Keep Your Friends Close…

So one of the most tired memes in the sports blosphere has to be the whole “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer” line. That quote was made famous in Godfather II, but is also I believe originally a quote of Sun Tzu, via Machiavelli. Recently I sat down with Hank Waddles who writes for Go Mighty Card to get his take on the 2011 Trees, as well as this weekend’s contest in Pullman. I answered some of his questions about the 2011 Cougs and the Stanford game, so you can catch them on his site soon.

Click the jump to get his take on my burning questions!

LC – Hank, thanks for taking the time to sit down with me today, let’s get right to it! What changes can we expect offensively/defensively from Stanford now that Jim Harbaugh is on the other side of the Bay? What are your initial impressions of Coach Shaw?

HW – The strangest thing about the coaching transition for me is that the Jim Harbaugh Era seems like it was a long time ago. When I see highlights from last season I’m almost surprised to see Harbaugh on the sidelines instead of David Shaw. It’s not that I’m glad Harbaugh is gone. He’ll always have a place in Cardinal history as the coach who made Stanford football relevant, but I don’t think anyone ever expected him to stick around any longer than he did. Coach Shaw, though, seems like he’s here for the long haul, and I think he was a perfect hire. During the off-season he talked a lot about how the offense would stay generally the same. He claimed he’d only be adding a few wrinkles, but he’s done a lot more than that. This is still a run-first team, but the playbook is a lot more creative than it was last season. You might’ve seen Andrew Luck’s reception from the UCLA game two weeks ago, for example. That was kind of a gimmick, but it served a purpose, as defenses now have to stay honest when Luck splits out wide and running back Tyler Gaffney moves into the wildcat formation. (Here at GMC we refer to this as the Sequoia formation.) Defensively, there hasn’t been as much change. They still run the 3-4, they still blitz from all corners of the field, and they’re still effective. The defense handled Arizona’s spread offense a few weeks ago, but Washington State, even with Jeff Tuel on the bench, should offer a bigger test.

LC – Obviously Andrew Luck is the poster boy of your program, and we’re also familiar with C David DeCastro as he haild from local power Bellevue High School. Aside from those two, who should we be on the lookout for on offense?

HW – Jonathan Martin is probably the best offensive tackle in the conference, and one of the best in the nation. He and DeCastro are virtual locks to be named All-Pac-12. Stepfan Taylor is backing up his 2010 thousand-yard season with another fine year, and he’ll get most of the carries on Saturday. When Luck throws the ball, his favorite targets are all tight ends. Coby Fleener is an absolute freak of nature. He’s 6’6″ and weighs 245 pounds, but he’s the third fastest player on the team and is usually good for at least one big play per game. Zach Ertz is more of a typical tight end, and Luck often looks to him in short-yardage or goal line situations. Levine Toilolo is a match-up nightmare at 6’8″, so look for corner fades to him in the end zone. All three of those tight ends will eventually play on Sundays, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they all see the field an awful lot, often together. They might be bunched on the line in jumbo packages, or they can split out wide and in the slot as wide receivers. Watch for them to do damage off of play action.

LC – Shane Skov was your heart and soul on defense, and there have been some other injuries as well if I remember correctly. What do we need to know about the Cardinal D?

HW – Aside from Skov’s injury, the defense is healthy. Linebacker Chase Thomas leads the conference in sacks and has a leg up towards winning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.  The switch to a 3-4 scheme last season revolutionized the Stanford defense. The linebackers, especially Thomas, are versatile enough to drop back in coverage or rush the quarterback, and the team will blitz frequently from any position on any down at any spot on the field. The biggest concern has been a habit — or perhaps a philosophy — of allowing teams to put together long drives built on the short passing game. The last time they saw a spread offense like WSU’s, Arizona quarterback Nick Foles opened the game by completing his first seventeen passes. I’m curious to see how things go on Saturday.

LC – Former Cardinal QB Tavita Pritchard is an assistant coach now in Palo Alto. His younger brother, Tana, is a freshmen for the Cougs and his father, David, was an OL on our 1981 Holiday Bowl squad. Tavita was your starting QB, before being the QB at Stanford was glamorous. What is his role on your staff?

HW – I spent a lot of time researching this question, and here’s what I was able to come up with. Pritchard’s role is simple. At least once or twice a week he stands up in a meeting and says, “Hey, guys, remember this?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j48uQSAKC6k&w=425&h=350]

LC – I hope he does more than that as an Assistant Coach! Anyways, former Jim Harbaugh built a program up from the ashes in three short seasons before departing for the NFL. The last 25 years or so, Stanford has been a program where “sustained” and “success” are two words that are never in the same sentence. Can Coach Shaw keep the program on the pedestal Harbaugh left it, or do you expect a decline in the Post-Luck Era? Why?

HW – Andrew Luck is clearly a once-in-a-generation player, and there will obviously be a huge drop-off at the quarterback position when he leaves, but I don’t think that necessarily means the program will return to mediocrity. The last five recruiting classes have been better than any of the previous ten or fifteen classes, and we’re seeing the results of all that talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Stanford is recruiting players now that they couldn’t have even considered five years ago, and I think that will be enough to keep them competitive in the Pac-12 North.

LC – Last question for Hank. What are your thoughts, including a final score, for Saturday?

HW – It’s been impressive to watch how focused this team has been week after week. After last week’s dismantling of Colorado, every player interviewed after the game said the same thing — it wasn’t good enough. Instead of talking about how the defense had only allowed seven points or that Andrew Luck had thrown for 370 yards, they pointed out errors that needed to be addressed. That commitment to improvement will serve them well this week. It’s getting more and more difficult for me to imagine a defense slowing down Luck and the offense, so I expect that they’ll score at least forty points again. The big question will be how the defense fares against the Cougar spread. I think the offense will jump out to a quick lead, forcing the Washington State offense to press a bit and possibly make some mistakes. When it’s done, I’ve got a win for the Cardinal, 45-20.

LC – Hank, thanks for your time. Good luck this weekend, Go Cougs!