David Shaw is out to show Stanford isn't a 3-year wonder

Paul Myerberg | USA TODAY Sports

HARTFORD – Stanford coach David Shaw says his program continues to battle the perception that it is not built to last, comparing the process of altering the Cardinal's place in college football's perceived pecking order to performing a 180-degree turn in a cruise ship – a slow and often laborious process that remains unfinished.

"The cruise ship hasn't completely turned," Shaw said at a gathering of the league's football coaches. To Stanford's third-year coach, the battle for recognition continues despite three Bowl Championship Series berths in the last three seasons, including a Pac-12 title and Rose Bowl win – the program's first in 40 years – in 2012.

"For me, that perception still hasn't gotten to where it needs to be," he said. "There are other universities that you say, 'Yeah, they're going to be in the national title hunt every year.' We have been. And we plan on continuing to be. It's not just about this year."

Stanford enters 2013 with 15 returning starters from last year's team, which beat Oregon in November, won the Pac-12 championship and topped Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Only a loss to the Ducks prevented Stanford from playing for the national championship in 2010, Shaw said, adding that his team was 10 points – close losses to Washington and Notre Dame – from the same last season.

"I think for people to say, 'Hey, you know what? Stanford's got a chance to win the national championship this year.' Two of the last three years we've lost one game during the regular season. We were a game away two of the last three years. We didn't just get here. It didn't just happen."

Stanford's growth has roots in its decision to hire Jim Harbaugh in 2007. Behind Harbaugh, and with help from Shaw, then the offensive coordinator, the Cardinal won four games in 2007, five in 2008, eight in 2009 and then 12 in 2010, defeating Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Shaw, now 23-4 after two seasons, says his program continues to preach Harbaugh's mantra of toughness, calling this quality "non-negotiable."

Like other national powers, Stanford has recruited at an elite level. The Cardinal's last three classes have been ranked 22nd, fifth and 63rd nationally, according to Rivals.com; last year's lower ranking is related to its small size – only 12 members, tied with USC for the smallest of any recruiting class in the Pac-12.

"We haven't recruited two or three great players. We've recruited a really good football team that we believe is going to last," Shaw said. "And we'll continue to replenish it with tough-minded kids that will play extremely hard to give ourselves a chance to win every game that we play."

Where Stanford's recruiting has shined is along the offensive line. According to Shaw, the group of linemen signed in February 2012 – Andrus Peat, Kyle Murphy, Graham Shuler, Joshua Garnett, Nick Davidson and Johnny Caspers – is full of future early-round NFL draft picks, "guys that are going to play football for a living."

Said Shaw, "As a whole, I still look at it, I've never seen a better offensive line class that's ever been recruited by anybody."

Peat is projected to start at left tackle, Shaw said, with Murphy serving as the line's top outside reserve. Senior right guard Kevin Danser is a reigning second-team all-conference pick; senior left guard David Yankey is a consensus All-American.

The Cardinal are in part defined by their line play on each side of the ball, by the way the offense dictates the tempo in the running game and the way the front seven on defense slows down the Pac-12's up-tempo, no-huddle offenses. The constant pipeline of new talent, replacing seniors lost to graduation or early NFL draft entrants, puts Stanford on an even plane with any perennial championship contender, Shaw said.

"So there's that mentality: This year you've got a chance. Okay, well we've had chances. This year? Great. Appreciate it. Well, guess what? Next year we plan on being in the conversation too."

Paul Myerberg, a national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @PaulMyerberg.