It’s a Wonderful Life : And It Keeps Getting Better for Stenstrom, Whose Career Continues in the Fast Lane at Stanford With Bill Walsh

When their paths first crossed, the freshman quarterback was on a bicycle and the legendary coach was in a sport truck.

Being young and impressionable, Stanford’s Steve Stenstrom simply said a nervous, “Hello, nice to meet you,” then sped off to call his parents.

“I met Bill Walsh. I met Bill Walsh,” Stenstrom gushed into the receiver.

Stenstrom was still far down on the depth chart and Walsh was still a TV commentator when Stanford Coach Dennis Green introduced them on a campus street corner two years ago. Stenstrom had a poster of Joe Montana above his bed in his dormitory room. Walsh had coached Montana to three Super Bowl titles.

Time has passed and Stenstrom has become a standout college quarterback. He will begin his second season as a starter when Stanford plays Texas A&M; in the Pigskin Classic on Wednesday at Anaheim Stadium. Walsh, weary of the broadcast booth, has become the Stanford coach.

“He’s really down to earth,” Stenstrom said. “I don’t have any hesitation going up to him to talk. I just close my mouth and listen.”

It’s the latest step in a learning process for Stenstrom, who has had things his way for many years.

As a ninth-grader at Plano High in Texas, Stenstrom was the school’s best passing quarterback. But the coach employed a run-oriented offense and wasn’t about to scrap it.

But when Stenstrom’s family moved to Orange County midway through his freshman year, he suddenly found himself in a passing haven under former El Toro coach Bob Johnson. He spent a year as an apprentice to Johnson’s son, Bret, then moved into the starter’s spot.

When Stanford came calling, a dream was well within Stenstrom’s grasp.

“Any place in the country could have offered me a scholarship, and I still would have chosen Stanford,” he said. “I wasn’t recruited by the Notre Dames or the Miamis, but it wouldn’t have mattered.”

After watching from the sideline as a freshman, Stenstrom began the 1991 season as the No. 3 quarterback, behind Jason Palumbis and John Lynch. But Lynch was moved to the Cardinal defense before the season started and Palumbis was injured and missed most of the season, so the starting spot fell to Stenstrom.

He made the most of it, passing for 1,683 yards and 15 touchdowns and leading Stanford to the Aloha Bowl.

“I couldn’t have written it up any better,” said Stenstrom, who was sixth nationally in passing efficiency.

The momentum hasn’t stopped.

When Green resigned after the 1991 season to become coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Walsh replaced him at Stanford.

That was the cue for the Pigskin Classic to sign Stanford to play Texas A&M; in Walsh’s first college game since 1978. When the matchup became official, friends and relatives rang the Stenstroms’ phone off the wall asking for tickets.

What happens when all your dreams come true? Stenstrom shrugs and keeps smiling. There is no sense in trying to figure out life’s little twists and turns, especially when things seem to go from good to great.

Consider this potentially troublesome development:

Three days into spring drills, Stenstrom collided with tailback Glyn Milburn and broke a bone in his left hand.

No problem. Stenstrom is right-handed.

“I don’t feel like I missed out on too much,” Stenstrom said. “It’s the same offense as we had under coach Green. Besides, they didn’t give us the whole package.”

By now, Stenstrom has been well-drilled on Walsh’s system.

“He’s very smooth, very knowledgeable, and he has a maturity about him that’s very unique,” Walsh said. “I think he’s adapting very well.”

Stenstrom has always been a quick learner. He had to be to play under El Toro’s complicated offensive schemes.

“Some kids take a year or two to catch on,” said Bob Johnson. “Steve came from Texas, where they didn’t do a lot of throwing, where they didn’t read any defenses, where they don’t have all the passing leagues. He started from square one.”

He blossomed quickly, passing for more than 2,000 yards as Orange County’s top-rated quarterback as a senior in 1989. When Stanford asked Stenstrom if he would like to play in Palo Alto, he couldn’t say yes fast enough.

His success comes as no surprise to Johnson, who took pains to teach his quarterbacks more than just what they would need to win high school games. He made sure Stenstrom was ready for the complicated offenses of college football.

“I think, in the Stanford system, the brain has as much to do with success as the arm,” Johnson said. “Steve had the advantage of knowing things and seeing things before he went to college. And that really helped him.”

However, a crowd of 8,000 at an El Toro-Mission Viejo game was no match for the experience of Stanford-California, with 86,000 jammed into Stanford Stadium.

“It’s such an adrenaline rush,” Stenstrom said.

But it still doesn’t measure up to that first meeting with Bill Walsh.