Campus Scoop with Mike Yam at Stanford

We are officially at the halfway point of our Conference tour! We sat down with Mike Yam to get his overall impressions of the Stanford Cardinal before he heads out to both Arizona and Arizona State. Check out what he had to say about the squad below:

The one thing that stands out to me when you head to Stanford is the size of the players. When a casting director goes and tries to cast for a movie, they’re looking for someone who looks like they can play the part. If you’re looking for a football team, Stanford looks the part. They just have these guys that are just massive men on the field. They look like they’re almost an NFL team! To me, that’s the number one thing that stands out as soon as you put your eyes on the football field. 

Another thing that stood out at Stanford today was Kevin Hogan. It is abundantly clear that he is one of the most overlooked quarterbacks in the Conference, which is crazy considering the fact that he’s played in two Rose Bowls and two Pac-12 Championship games. He’s maybe the most seasoned quarterback in the Conference, and yet no one points to him. That’s absurd to me!

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Head Coach David Shaw had a great quote about him, calling him the Rodney Dangerfield of quarterbacks. I think that’s a great analogy to assess the perception of Kevin Hogan.

The more you get to talk to Hogan (and I’ve had the opportunity to talk to him over the last few seasons), the more you realize that he is growing not only as a quarterback on the football field, but his maturity and leadership that he continues to evolve in is really impressive.

I remember talking to him after those first few starts, and you could tell he was still feeling it out. Last year there was more of a confident Kevin Hogan, and this year he is extremely confident.

I know it’s not just hyperbole, but it’s fact. The way he carries himself on the football field, the way he’s conducting his interviews and talking to his teammates - it’s clear that he’s the leader of this football team. 

One of the other guys who stood out to me was center Graham Shuler. We’ve had the opportunity to talk to him in a slew of our shows, and he’s going to be on the upcoming season of Inside Pac-12 Football. He’s one of the true, charismatic guys, and an absolute gentleman. He’s well-spoken, and one of the fun things we did was have him teach us (specifically Yogi Roth) what’s happening on the offensive line and what his job is as a center. 

Believe me, it’s must-see television. Yogi played dress-up, and it’s a can’t miss segment on the training camp tour. It's one of the most fun segments we’ve had so far this season.

For more of Mike Yam's training camp tour recaps, check out the Pac-12 Networks Insider blog.