Newsletter 4.0
This season I started numbering the newsletters in a different way, with the first number representing the season I was coaching at Stanford and the second number representing the newsletter that was written. For example, the last newsletter I wrote was 3.17, which meant season three, newsletter 17.
I’m terrible at reflecting and thinking back, which was the primary reason I started writing these newsletters in the first place. So this became another way for me to remember a moment in time.
I fully expected to be writing newsletter 4.0 sometime in August or September, since that is the most natural start of a new season. But after this past month and a half, it feels like now is the perfect time to begin season four.
They say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. From my seat in the program, it came in like a lion and went out like a rabid honey badger on steroids that hadn’t eaten in a week.
For those not keeping up with the program, or college wrestling, somewhere around the last weekend in March we had three of our returning All-Americans let us know they were going to enter the transfer portal: Nico Provo, Tyler Knox, and Hunter Garvin. We also had NCAA qualifier Lorenzo Norman enter the portal. Daniel Cardenas had his degree as well and could have entered, but he stuck it out and chose not to go in.
April was a crazy month. The guys were taking visits to other schools, and back on the Farm we were trying to figure out how to keep them here.
Fortunately, we were able to keep Provo, Knox, Cardenas, and Garvin.
To get to that happy ending-I guess April showers really do bring May flowers-it required the full power of the Stanford wrestling community.
I can’t tell you how excited I am that these four decided to stay and finish what they started. Each of them has had such an incredible impact on the Stanford program that it would have been painful to not have them see it through. We keep this crew together, and they will continue to transform this program.
We are blessed to have them for another year.
Churchill once said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
We certainly got the most out of this one.
First and foremost, the response from the athletics administration was amazing. In order to piece this thing together, we needed the department to step in in a big way, both with resources and with some major decisions that had to be made quickly. Former Stanford football player and current athletics executive team member Shayne Skov became our point person, and without him, along with the individuals leading this department, we would not have retained these wrestlers.
I affectionately refer to him as Coach Skov now, as he was in the trenches with us, trying to do whatever he could to solve this issue.
Throughout this year, the culture inside the athletics department has seemingly grown stronger and stronger under the new leadership. Several seasoned coaches who have been here a long time have said this is the most cohesive the department has ever felt.
That is easy to say when things are going well.
The real test comes when something difficult lands on your desk and there is no easy playbook. Our situation tested that culture in real time. We needed urgency. We needed creativity. We needed people to care enough to lean into a complicated situation and help us find a path forward.
They did.
And because they did, Stanford Wrestling is in a much stronger position today.
The second group we could not have done this without was the Stanford wrestling community, which consists of our alumni, fans, and friends. Having such an accomplished alumni base, coupled with the quality of people who live in the Bay Area, allows us to work with a community of incredibly smart, talented, and resourceful people.
They stepped up in a huge way and were instrumental in helping navigate the situation.
After leading the program for the last three years, beyond where we have taken the team competitively, the growth of the Stanford wrestling community has been the area I am most proud of. We continue to grow the “team around the team,” and the people we welcome into the program are one of the highlights of the job.
Now I want to expand that community beyond the Bay Area.
This year’s finish at the NCAA Championships should be enough evidence that we can bring trophies back to the Farm, including a national championship. After all, 19 different sports have won an NCAA team championship at Stanford, more than any other university.
Why not us?
Why not bring the first wrestling national championship to the West Coast?
This June and July, I will be doing a tour of California, with visits to Los Angeles, San Diego, Fresno, Sacramento, and several other areas. There will be clinics, and I want to better understand the wrestling communities in each part of the state. More importantly, I want to host social events where we can bring people together, meet new friends of the program, and talk about where Stanford Wrestling can go from here.
The theme will be simple:
The West Coast Wrestling Moment: Can California Build a National Championship Team?
I believe the answer is yes.
If you are in California, be on the lookout for the “Coach Ayres” tour dates.
So here we are.
The storm came. It hit hard. And somehow, because of the wrestlers, the administration, our alumni, our fans, and the growing team around the team, we came out the other side stronger.
We have our team set for next season.
We return the third most NCAA points in the country.
We return six All-Americans.
We return belief, momentum, and a group of guys who chose to stay at Stanford and chase something bigger together.
Season four is here.
Newsletter 4.0.
I think we are just getting started.
