The biggest question about Stanford ahead of spring practice

This past season of Stanford went about as poorly as it could have.

The team won just three games and was widely considered to be one of the worst teams in the country despite being a team made up of mostly upperclassmen. The program's all-time winningest coach, David Shaw, had clearly lost his touch and was unwilling to evolve with college football.

Following their final game and loss of the season, Shaw stepped down after being at the helm since 2011. He cited that he felt it was time to move on, which was a feeling reciprocated by the fan base and those watching as a former perennial powerhouse became a laughing stock of college football.

A program that was predicated on physicality and dominance has since been pushed around by virtually everyone they have played. Now, there is a new coach at the helm in offensive savant, Troy Taylor.

The former Sacramento State coach spoke with us recently at All Cardinal to address what he is doing to turn things around, but that still doesn't eliminate the major questions about the immediate future. Something that The Athletic addressed when writing about the biggest question surrounding every program in the Pac-12. Stewart Mandel explained that his biggest question about Stanford is what they will look like post-David Shaw saying:

It’s a changing of the guard in Palo Alto, where head coach/former offensive coordinator Shaw and former defensive coordinator Lance Anderson had been on the staff since 2007. New boss Troy Taylor, who brought two offensive assistants with him from Sacramento State, will scrap Stanford’s longtime West Coast offense in favor of an innovative hybrid spread. Taylor inherits a rebuilding program that went 3-9 the past two seasons and returns only a handful of starters.

Year one may be a tough go for Taylor and his young roster, due to the fact that the Pac-12 is as strong as it's ever been and the Cardinal are returning the least amount of production in the Power 5.

The main things to look for in year one is the forming of a new identity, the basis of the new schemes, and Taylor's success on the recruiting trail.