On Friday, the Pac-12 had their annual media day for football. Stanford head coach Troy Taylor, senior wide receiver John Humphreys, and fifth year linebacker Tristan Sinclair spoke to the media. Below are five takeaways I have from what the Cardinal said.
#1. It's truly the dawning of a new era for Stanford football: After a couple years of dismal football, there is a new energy around this Cardinal program. If you talk to the Stanford players and interact with them, you wouldn’t know they were picked to finish last in the Pac-12. There is a ton of positivity and optimism around the program right now. That should be able to lift their play and help them beat expectations.
#2. Stanford football should be fun: Just from a schematic standpoint on both sides of the ball, it's clear that the players are really excited about what they are running. The last couple of years haven’t been all that fun for Stanford, so for guys to be talking about having fun and enjoying the systems they are running is really a refreshing change for the program.
#3. Humphreys and Sinclair both wanted to be a part of the rebuild: It’s clear that both John Humphreys and Tristan Sinclair are excited to be part of the first year of this new era of Stanford football. The story of Sinclair calling up Taylor to say he's coming back was really neat. Taylor seems like a guy who the players love playing for and really respect as a person. That's something Stanford obviously really values and Taylor checks off that box in spades. This doesn’t mean Taylor is going easy on his players, though. He’s pushing them hard and really making them work. But, because of his foundation of love, that enables guys to respond well when they are getting pushed.
#4. Stanford will be a player in NIL: Everything Taylor said about NIL we already knew, but it's good to hear him say he's embracing NIL and that they want to have a competitive collective. Making sure that fits well in their ecosystem.
#5. Recruiting to Stanford really isn’t that hard: Taylor said with the right kids, Stanford should be easy to sell and that every recruiting class should be really strong. This is the right approach and it's refreshing to hear because so many people falsely think it's hard to recruit to Stanford because of the academic restrictions and all that jazz. But with the right kid, it's an easy sell. Especially since you involve the family in the recruiting process.
BONUS Takeaway: One other takeaway I should add is that the starting quarterback job is still up for grabs. Ashton Daniels, Ari Patu, Justin Lamson, and Myles Jackson will all get their chance to win the starting job. It’ll be interesting to see how that part shakes out over the course of fall camp and possibly the first couple games of the season.
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