An elite talent, Herron showed his football IQ during Stanford visit

Stanford hosted Louisville Trinity High’s Stephen Herron -- one of the best pass rushers in the 2019 class -- last weekend for an extended one-on-one session with coaches. Herron and his family members were the only visitors on campus during what is normally a quiet time on The Farm.

“Stanford is a great place,” Herron said. “I liked the Bay Area and I really liked the campus a lot. It was definitely a great visit and a successful one.”

Herron previously shared with Cardinal Sports Report why he thinks highly of Stanford before he even had an offer. He waited until the Cardinal offered to release a top 10 list of schools: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas and Stanford.

The visit to Stanford apparently focused on making sure he and his family felt comfortable in the Bay Area and also to talk Xs and Os with the coaches. He had extensive conversations with inside linebackers coach Peter Hansen and defensive coordinator/outside linebackers coach Lance Anderson. Hansen visited Herron’s high school during the spring.

Herron and the coaches spent about an hour looking at video from Stanford and Trinity High. Herron saw a lot of similarities and was comfortable anticipating what the coaches wanted him to see and describe.

“I think now they see me at a different level as far as football IQ goes,” he said. “They see me as an intelligent player and not just a student. I really got to spend some time with them and talk about how they see football. It was really good to have a full-day visit.

“I saw they can compete with any other coaches that I’ve been around. That’s great to know.”

Herron wants a school that gives him a chance to make an impact on the field as a freshman. After showing his football knowledge to the Stanford coaches he said they were impressed by the total package he represents.

Herron left confident in his ability to play early in his career if he were to choose Stanford.

After spending almost all of Saturday at Stanford the Herrons changed things up a bit Sunday. They visited the church at Stanford -- “My grandmother came with us and that was cool for all of us” -- and then hit some of the popular area sites, including the Golden Gate Bridge.

“It was a really good trip as far as family matters go and not just football,” he said. “Now they know they wouldn’t mind living within a couple hours of Stanford.”

Herron has taken visits to multiple schools this summer and it’s possible he makes a decision about his future college by the end of the year. He also doesn’t think making official visits will really affect how he thinks about schools. Other than “rolling out the red carpet” he believes those types of visits wouldn’t show him more than he already knows about each school.

Ultimately he'll weigh the pros of each school's academics, the quality of the coaches and playing time to make a decision.