It’s almost impossible to point out flaws when recruiting against Stanford football

Monday evening, Stanford coach David Shaw posted a letter extolling the virtues of playing for Stanford, which seems to have been in response to some negative recruiting by other coaches.

First, I believe every staff negatively recruits to some degree, whether it be outright bashing a competing program, or pointing out key differences between what one school offers vs. another.

Second, negatively recruiting against Stanford isn’t working too well. The Cardinal keep winning Pac-12 titles and have an elite class coming in.

If I had to negatively recruit Stanford as an opposing coach, I certainly couldn’t knock the on-field product or the campus, so I’d probably try to introduce doubt in a prospect’s mind about him being able to handle the academic load.

But Shaw and his staff could quite easily rebut that by pointing out Stanford’s legendary scholarship stinginess, offering only prospects who can hack it in the classroom.

Stanford’s future remains bright.