Stanford Cardinal Football

"The Barbara Wind Report"

On Tuesday, May 24 Station Manager Kathy Baker and Barbara Wind, ‘74, attended the 2011 Stanford Coaches Night at Pasadera G&CC.  The event, presented by the Monterey Bay Stanford Club, featured Tara Vandevere, Women’s Basketball Coach and new head football coach Dave Shaw.  Both coaches agreed that the newly formed Pac-12 conference will be very exciting for Stanford Sports. 

Coach Shaw talked at length about the goal the most recent Stanford football coaches had set for the program: “Get the program respectable and they will come” 

This was a challenge.  Stanford students are inherently competitive, said Coach Shaw; they needed the football program to be competitive in order to attract high caliber players.  Once this started happening, Coach Shaw said, “Stanford became a legitimate option” for top recruits.  Last season’s success on the field, capped by a trip to the Orange Bowl in Miami, was evidence that what the coaches had been working towards for the past few years was finally coming to fruition. 

Now the Cardinal football program stresses TOUGHNESS from day one.  “We play to win and we expect to win,” Coach Shaw told the audience. 

Following in Jim Harbaugh’s footsteps and living up to last season’s 12-1 record will be a challenge.  But Coach Shaw says he is up to that challenge and that he is right where he wants to be.  The 2011 squad will feature quarterback Andrew Luck, whose decision to return to Stanford and forego early entry into NFL draft set an example for student athletes everywhere.  Luck will be joined by what Coach Shaw refers to as “the best group of tight ends in the nation.” 

Stanford opens their season at home in Palo Alto against San Jose State on Saturday, September 3.  Catch all of the action live on ESPN630.