Monte Vista Christian legend getting a full circle moment in signing with Stanford

Growing up in Gilroy, Brendan Doyle's football career began in the Bay Area. And after spending some time away, Doyle will return to where it all began and finish his college career at Stanford.

Memphis' tight end Brendan Doyle (86) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the game between Troy University and the University of Memphis at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tenn., on Saturday, September 7, 2024. / Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK

A former Bay Area standout is returning to play football where it all began. Announcing that he was entering the NCAA transfer portal for his final season of eligibility, Brendan Doyle, who once starred at Monte Vista Christian, has finally found a home for 2025, committing to the Stanford Cardinal earlier in the week. Previously spending time at the College of San Mateo, Doyle will have the chance to play only 15 miles away from where his college career started.

Unable to generate a lot of D-I interest directly out of high school, Doyle bet on himself and instead opted to join College of San Mateo, one of the best JUCO schools in the nation, in the hopes that he could shine there and put his name more on the map. Not getting much playing time as a freshman and having the option to go somewhere else, Doyle instead put his head down and worked tirelessly ahead of his sophomore campaign, eventually earning a significantly larger role in 2022.

During that season, Doyle caught 10 passes for 253 yards and five touchdowns, including two in the California Community College state title game, helping the team win the game over Riverside. For his strong campaign, he was named to the all-California Region I first team which in turn caught the attention of Memphis and led to him being offered by them.

Once arriving at Memphis, it took some time for Doyle to get fully acclimated to the rigors of Division I college football as in his first season, he only caught seven passes for 34 yards, but managed to find the endzone four times while proving to be an effective blocker. In 2024, Doyle continued being the dynamic player that he is, not only adding an extra force to the line with his exceptional blocking abilities, but as a receiver, he caught 13 passes for 105 yards and three touchdowns. Overall in his 26 game Memphis career, Doyle caught 20 passes for 139 yards and seven touchdowns, while helping the Tigers finish 11-2 in 2024 and end with a ranking of No. 25.

Despite joining a Stanford team that is deep in a rebuild, finishing a fourth straight season at 3-9, a couple factors led to him pining at the chance to play at Stanford. For one, one of his biggest points of criteria for his final year of eligibility was getting to play close to home. In an article written by Santa Cruz Sentinel's Jim Seimas, Doyle noted that he even got his former coaches at San Mateo to help him get noticed by Stanford's staff, which eventually led to them seeing his film and getting in contact with him. Doyle also wanted to be able to have on his resume that he obtained some sort of education from Stanford University, believing that the opportunity was too big to pass up.

In addition to his visit to Stanford, Doyle also checked out Tulane and was slated to visit a handful of other schools, but after visiting Stanford and falling in love with it, he opted to cancel all his other scheduled visits in order to fully commit to Stanford. Now coming in as a part of the rebuild, Doyle will hope to add another layer to Stanford's offense and help them become one of the ACC's best.