Stanford viewed as the best job opening in college football
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The college football coaching carousel has been in full swing for a few months now, and Stanford has become the latest school to partake.
This of course coming after David Shaw announced to the media on Saturday following Stanford's loss to BYU that he felt it was time for him to step away from being the head coach. In doing so he walks away as the program's most successful coach, and also gives Stanford a chance to start fresh and evolve with college football.
Starting fresh, is something that they really haven't done since they hired Jim Harbaugh in 2007. As it stands right now there are currently 12 FBS openings, and even despite the lack of success/utilization of NIL and the transfer portal, 247Sports ranked Stanford as the best opening. Counting the jobs that have already been filled, includes schools such as Auburn, Wisconsin, Arizona State, and Nebraska, Stanford still ranked as the No. 5 job in the country.
Here is why the Stanford opening is so attractive according to Brandon Huffman:
Say what you want about the NCAA Transfer Portal and NIL, Stanford provides the most valuable degree of any school on this list. When David Shaw stepped down late Saturday night, he hinted that Stanford is prepared to make changes to be more open to the portal and NIL — two things he won't be able to see through as he leaves his alma mater. Stanford's rebound under Jim Harbaugh then the sustained success from Shaw's first year in 2011 through the 2018 season may never again be matched, but Stanford still can recruit at a high, elite level. Its degree is unmatched in Power 5 football. And they still put guys in the NFL at a consistent rate. While the Pac-12's football may be uncertain, this is still a desirable job if the administration can adjust to the current state of college football.
Stanford's opening ranked ahead of schools such as Cincinnati, Colorado, and FAU.
Both myself and ESPN have provided some possible coaching candidates for Stanford. Names such as Chris Petersen (Fox Analyst/former UW coach), Troy Taylor (Sac State), and Bill O'Brien (Alabama OC), have all been thrown around.
