The ACC had their football media days last week which gave Stanford a chance to talk about their upcoming season. Head coach Troy Taylor, wide receiver Elic Ayomanor, linebacker Tristan Sinclair, and quarterback Ashton Daniels were the ones to represent the Cardinal. Below are five things to take away from what they said.
VIDEO: Stanford Football: 2024 ACC Media Day Press Conference
#1. Stanford sees the ACC as a chance to strengthen their recruiting footprint:
Troy Taylor mentioned he thinks playing in the ACC could help with recruiting from a regional standpoint. Stanford has always recruited nationwide and by playing in the ACC, they’ll be able to even further solidify a recruiting presence in that region. Historically, if you look at a map of where Stanford players come from, it really is a nationwide approach that Stanford has taken. I’m sure a hurdle for some recruits in the past to overcome was having to play games so far away from home. Now, Stanford can sell guys on the East Coast on playing some road games close to family and friends.
#2. Ashton Daniels is looking like the starting quarterback: I don’t think Troy Taylor would have had Ashton Daniels come to media day if he wasn’t the presumptive starter. That doesn’t mean there won’t still be competition in practice and a chance for the younger quarterbacks to show what they can do, but make no mistake, the starting quarterback position is Daniels’ to lose. Unless he gets injured or one of the younger guys (Myles Jackson/Elijah Brown) balls out like crazy, it does look like Daniels is going to be the starting quarterback and he seems ready to take on that role.
Building on that, Daniels has really enjoyed getting to work with Taylor as he is also the quarterbacks coach. Just the chance to add things to his game and learn from him is something Daniels really appreciates. Daniels reiterated that the quarterbacks all have a close relationship with Taylor, which is cool.
#3. The travel should be manageable: Troy Taylor sounds confident that they have a good plan in place to handle the travel. Eight of Stanford’s 12 games are in the Bay Area since they have the two road games at Cal and at San Jose State. That’s something that should help on top of having two bye weeks. Travel in the ACC really shouldn’t be bad.
#4. Elic Ayomanor is staying grounded: Elic Ayomanor said he isn’t focused on breaking records or anything like that. He said his goal to make sure he gives it his all every single play. All about what he can control, which is putting in maximal effort. I thought that was refreshing and a really insightful window into how he is approaching this season. There’s tons of hype around him this season after the way he torched Colorado in Boulder and yet he isn’t let that distract him. This kind of mindset should serve him well in what really should be a strong season for him.
#5. Tristan Sinclair embodies “Nerd Nation” and “Playing Red”: Tristan Sinclair I feel embodied “Nerd Nation” when he talked about his love of Computer Science and building things. It’s pretty impressive to be playing football at this level and also taking on such a challenging degree. He seems to have a lot of passion for it, which is neat to see.
Sinclair talked about growing up going to Stanford football games. His father Andrew played at Stanford. Ever since his first game when he was a few months old (it was Big Game), he’s been going to Stanford games and now playing in Stanford games ever since. His father has a tailgate in Chuck Taylor Grove before every home game. Following in his father’s footsteps and playing at Stanford has always been the dream. Sinclair’s mother and other members of his family went to Cal, so he has fond memories of going to Cal games, too. He’s enjoyed having a fun household rivalry.
Sinclair talked about what it means to “Play Red.” Running to the ball is huge. Toughness and physicality is big. That’s really the goal they have as a defense and I have to say, he does seem to embody that mentality with the way he plays.
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