Three things on Stanford's Christmas wish list

The month of December may be the most action packed month of the year, and that's not even factoring in all the Christmas shopping that still needs to be done.

If you are like me and are a bit of a procrastinator when it comes to Christmas shopping, well, you have nine days and better get a move on. If you are also like me and are deeply entrenched in the ongoings of college football, then you know there is a lot happening.

The transfer portal opened 11 days ago, there have been coaching changes all over the country, and early signing day is in five days. One of the programs that has been affected by all three of these instances is Stanford. Their all-time winningest coach in David Shaw stepped down, and was replaced by offensive guru Troy Taylor. They have had 17 players enter the transfer portal, and they are in the midst of attempting to rebuild their recruit class that has taken a hit after Shaw's resignation.

With Christmas being so close, we all want are or hopeful for certain things regardless of how old we are. Some of us are hoping our secret Santa pulls through, while others are hoping to not get stuck with a whack white elephant gift. However, one thing all college football fans are hopeful for is that their favorite program is able to get better in some capacity. So, with that being said, here are three things that are Stanford's Christmas wish list that would really help turn the program around.

An elite defensive coordinator

We all know how much of an offensive savant Troy Taylor is, but he needs someone of equal caliber commanding the defense. Yes his team dropped 63 points against UIW, but they also lost. During his press conference, Taylor made sure to emphasize that when looking for his coordinator who will have total control. While that is extremely enticing to essentially have control over a unit, it still means that Taylor needs to hit a homer on this hire. We already know his defensive coordinator from Sac State, Andy Thomas, will not be following him to Palo Alto as Thomas was appointed as the head coach in the capital, which means Taylor will have to look elsewhere.

Whether he go from the NFL ranks or poach someone from another program, Taylor cannot miss on this hire or it will set his tenure back three years. Stanford has not had a productive defense since 2015, and need to at worst be average. Assuming Taylor's offense will be as advertised, the defense just needs to not be a liability. If the defense can hold their own, Stanford can ascend to the top of the Pac-12 again.

Some transfer portal help

There are thousands of names in the transfer portal at the moment, and while Stanford doesn't have their pick of the litter, there is surely a few out there that can help bolster the roster. I recently put a list of five targets that the Cardinal need to target, and that list has been shrunk down to four after Harvard EDGE Truman Jones accepted an invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl.

However, there are still a ton of viable options that Stanford should kick the tires on. They could use help in the secondary, at receiver, quarterback, and offensive line. If they could bring in three to five transfers it may help speed this rebuild along.

To bolster their recruiting class

Stanford is currently home to the No. 37 class in the country and could really use a few more recruits to help strengthen the future of the program. Four-star tight end and former commit Walker Lyons is headed back to Palo Alto for an official visit, and Stanford has the chance to flip a few players before early signing day. The potential success of the transfer portal situation is still unclear despite Taylor saying he is willing to use it, but one thing for certain and that is the more quality players in the building the better.