Stanford's defense won't be as 'vanilla' as in years past

Stanford will look completely different on both sides of the ball

Stanford is set to kick off their season on the road on Friday, as they will be traveling to try Aloha State to take on Hawaii.

The matchup will be our first look at the new era of Stanford football led by Troy Taylor who was hired as head coach following David Shaw stepping down after last season. 

Taylor is known for producing high powered offenses that will work at a much quicker pace than the offense that Stanford fans had grown accustomed to and tired of. Running back E.J. Smith told the media about the fact that he feels this offense allows for him to be more versatile, expressing he's been used in the slot as well as out of the backfield. Even safety Alaka’I Gilman noted how difficult this newer offense is for defenses to slow down.

He also discussed the change in the defense schematics. Taylor brought in former Wisconsin linebackers coach Bobby April III to be his defensive coordinator, and based on comments made by Gilman the defense is much different than in years past. When discussing April's new look defense which is expected to utilize a base of  a 4-2-5, Gilman explained to the media that he feels as if this defense allows for players to take more of an aggressive approach rather than letting the offense come to them. He also noted that the scheme isn't as "vanilla" as years past.

Alaka’I Gilman highlighted the new defensive scheme and how it allows them to be aggressive and be disruptive while the previous defense was more "vanilla"

— Inside The Stanford Cardinal (@InsideStanford) August 28, 2023

Stanford's defense struggled mightily last season, and is replacing a ton of starters all over the place with the secondary being entirely brand new compared to a year ago. They will be tested by a Hawaii team that put up nearly 400 yards of total offense against Vanderbilt, while averaging 13 yards per completion. Of the 12 FBS teams that played during Week 0, Hawaii ranked first in passing offense, went for it on fourth down more than anyone else outside of Navy who they tied with, and were the third most efficient team through the air behind USC and Notre Dame.

Stanford is currently a 3.5 point favorite, and it will mark the first time that the majority of their starters are starting or even playing significant snaps.