ESPN College Football

Stanford head coach David Shaw announced that running backs coach Mike Sanford will take over the recruiting coordinator responsibilities for the Cardinal.

Sanford, now in his second season with the program, fills the void left by special teams coach/recruiting coordinator Brian Polian, who left last month to take a similar position on Kevin Sumlin’s staff at Texas A&M.

Sanford’s new role takes effect immediately.

“Mike Sanford is a proven recruiter who truly loves and understands Stanford University,” Shaw said in a statement. “He works extremely hard and develops great relationships.”

Sanford played an instrumental role in Stanford landing one of the top recruiting classes in the country, which included six players on the 2012 ESPNU 150 list.

In his first year as the Cardinal’s running backs coach in 2011, Sanford oversaw a rushing attack that ranked 18th nationally with an average of 210.6 yards per game.

The move comes on the heels of running game coordinator/offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren being named one of the top recruiters in the country and the No. 1 recruiter in the Pac-12. To round out his staff, Shaw still has to find a special teams replacement for Polian and someone to replace co-defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach Jason Tarver, who was hired earlier this month as the defensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders.

Sanford, a 2005 graduate of Boise State, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UNLV. He served at Stanford as an offensive assistant from 2007-2008 before moving to Yale in 2009 (tight ends, fullbacks, recruiting coordinator) and Western Kentucky in 2010 (passing game coordinator, running backs).

Stanford head coach David Shaw has a lot to smile about after hauling in a top-15 recruiting class on Wednesday. With six ESPNU 150 players -- including three of the top offensive linemen in the country and athletic playmakers on both sides of the ball -- Shaw said his team fills much-needed holes and adds depth at other spots.

Here's part one of a Q&A with the second-year head coach.

What are your first impressions of this group?

David Shaw: This group has what we're looking for. We wanted to address the offensive line and make sure we had some more playmakers at the wide receiver position. We were going to take a running back if he was a difference-maker. That's what Barry (Sanders) is. Defensively, to be able to come in with the defensive line we've put together in this class, I think is a credit to our coaches and our coaching style and our scheme that these guys are excited to come play for us. Then to get a couple of the top defensive backs at the safety and corner position in the nation is really exciting.

So the offensive line was a target position this year? It didn't just work out that way. You guys were going after linemen all the way?

DS: No question. We hadn't gotten enough in the last couple of years. As well as we've played, we haven't been deep. Thankfully for our strength and conditioning program, our guys have stayed pretty healthy so we haven't had to play down to our younger guys. We needed depth, especially with two guys leaving early for the draft. We needed guys to come in and compete right away and I think we've brought some guys in that can do that.

Coach (Mike) Sanford tweeted after Andrus Peat announced: "Our staff reaction was priceless!" What does priceless mean and what was the reaction?

DS: It's something you don't feel in the NFL. You draft a guy and you know he's there and you draft him and you get excited. But to sit there waiting and not knowing for sure. Having a good feeling, but not knowing for sure that he was coming to us. Then the announcement was made and we saw the hat. Guys were jumping up and down and pumping fists and high fiving. It was pretty loud. I think it was heard pretty much around the building. Not too much longer, we had the same reaction when Kyle Murphy did his announcement. We jumped up and down and high fived and guys were yelling. It's been a special, special day for us because these guys are our type of guys. They aren't prima donnas that want to come in on a silver platter. The guys we've been recruiting, they want to come in and work and earn what we give them.

How exciting will it be to see these offensive linemen grow together?

DS: It's going to be exciting. Anytime you start with a player that does the things you can't teach -- size and athletic ability and flexibility and nastiness -- that's when it's really fun as a coach because now you are teaching the finer points of the game. The techniques and the calls. You're not trying to make up for something ability wise the player doesn't have. This group is really exciting. I think they are humble and they are hungry. The guys on our team are going to welcome them in as true competitors and teammates. It will be a fun group to work with.

You talked about having "that feeling," how confident were you leading up to the Barry Sanders announcement?

DS: Very. I think when Barry came to campus for the first time, I think it opened his eyes. I think he saw a place -- like so many guys on our team and committed to us -- the first time on campus it hit them that this is a place they are looking for. It hit them that there is a place out there that is first in academics but doesn't slight in the football category. That's what Barry saw. Barry Sanders is a famous individual. And to be able to sit down and have lunch with Andrew Luck, who is also a famous individual, for people to recognize him, but not bother him -- you're sitting in a place where there are a lot of people that are famous in their own rights in what they do and are really good at what they do. There is an environment that is very comforting to a guy like that who does have some fame and some notoriety to be around people that are just like him.

Noor Davis committed early and was so outspoken in support of the program to other recruits -- how much does it help when you have a guy who is going to sell the program for you and hasn't even signed his letter yet?

DS: I think every program in the nation always has one or two of those guys who commit early and is determined to help build the class. Noor has a lot nicknames around here for us. My favorite one is "The Senator." We're talking about a big kid who is imposing physically and extremely intelligent and very well-spoken, very thoughtful in every word that he says, but also very convincing. When you have a guy like that that can be talking to other recruits, he's an example of what we're looking for. Much like Andrew Luck before him and guys we have now that can talk to other recruits and give them an example of what a Stanford man is.

The 1oth and final report card of Stanford's bye week (which spilled over into this week).

THE COACHING STAFF

Grade: A-

Summary: Few, if any coaching staffs, entered the season under a brighter spotlight than David Shaw & Co. With the outspoken Jim Harbaugh leaving the Cardinal for the San Francisco 49ers, the questions loomed. Can Shaw match Harbaugh's fire? What about the offensive line? The wide receivers? How is he going to hold all this together?

Since this blog officially went online a few days before the San Jose State game, I've made no secret that I'm a Shaw fan. And I make no apologies for it. He's a splendid coach. I got to see first hand when he was at the University of San Diego what he can do with an offense and I've enjoyed following his career. He's innovative, a heck of a schemer and he hasn't altered his football principles simply because of who he has under center.

Run the ball, stop the run. Everything else will fall into place.

I like the schemes from offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. The three tight-end sets have been a pleasure to watch. The way they are motioned out or used in conjunction with the jumbo blocking packages is some of the most innovative football I've seen in the last half decade.

I was curious how a co-defensive coordinator system was going to work with Derek Mason and Jason Tarver. To date, the duo seems to be clicking on all cylinders. The Cardinal have never trailed in a game.

And I think the job that Mike Bloomgren has done with the offensive line in the first three weeks has been stellar. There are gains, both measurable and immeasurable, with a unit that had the most question marks before the first game kicked off.

Lance Anderson (outside linebackers), Ron Crook (tight ends/tackles) and Randy Hart (defensive line) must feel like the luckiest guys in the world to have some motivated players in their position groups.

And Brian Polian (special teams/recruiting coordinator) has assembled one of the most steady and reliable special teams units in the country.

One thing does concern me. As we know, the Cardinal have had trouble in the first half of all three games -- be it missed assignments or missed opportunities. But even more concerning is that no one seems to have an answer. An unofficial poll of about 15 players over the last three weeks has yielded, essentially, the exact same response: "I don't know. I can't explain it."

That's all well and good against the San Jose States and Dukes of the world. But the time will come this season when the Cardinal are going to have to play a complete game, or the nation's longest winning streak will come to an end.

But so far, so good.

Previous report cards:

Quarterbacks

Defensive line

Offensive line

Linebackers

Running backs/Fullbacks

Tight ends

Wide receivers

Secondary

Special teams