Stanford Football's New Year's Resolutions

To say that 2022 did not go as Stanford Football had hoped would be an understatement.

The team was riddled with injury, poor play calling, and simply were unable to compete all year. The program decided to go a new direction after David Shaw elected to step down, as Sacramento State's Troy Taylor was tabbed as the new head coach. In being the new head coach, Taylor is responsible for ushering in a new and hopefully much more successful era of Stanford Football.

There is obviously a reason Taylor was brought in as the program has been down for a few years, so with the new year coming starting, I compiled a list of resolutions form the football team. Granted some will be or have been addressed by the new staff, and others are out of their control, but Stanford still would benefit greatly from completing each resolution.

Stay healthy

Not that a healthy Stanford team was going to be contending for a championship, but if the Cardinal didn't lose what felt like half their starters to injury, maybe this team makes it to a bowl game. Receiver, running back, offensive line, linebacker, and the secondary were all riddled with injury throughout this past season, and injuries have been a huge issue for the program the past few seasons.

This team will likely be sporting 17 new starters next year, so the few guys that do have experience will be that much more important.

Improve on defense

Stanford was home to one of the worst defenses in the country last season as they were consistently man handled by opponents, and really showed little to no signs of improvement. The defense will be full of new faces outside of the defensive line, so defensive coordinator Bobby April III will have his work cut out for him. If Stanford doesn't have at least a top-80 defense, it may get difficult to find a win in a Pac-12 conference that will be home to the best quarterback play in the country.

Become an offensive juggernaut

You may be reading this and think it is a tad unrealistic, like someone vowing to become rich this year, but this is exactly what Troy Taylor was hired for. His offense was among the best at the FCS level, and in order to compete in the Pac-12 Stanford will need to be far better on offense. The Cardinal didn't crack 30 once all year outside of their first game against Colgate, and six of their nine losses came by at least 10 points. Obviously the defense plays a role in this, but they got little to no help from the offense.

It will be a tall task considering the offense returns just two starters, but Taylor has shown that he can do more with less while at Sacramento State. If the offense can improve, Stanford will be able to keep up with opponents who thrive in shootouts.

Give the fans a reason to come back

Majority if not all of Stanford's home games were played in front of a half empty stadium. The fan base appeared to have given up on the program, and while I don't expect Stanford Stadium to be filled to the brim, it would be nice for the team to see more Stanford fans than the away team's fans. Taylor was great at this while in Sacramento as the stadium was consistently packed, so maybe he can replicate that in Palo Alto.