they have a fast start. He didn't have a fast start to the season, but he picked up steam. And he is quick, he's slippery, he runs with power and speed. He's a heck of a running back.

Do you think you would be in the Rose Bowl if you hadn't made your QB switch?

DS: That's hard to say. We as coaches never think about that because there's no other ifs, there's just what was and what wasn't. We started off really well, we hit a lull, we needed an athletic quarterback. We were going to play a kid part time and he came in and played great so he became the full time guy. I think along the way we as a coaching staff made some good decisions.

Do you have some of your assistants out on the road recruiting during bowl practices?

DS: Absolutely. So it stops this Saturday, so guys will be back in this Saturday, but I think we have guys in five different states today.

A question about Geoff Meinken, is he back in practice and is he healthy now?

DS: He put the pads on to come out and do some drills. He's in no way read y to play a football game but he's starting to show signs that he's stronger but he's lost weight and he's more athletic. It's crazy. He's come back, just watched him go through his drills, he looks great. I'm excited about what he can do for us hopefully starting this spring.

With the running back position, is that even more tilted to the young guys when you have Stepfan who can probably go two months without seeing a field and be fine?

DS: Yeah, we have so many guys that can play, so we'll get a more look at Remound Wright. We know what Anthony Wilkerson is, we don't need to overtax him. But just looking forward to spring ball, it's going to be a battle because Remound has been great all year, Anthony missed some time with an ankle injury but he's come back ,he looks great. Kelsey Young coming in and out, receiver running back. Barry Sanders, hopefully he can show us something in the spring.

Is that a position where you really do want to have one frontrunner or are you okay with a few guys mixing in?

DS: I love having options, which is honestly what we've had the last two years. Stepfan has been great, but last year especially going back and forth between him and Gaffney and Wilkerson and on any given day you could say either one of those guys could be the guy. So I love having multiple guys there.

Is it unreasonable to think that a younger guy could play well enough in these next two weeks to move into the rotation on game day?

DS: For a guy that's eligible and not redshirting? Absolutely. Like Ty Montgomery a year ago, Ty had kind of come in as a starter towards the end of the year, was involved but wasn't a huge part of the game plan. And over those practices before the bowl game he just blossomed and he became a featured guy in the bowl game and had a hundred something yards receiving and just was phenomenal. So anybody that is playing right now can obviously work their way into a bigger piece of the pie.

Do you expect that (Ty's) going to be, just projecting what he's doing now to three weeks, do you think he will be ready to do that again?

DS: I don't know, but I hope so. I hope so. But at the same time Jamal (Rashad Patterson), for what we've asked Jamal to do, Jamal made two great plays again today. Jamal will start with Drew (Terrell) and Ty will come in and probably spell both of them at different times.

What's the biggest key for Kodi Whitfield to take then next step?

DS: It's just consistency. With all young players, Kodi has done some really good things and put himself in a position to play, but then he's made some guy mistakes, both in practice and in the games, which you kind of expect, but when that does happen it kind of shrinks what you trust because the biggest thing is trust. The biggest thing is building trust from the coaching staff. He's going to be really good, but he's still a young guy that's still growing.

Are any other players even questionable (with injuries)?

DS: We'll see with Daniel Zychlinski. We'll just see, but once again he doesn't punt with his shoulder, so as long as he can catch the ball and drop it I think he's got a chance there.