Stanford's Shayne Skov Brings His Five-Star Talent Back to the Bay Area

People who live here know that California is a hard state to leave forever.  There is always something that pulls once-inhabitants back to our sunny beaches, slightly varying seasons, and ever-striving liberal ideas. 

While the housing market does it best to repel owners from permanently staying in this beautiful state, the many that leave often desire to return and eventually find a way to make it happen.  

Shayne Skov was born 19 years ago in San Francisco and spent much of his youth in the Bay Area. 

After his freshman year at Piedmont High School in the East Bay, Shayne took a journey cross-country to attend a boarding school in Pawling, New York. 

At Trinity-Pawling School, Skov’s all-star prep football career provided him with an opportunity to play in almost any state he wanted. 

During last year’s recruiting process, the Scout.com five-star recruit was highly sought after by many east coast schools, including several teams in the ACC. But Jim Harbaugh, Stanford, his family, and wonderful California were able to quietly tugged his strings back west.

"[Skov] is just what you are looking for in a middle linebacker" Coach Harbaugh admitted in an interview with GoStanford.com "[he] is athletic and can run"

The U.S. Army High School All-American linebacker doubled as a safety during his three seasons with The Pride, which can be a testament to his exceptional speed.  

Extreme mobility and tremendous explosiveness allowed Shayne to accumulate 61 tackles his senior season, 41 tackles of the solo variety. His size, athleticism, and ability to move swiftly from sideline-to-sideline landed him 10th in the nation amongst all linebackers in SuperPrep Magazine. 

Skov’s return to California has created quite a buzz on what he can bring to Stanford’s improving defense.

The outstanding skill-set that Shayne brings to the field increases Stanford’s potential for multiple seasons of enormous talent at the “mike” (middle) linebacker position. And although there are numerous experienced linebackers in front of Skov on the depth chart, expect to still see a decent dosage of the freshman in his first year. 

Placing this young linebacker under fifth year senior Chris Snyder’s wing could be very crucial to the prep star’s learning curve. 

The Butkus Award Candidate currently holds the starting role as the “mike” linebacker and has done an excellent job understanding the intricacies of Harbaugh's defense, putting up respectable numbers over the past two seasons. 

If Skov can be a quick understudy to this talented starter, it should not be long before fans consistently witness Shayne’s amazing ability every Saturday.