Does Stanford Have A Recruiting Issue

Some may say Stanford Football can't recruit but is that true?

There is a narrative going around that Stanford cannot recruit because they have high academic standards and they don't use the transfer portal or help with NIL deals. Well, I'm here to debunk that narrative and explain how Stanford is still able to recruit. 

Despite these beliefs, it simply just isn't true. Let's take a look at their recent recruiting classes. I will break down their 2021, 2022, and 2023 recruiting classes. 

2021 Recruiting Class

In 2021 their recruiting class was ranked 48 overall. That is not bad for a school that was ravished by Covid. They didn't have fans, and struggled with local restrictions. This of course caused uncertainty surrounding whether or not they would be able to play football. In this class they had 17 recruits enrolled at Stanford, 2 four-star recruits, and 15 3-star recruits. If you take a look at the data over the past 5 years 40% of players drafted in the NFL have been 3-star recruits. Now you just have to get the right 3-star players. The 2021 recruiting class was a good class in terms of the situation of the uncertainty of playing in front of fans and what was going around. 

2022 Recruiting Class

This class is a big reason the narrative isn't true. 2021 Stanford finished with a 3-9 record that could've had players de-commit and go to schools that were winning, but that didn't happen. This class is 27th overall and 19th composite rank. Composite rank means they get all the rankings from different ranking systems/sites and give it a rank through an algorithm. This recruitment class is really good, it includes 22 enrollees, 7 4-star players, and 15 3-star players. If Stanford had a recruiting problem they wouldn't be able to land this many 4- star players in one class. The program may not be winning like they use to but the name Stanford Football carries a lot of weight. This is why recruits will still come to Stanford, the history. This class had true freshmen playing in the 2022-2023 season, a few notable players that played include, David Bailey, Ernest Cooper IV, and Jaxson Moi all along the defensive line. 

2023 Recruiting Class

This class has taken a big hit after Head Coach David Shaw stepped down. They were ranked higher prior to a few players de-committing from Stanford. They now have a 37th overall and composite ranking for this class. They have 14 hard commits and out of the 14, there are 3 4-star recruits and 11 3-star recruits. They lost 2 4-star recruits after Shaw stepped down, those players were very good players. So they still have been able to land very talented players. They even have players from the 2024 class reclassifying to the 2023 class, that player quarterback Myles Jackson who is a 4-star recruit in the 2023 class. 

After looking at these classes, it is safe to say they do not have a recruiting issue due to high academic standards or the NIL deals, but it is more so what has been done with the classes. Now, the NIL deals could become a problem for the 5-star players that are at the top of their class. That is yet to know because 5-star players go to winning programs to compete for national championships. Once Stanford starts winning again then we will see if the 5-star players don't want to come because of the NIL deals. However, as of right now Stanford does not have a recruiting issue. They have been able to land very talented players every year. They lose players in the transfer portal yearly, because players do not want to lose. 

Without a head coach, Stanford has landed three players. That just shows it's not a recruitment issue. If Notre Dame, which also holds high academic standards, is able to land  5-star recruits that make a recruiting class go from the 25th to the 9th overall, it is possible. The reason this is possible for teams like Notre Dame with high academic standards is winning. Once Stanford gets back to their winning ways they will land those big time recruits like they once have. I can proudly say Stanford does not have a recruiting issue, they have a winning issue at the moment that can be fixed.