Love, the Doak Walker and Lombardi Award winner and the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, could have easily left Stanford early for the pros. Everyone would have understood. But Love is back and the Cardinal are much, much better for it. Shaw said whatever happened this offseason with Love, he wouldn’t have been shocked.

Stanford might not worry about his stats. Everyone else probably will. Especially after Love rushed for 2,118 yards and had 12 100-yard rushing games, both school records. Especially after he ran for 19 touchdowns and averaged more than eight yards per carry and 162 yards per game.

“He broke a lot of records last year, did some phenomenal things last year. This year's about him getting bigger, stronger, being more versatile, different things, adding to his game, we're not going to do the Bryce Love stat watch.”

“Talking to Bryce - in anticipation of some of the questions I may get - preparing for this year, had a lot of practice with Andrew Luck coming back, with Christian McCaffrey going from his sophomore, All-American year, coming back for his junior year, had a good chance to talk with Bryce about (how) this year can't be about stats,” Shaw said.

That’s understandable. Love, a Heisman Trophy front-runner, has returned for his senior season to lead Stanford’s offense, which should be loaded across the board. But having Love put up bigger numbers this year is not Shaw's main concern.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Bryce Love did not show at Pac-12 Media Day but his presence was definitely felt, especially since reporters kept asking Stanford coach David Shaw about his star running back.

“I wouldn't have been surprised either way, because both had legitimate arguments for him to leave or come back,” Shaw said. “In my heart of hearts, if I had to guess what he would have done, I would have guessed that he would have come back, just knowing what goals he has both in football and out of football.

“I know he wanted to get stronger and be a little thicker, more prepared physically for the pounding of the NFL. And at the same time, I know what he wants to do off the field in his desire to go to medical school. He's ahead, way ahead, academically to the point where he's got a chance to graduate in the fall quarter of his senior year, which is amazing to be in human biology at Stanford University and graduate two quarters early while playing football. That's amazing. I know he takes both of those very seriously. He'll load up on units again this year. That's just what he does. It's nothing new for him, and at the same time, play high-level football. It didn't surprise me, because I know those are two things he wants. He wants to play in the NFL. He wants to play in the NFL bad, and prepare his body for it. At the same time, he wants to finish his degree.”

Love’s importance to Stanford was evident in Shaw’s opening statement, which was tempered by moments of the Cardinal coach talking about how stats will not be of greatest importance this year. Sounds like the McCaffrey Model.

After setting an NCAA record for total yards with 3,864 in his sophomore season, McCaffrey was greatly drawn down the following year, posting 2,327 total yards with 1,603 yards on the ground. He went from 337 carries to 253. But McCaffrey was still a first-round draft pick, and Love could be the first running back drafted after this season.

Shaw, who compared Love’s speed to former Notre Dame star Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, has been here before. He knows how to handle Love.

“Our focus is going to be on having the best team we can have, the most well-rounded team we can have, the most balanced offense we can have, as well as having one of the most explosive running backs in the history of college football,” Shaw said.

“Because that's what (last) year was for Bryce, with 12 games, every single game he had at least one run of 30 yards or more, and 10 out of 12, he had runs of 50 yards or more. I don't know if that's ever happened in college football, so we don't know if it's going to happen again. That's not going to be our focus. Our focus is going to be on what we can do every single week to make sure he's at our best and we are at our best.”