Stanford Tough to Beat in Recruiting War, Too

Tonight is the first time San Diego State is playing Stanford, but the Aztecs already have suffered a number of losses to the Cardinal in a different sort of rivalry.

The recruiting wars.

Brian Billick, the Aztec recruiting coordinator, ran into Stanford in 1981 while in pursuit of a Bonita Vista High tight end. SDSU had already recruited one Bonita Vista player, and Billick was hopeful the buddy system might work.

No luck. Stanford was after the tight end, also.

Billick’s recollection: “His mom seemed to be thinking, ‘Tell me he’s better off academically at San Diego State than Stanford.’ That’s tough to do.”

Aztec Coach Doug Scovil noted four SDSU “losses” to Stanford on this week’s Cardinal depth chart. They were offensive linemen Robbie Coffin and John Zentner, defensive lineman Joe Lortie and linebacker Chris Weber. All but Zentner, a second-string guard, are starters.

“We recruited all of those players,” Scovil said. “Coffin wouldn’t talk to us. He was Stanford all the way. It’s particularly hard to recruit against Stanford. If a kid can qualify for Stanford, you fight the parents every time.”

Coffin was a difficult loss to take. He was a member of The Times’ All-San Diego County team at Mira Mesa High.

However, Scovil’s theory on fighting the parents proved true.

“Whenever Robbie got letters from Stanford, his mother would be very excited as opposed to letters from other schools,” said Brad Griffith, Mira Mesa’s coach. “Mom probably had a great influence on where he went to school. I think she wanted him to go to Stanford because of academics.”

According to Cardinal recruiting coordinator Dick James, prospective Stanford students are screened by such factors as academics, extracurricular activities, personality, goal structure and high school recommendations. Because of Stanford’s academic reputation, SDSU coaches have learned to quit while they are behind in trying to recruit players who are considering Stanford.

“If a kid can qualify academically for Stanford, we try to find out if Stanford wants him,” Scovil said. “If they do, we’ll slow our attention down if we find the kid is turning toward Stanford. What you try to do then is find a kid who is about as good and go after him.”

Stanford Coach Jack Elway said that recruiting is a two-way street.

“I think we have a plus in recruiting,” he said. “The only thing is, our range of recruiting is narrower than our competitors. We have to identify the kid who is competitive on the field and in the classroom. Unfortunately, when we identify him, everybody wants him. We probably have fewer numbers to recruit than our competitors.”

Doug Aronson, a starting guard for SDSU, received a letter from Stanford when he attended South City High of San Francisco. Aronson, like many others, did not meet Stanford’s rigid academic requirements.

“In high school, I figured Stanford was a hard school to get into--and to stay in,” Aronson said. “It scared the hell out of me to think about going there. It seemed like you had to take chemistry and all of the hard classes in high school to go there, plus you needed practically all As. I was never that way in high school. Now that I’m at San Diego State, I want to get my degree.”

Stanford recruited wide receiver Colin Sumner, a redshirt SDSU freshman, to some degree last year. Sumner, the son of Oakland Invader Coach Charlie Sumner, made an early verbal commitment to SDSU, so he canceled a recruiting visit to Stanford.

“In recruiting, Stanford seemed to hold academics over a guy’s head,” Sumner said. “They’ll tell you they aren’t sure if they can get you in academically. If a guy has a 3.0 GPA and decent test score, they can get him in. I don’t see how they could win if everybody had to be a Rhodes Scholar to go there.”

Aztec Notes

Tonight’s game is starting an hour later than usual because of the Padre-Houston Astro game this afternoon in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Bill Wilson, stadium manager, estimated it will take four hours to convert the field from baseball to football. If the Padres and Astros play extra innings, the SDSU game may have to start later than scheduled. . . . Stanford has recorded impressive numbers on the field, averaging 34.3 points a game. However, the Cardinal defense has allowed an average of 30 points a game. Quarterback John Paye has passed for 1,056 yards and 7 touchdowns in 3 games. Fullback Brad Muster leads the nation with 35 receptions in 3 games, and he is second nationally in scoring and all-purpose running. SDSU is averaging 32.7 points and allowing 23.7 points. Quarterback Todd Santos is 12th nationally in passing efficiency and Chris Hardy is 17th in rushing. Santos, a sophomore, is 10th on SDSU’s all-time passing list with 2,679 yards. He is 185 yards behind ninth-place Rod Dowhower.

It appears to be a game that could be determined by whichever team has the ball last. “If we have the ball last,” Jack Elway said, “I certainly won’t run a sweep.” Elway has been criticized all week for running a sweep that failed on fourth down in the final two minutes of a 38-34 loss to Texas. He decided to run four straight downs after Stanford had driven down the field by passing. Besides the second-guessing, Elway has frequently been asked if Stanford will be looking past SDSU to next week’s game with UCLA. “If anything seeps into anybody’s mind that we’ll take this team for granted, I’ll be disappointed,” Elway said. “We don’t have any problems that a win wouldn’t solve.” SDSU also has a key conference game next week at Brigham Young. “If we come off a win going to BYU, I think that would help us out,” Santos said. “Plus, there is recognition in playing Stanford. If we beat them, it will look good to people.”

Elway said preparing for the Aztecs became “complicated” after Hardy rushed for 235 yards in last week’s 48-23 win against Colorado State. Regarding Hardy, Elway said, “He could be compared with Tony Cherry at Oregon and the Texas running backs, who had much more size than him and about the same speed.” Hardy is listed at 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds. . . . Elway on the Aztecs: “San Diego State has much more balance on offense than Texas did. Defensively, they didn’t do a lot of movement against UCLA, but I can understand that. Against other opponents, they did a lot of plugging and movement on defense. They’ve shown a lot of flexibility on defense.” . . . Though freshman Alfred Jackson has two blocked punts in three games, he is six blocks from tying the NCAA single-season record. . . . The Aztecs are 4-4 against Pac 10 teams. . . . Robbie Coffin is among four San Diego-area athletes playing for Stanford. Others are tight end Alan Summers (Torrey Pines High), linebacker Barry McKeever (Escondido) and defensive back Frank Stoddard (San Dieguito). Stanford assistant coach Otto Kofler is a former SDSU assistant. . . . Aztec linebacker Steve Svitenko’s brother, Paul, is a Stanford linebacker. SDSU defensive tackle Mike Hooper’s brother, Chip, is a former Stanford tennis star. Greg Topp, the Aztecs’ third-string quarterback, began his collegiate career at Stanford.