Pac-12 Meda Day changes from year to year, probably a reflection of the fact that the conference is always in search of an identity. This is not the "football is god" SEC, not the blue collar Big Ten, not the fast and loose Big 12. Early editions of this event promoted the conference as glitzy and glamorous and were set at one movie studio or another in Los Angeles, but recently that's been a tricky sell with only a handful of A-list stars -- or sometimes none. (That being said, we were on Hollywood Boulevard this year; between the parking lot and the hotel I walked past dozens of stars embedded in the sidewalk.)
The 2021 version of the event was predictably scaled down, with a media room roughly half the size of what we've been used to in the past and slightly reduced contact with players and coaches, but everyone was pretty aware that we were all just lucky to be there.
There are some things, however, that never change. In many ways this day is about networking, and after last year's cancellation there's the added layer of reconnecting. Beat reporters were asking about each other's children, and coaches were excited to interact with the media. (Honest.) David Shaw told me that he normally views media day as nothing more than a necessary part of his job, but that things felt different this time. Cal head coach Justin Wilcox opened his remarks by announcing, "I can honestly say I've never been more excited for a media day than I am today." Media day always signals a new beginning, but never more so than this year.
Essentially everyone connected with Pac-12 football attended, and when they weren't on stage or sitting for a radio interview, players and coaches wandered the halls, posing for photos in front of trophies, grabbing snacks in between commitments. I nodded at Ryan Leaf as we passed on the stairs. I watched Associate Commissioner Merton Hanks for a while to see if he'd break into his pigeon dance. (He didn't.) I walked past USC head coach Clay Helton, but gave him a wide berth -- his seat is so perpetually hot that I didn't want to get burned. I ran into Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir, who is a massive physical presence, by the way -- and he couldn't have been nicer. "Don't call me Mr. Muir; I'm Bernard." And when I introduced myself as an alum, he told me to be sure I stopped by to say hello the next time I was on campus.
The player interview sessions last twenty minutes for each team, and when you sit through a few of them they begin to get mind-numbingly repetitive with the same reporters asking the same questions to each set of players. What did you learn from last season's painful loss to ___? Which player has improved the most during the off season? What's your favorite class? (The answers to that last question are actually pretty informative.)
Most years there's a particular issue that everyone in the room is talking about, and this year it was the NCAA's recent decision to allow student-athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Every player in attendance got a question about NIL, and almost always it was the first question asked.
Oregon's Keyvon Thibodeaux, the biggest star in the room and the possible top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, answered this opening question by giving out his Twitter and Instagram handles and encouraging people to check out his media partners. (And I don't blame him one bit. Get yours, son. Get yours.) Washington State's Max Borghi admitted that while he had inked a deal, his plan is to distribute the money he earns to his offensive linemen in the form of regular steak dinners. "All these big boys like to eat, so I'll take 'em out and get 'em some steaks." (Again, I don't blame him one bit.)
Later in the day, I was struck by what seemed to be a genuine friendship between UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson Robinson and defensive back Qwuantrezz Knight. A reporter asked the two of them about which unit had had the edge when the starters had gone against each other in the spring. Knight jumped in quickly: "Defense."
"No, no, no. Don't let him lie to you. Don't let him lie to you," countered DTR. "They had their days, and we had ours."
"That's true," admitted Knight, "but that's the way you want it."
DTR also revealed that the UCLA quarterbacks have been playing a lot of chess, and Knight spoke about wanting to use his education degree after football. (When I spoke to him afterwards and suggested that he think about using that degree to become a high school teacher and football coach, he smiled and nodded. "Yes, sir!" He instantly became my favorite non-Stanford player in the conference.)
Another thing that hasn't changed, and likely never will, is that the young men who show up to represent Stanford University every year are always, always, always incredible young men. Over the past several years I've been lucky enough to talk to Andrew Luck, Jordan Richards, Kevin Hogan, Blake Martínez, Kyle Murphy, Solomon Thomas, Christian McCaffrey, Bryce Love, Alijah Holder, K.J. Costello, and Casey Toohill. They all offered unique insights into the team, their particular units, and their individual journeys to prominence with the Cardinal.
It was no different with defensive end Thomas Booker and wide receiver Michael Wilson. Yes, they're both football players, but it is impossible to listen to them without realizing that they are so much more. It would be a back-handed compliment to describe them as articulate, but it's important to understand that they are different. They aren't like the players representing the other eleven conference schools. Stanford football players are different.
They each spoke separately about the feel of the Stanford locker room and the University at large, specifically how humbling it can be to walk the campus. After laughing about what it's like to see an Olympian stroll casually past ("That's Katie Ledecky!"), Michael Wilson summed up the impact the campus has on him: “If you’re constantly surrounded by greatness, you have no choice but to elevate yourself.”
The Stanford players I've spoken with in the past have universally credited the Stanford locker room and their experiences on campus visits as being the single biggest factors leading to their commitments, and Booker and Wilson echoed this. Booker explained that sometimes the locker room feels like any locker room in the country -- fans probably remember that he was at the forefront of some of last year's victory celebrations, dancing and smiling for the cameras -- but that they also have the freedom to talk about other issues -- politics and problem sets, engineering and internships.
Wilson explained it simply. "When you see a Stanford football player, you know it. Even if he isn't wearing a shirt that says Stanford, you know that guy's a Stanford football player." Their willingness to embrace that identity, their willingness to come to a place like Stanford and do more than is necessary, is truly what sets these players apart. David Shaw supported this later in the afternoon. "We tell guys when we're recruiting them -- 'When you go on your other visits and you meet other kids on those visits, you'll know which guys we're recruiting. They'll stand out.'"
Oh, but the football. Media Day carries the optimism of spring training, with most coaches and players brimming with the possibilities of championships, or at the very least, marked improvement from the prior year. It was no different with the Stanford contingent, who were throwing compliments like roses at a starlet's feet.
Wilson gushed about the offense, citing not just the wide receivers, but also the depth of the running backs. Mentioning Austin Jones, Nathaniel Peat, and E.J. Smith, he suggested that the Cardinal might have the deepest running back group in the conference. Most importantly, both Wilson and Booker raved about the offensive line.
Booker explained that the last two years he had done his best to introduce the young offensive linemen to the level of physicality necessary for the program to be successful, enforcing his physical advantages at every opportunity, but he acknowledged that practices have been different lately. "They've certainly grown physically, but also in terms of football skill."
As for the defense, Booker identified two players in particular to watch. "I have two answers to that question, and they're both my roommates. Jacob Mangum-Farrar and Ricky Miezan. Those are two extremely physical, fast, really hard-hitting linebackers. And it makes my job easier because they come down hill so fast, whereas before I would be combo blocked and double-teamed... now they have to pick their poison. You're either gonna come off me quick because you have a linebacker coming down a hundred miles per hour and then I make the tackle, or you stay on me, and then you've got a [quarterback] in the hospital."
He then said something that will be music to the ears of Stanford fans from coast to coast. "Before we used to play more reactive at 'backer, kind of let stuff develop... Now it's just shoot. It allows us to make a lot more negative plays, a lot more TFLs, a lot more zero gain plays, versus, alright, the guy got to the line of scrimmage, we wrapped him up, but he got two or three yards. It doesn't seem like a lot, but you guys know that adds up."
The prospect of a more attacking defense, something we haven't seen for several years, could be the key to a successful season. The great Stanford defenses of the past have always featured a dominant player on the defensive line (Booker certainly has the potential and versatility to remind fans of Trent Murphy or Solomon Thomas) and a solid linebacking corps. We saw flashes from Mangum-Farrar and Miezan last season, and also from Levani Damuni (Shayne Skov is a pretty good comparison for Damuni), so if this group can stay healthy, there's potential for massive improvement from the defensive unit.
As much as we look forward during media day, it's also fun to look back, so I asked Booker about something I'd been wondering about his Axe-saving block in Big Game. Extra points aren't even an after thought, they're assumed. But for some reason, when Cal scored that touchdown to pull within one at 24-23, I found myself thinking, "They're gonna block this." I asked Booker if he remembered having any thoughts like that in the moments before the kick.
"I actually do remember thinking that," he said. "I had come so close on a couple of other attempts, and I had gotten to the point where I was able to time their snap really well because I knew their cadence, I knew how many seconds after the cadence the ball was getting snapped. I was getting penetration each time, but I wouldn't get my hand up or the ball would go slightly to the left or right. So when they scored, I was sitting there like, 'I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be able to get some penetration. So if there's a time for me to block one, it's now.' I was able to time the snap, penetrate, and I got into the backfield enough that it hit my elbow."
Finally, in order to test his political skill (earlier in the day Wilson had identified Booker as the Stanford player most likely to be president one day), I asked my favorite question. If Stanford football were putting together a 4x100 relay team, who would be on that squad? (And by the way, shouldn't this be an extra event at the Pac-12 Track and Field Championship meet?)
"Ethan Bonner, first and foremost. He has certified track speed. I'm pretty sure his team won nationals in Texas. Elijah Higgins is one of them, his straight-line speed is crazy. Salim Turner-Muhammad is another one who's extremely fast, and I think I'd put Kyu Kelly on there."
That's certainly a legitimate group, but ever the politician, Booker wanted to give his fellow big guys some love by creating a relay team just for them.
"So this is offensive and defensive linemen, that's what you're talking about?"
"Yes, offensive and defensive line," he explained. "So I'm not gonna lie, I'm putting me on there. I actually ran the 100 meter dash in high school at 245 pounds. It was JV, but I came in third place. I felt good about myself. So I put me on there, I put Ryan Johnson on there. For offensive linemen, I would put Drake Nugent. Drake Nugent is fast. He's a fast guy. And actually, I would put one of our freshmen on there. His name is Austin Uke. Really, really quick dude. So that would be my Big Man Relay. I might throw in Dalyn Wade-Perry for an alternate."
These are the types of things that come up at Pac-12 Media Day -- equal parts football and fun. Can't wait until the season gets started.
