Staff changes put emphasis on spring cohesion
With four division titles and 73 wins in seven seasons under coach David Shaw, the Stanford machine churns with a consistency matched by few programs in the Power Five.
Casting an eye to 2018, questions come from above and below.
From above: Can Stanford finally break into the College Football Playoff? During its time on the national stage, it has never qualified for the BCS title game or the CFP semifinals.
From below: Can it beat back the ascendant programs in the North to create a two-team duel for supremacy with Washington?
Coaching staff
DAVID SHAW >> He has led Stanford to 11, 8,12, 10 and nine victories in the past five seasons. Contract-wise, terms of Shaw’s agreement are undisclosed, but it’s essentially a lifetime deal … if he wants it. Thus far, the Stanford alum has shown no indication
that he’s ready to make the jump to the NFL. As the son of a former NFL coordinator and having worked on three staffs himself (Raiders, Eagles, Ravens), Shaw does not gaze at the NFL lifestyle in wonder. To him, it appears, the greener grass is in college.
ADDITIONS/CHANGES FOR 2018: >> Kevin Carberry (offensive line) and Bobby Kennedy (receivers) are new. Longtime position coach (and former Stanford quarterback) Tavita Pritchard slides into the role of offensive coordinator. He replaces Mike Bloomgren, who left to take over Rice. Bloomgren played a multi-pronged role as the position coach for the offensive line, run-game coordinator and Shaw’s top aide on the playcalling front. Carberry takes over the running game, but Pritchard
will undoubtedly be the primary voice on Shaw’s headset when it comes time to signal in the plays.
The players
KEY LOSSES >> OL David Bright, TE Dalton Schultz, DT Harrison Phillips, CB Quenton Meeks and S Justin Reid. Phillips was often a singular force at the line of scrimmage and leaves an immense void. Unless players who have served in subordinate roles (Dylan Jackson and Jovann Swann, to name two) make a great leap forward, the defensive front will be the most vulnerable unit on the depth chart, by far.
ESSENTIAL ADDITION >> WR Osiris St. Brown. The former 4-star recruit (and brother of USC receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown) did not play as a true freshman because of injury but should join the rotation this spring. The Cardinal has two elite possession receivers in Trenton Irwin and JJ Arcega-Whiteside. St. Brown’s speed should stretch defenses and give Stanford a downfield element it has lacked. LIMITED (AT BEST) FOR SPRING >> QBs K.J. Costello and Davis Mills, TB Bryce Love and CB Alijah Holder. The Cardinal assuredly will be without several top players. Given Stanford’s approach with starting tailbacks in recent years, Love probably would be held out of contact drills even if healthy. And his ankle is anything but 100 percent. Costello is out for the spring, Stanford announced (hip injury, per a report by SI’s Bruce Feldman), while projected backup Mills, a redshirt freshman, is recovering from a knee injury. Holder, Stanford’s top cornerback, suffered a season-ending leg injury in October and probably will be held out, as well.
STAR IN THE MAKING >> OT Walker Little. Earned honorable-mention all-conference honors last season as a true freshman. Little should combine with guard Nate Herbig and center Jesse Burkett to form the core of what could be one of Stanford’s best lines. He has a chance to be an Andrus Peat-level wall on the blind side.
QB COMFORT LEVEL (1-10 SCALE) >> 1 for spring practice, 6 for the regular season. With Costello (and possibly Mills) unavailable for drills, the Cardinal probably will have one healthy quarterback for scrimmage situations this spring: Jack Richardson, a recruited walk-on who spent 2017 as a redshirt. Assuming Costello and Mills are healthy for training camp, the Cardinal has two elite pro-style passers from which to choose. Costello, who played well down the stretch and led Stanford to the Pac-12 North title, is the heavy favorite to win the job.
UNIT IN THE SPOTLIGHT >> The secondary. We noted the issues on the defensive front above, but the back line is also filled with uncertainty. Holder’s status for the fall is tenuous — he has suffered two serious injuries in his career — and the Cardinal lost its toptwo players in Meeks and Reid (both were all-conference honorees). Malik Antoine is a top candidate to replace Meeks, while Brandon Simmons and Ben Edwards stand as the likely replacements for Reid. BOTTOM LINE: >> Spring practice typically matters less to Stanford than any program in the conference because of the continuity in scheme, staff and personnel. That’s not the case this year for two reasons: the complete dearth of proven playmakers on the defensive line, and the changes on the offensive staff. The line and power running game have been the heart of Stanford’s success under Shaw, and Bloomgren was in charge of both. Establishing cohesion during spring practice — both intra-staff and staff-player — is essential to producing an efficient start to the regular season. And the September schedule, with USC, Oregon and Notre Dame, is brutal.