RECRUITING NOTEBOOK : Carey Walking Into a Rivalry at Stanford

San Francisco 49er Coach George Seifert could have a quarterback controversy on his hands next season. Start Steve Young or Joe Montana?

Bill Walsh could have a similar problem at Stanford in a couple of years. Does he start Tim Carey . . . or Scott Frost?

Walsh got commitments from two of the nation’s top quarterback recruits in Los Alamitos’ Carey and Frost of Wood River, Neb. Carey committed in mid-November and Frost committed last week.

Frost, a Parade All-American, chose Stanford over Nebraska. He passed for 2,142 yards and 21 touchdowns last season and ran for 1,585 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Carey passed for 5,703 yards the last two seasons and led Los Alamitos to the Southern Section Division III title as a junior and last season to the Division II final, where the Griffins tied Esperanza, 14-14.

Both players had outstanding high school careers, but which one will be Stanford’s quarterback of the future?

It might take more than a year to decide.

Former El Toro standout Steve Stenstrom is the incumbent quarterback, having started the last two seasons. He has two seasons of eligibility left.

Tim Carey, the player’s father, said Cardinal coaches have discussed having his son sit out his freshman year as a redshirt. Stanford rarely has freshman redshirts, but Carey, 6-4 and 170 pounds, might need the year to add some weight.

Carey also said USC and UCLA have continued recruiting his son, although he is firmly committed to Stanford and plans to sign Wednesday with the Cardinal.

“Tim has received a lot of pressure from USC and UCLA,” Carey said. “They still call him all the time.

“I asked Tim about it, if there was any doubt in his mind about going to Stanford. He told me, ‘Absolutely not. The guy in Nebraska might be ranked ahead of me now, but wait until next September.’ ”

Larry Frost, Scott’s father and the Wood River coach, said Stanford coaches haven’t mentioned plans to make his son a redshirt.

“They told Scott they plan to redshirt Carey,” Frost said. “Scott considered Nebraska, but he felt that if he wanted to throw the ball, he’d better go to Stanford.”

Carey has the better arm and has faced better competition than Frost. Among Carey’s opponents was prep All-American Travis Kirschke, a defensive tackle from Esperanza.

Frost has the size--6-feet-4 and 210 pounds--and is a better runner than Carey. But Frost’s high school, Wood River, played in Nebraska’s C-1 division, the equivalent of the Southern Section’s Division VIII.

ESPN’s Scholastic Sports America show ranked the Top 10 recruiting classes by schools on its Monday show. The schools:

1. Florida State, 2. Michigan, 3. Alabama, 4. Stanford, 5. Notre Dame, 6. Tennessee, 7. Oklahoma, 8. Miami, 9. Wisconsin, 10. (tie) Texas, Florida, Syracuse.

Stanford’s recruiting class was top-ranked in the Pacific 10, followed by California, USC, Washington and UCLA.