Andrew Luck and Bob Bowlsby Make Stanford Cardinal Serious BCS Title Contender

Stanford University is known for its academic prowess, highly intelligent students and now football success as well.

Cardinal athletics director Bob Bowlsby can be credited for aiding the football program’s turnaround, hiring Jim Harbaugh as his first move as Stanford AD. 

And now that Harbaugh has vaulted the Cardinal into national prominence in the college football world and ventured across the Bay to coach the San Francisco 49ers, Bowlsby has made a typical Stanford smart decision—promoting offensive coordinator David Shaw to fill the head coaching vacancy.

Instead of searching for a big name candidate, Bowlsby found his man within the university. Some Cardinal fans or media across the nation may question the decision on Shaw, but this is the absolute best-case scenario for quarterback Andrew Luck.

Instead of learning a new offense and adjusting to a new offensive coordinator, Luck will have the luxury of playing his last season as a Cardinal in the offensive system he has flourished in the past two years. Stats certainly don’t tell the whole story with a quarterback; ask anyone who has ever played under center at Texas Tech.

Luck’s 3,338 yards passing and 32 touchdowns made fans marvel at the sophomore's ability, but it was his completion percentage, 70 percent, that made NFL scouts fall in love with him. While nearly everyone minus Sports Illustrated’s Peter King thought Luck was going to enter the NFL Draft after shredding Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, he made the decision to stay in school.

Another smart decision by a Cardinal is going to pay huge dividends not only for the football program, but for Luck’s education. Luck looked at $50 million in guaranteed money from the Carolina Panthers and chose to stay for his last season and earn his degree. You simply don’t see that too often in collegiate sports today. Kids value instant money and fame over a degree, and I can’t say I blame them.

But Andrew Luck just gets it. He loves the college life, and while he has many successful professional years ahead of him in the NFL, Luck isn’t going to rush his college experience. The NFL and millions of dollars aren’t going anywhere. They’ll both be there next April when Luck is likely taken as the first overall pick.

People are concerned he’ll kill his draft stock with a disappointing season, like Washington’s Jake Locker did this year. Some are worried he’ll get hurt, like Sam Bradford did when he chose to stay two years ago. You can never predict injuries, so that’s a legitimate concern, but if you’re hesitant to come back because you’re afraid of getting hurt, you shouldn’t be on a football field in the first place.

Bradford suffered one of the worst injuries you can endure as a quarterback, severely damaging his AC joint in his throwing shoulder twice during his junior season. He was still taken No. 1 overall by the Rams, and we saw Bradford break Peyton Manning’s record for completions by a rookie this year while nearly taking St. Louis to the playoffs.

Speaking of Manning, remember the damage he did coming back for his senior season at Tennessee in 1997? He threw for 3,819 yards and 37 touchdowns while finishing second in the Heisman voting.

The point is, Luck’s decision to stay in school reflects the stereotype of what all Stanford students are…smart. He’ll have one more year to improve small technicalities in his game, possibly lead the Cardinal to a national championship, be a front-runner for the national championship and, most importantly, earn his college degree from one of America’s finest academic institutions.

As I said earlier, the NFL isn’t going anywhere. It’s going to be there next spring for Luck after he shows the football world he’s ready to be the next great NFL quarterback.

You can say he’ll drop off like Jake Locker or get hurt like Bradford, but I say he’s a combination of Ben Roethlisberger’s size and mobility with the intelligence and accuracy of Manning. Needless to say, the kid has an incredibly bright future ahead of him.