Stanford football head coach David Shaw confirmed last week in an interview with Rivals that senior cornerback Wayne Lyons, along with several other seniors, will not be returning to Stanford for the 2015-16 season.
Lyons has long been tied to rumors of a possible departure to Michigan, which came to a head when his mother was recently hired as part of the Wolverines’ football staff. Although he has not officially announced his transfer, all signs are pointing to his joining the Wolverines as a graduate transfer.
“Wayne’s getting his degree,” Shaw said to Rivals. “And by all accounts he’s moving on. And I’m happy for him. I am. He got what he came here for. He got the best degree in college football that you can get. And he has four bowl rings. He wants to go someplace to play for a fifth year, hey, pat him on the back.”
Other notable seniors that will likely not return for their fifth years are quarterback Evan Crower and running back Kelsey Young.
Crower will likely look for a school where he will be in the starting picture immediately — at Stanford, with fifth-year senior Kevin Hogan poised to return as a fourth-year starter and highly touted backups Ryan Burns and Keller Chryst chomping at the bit as well, Crower likely would not have seen much time on the field had he stayed on the Farm.
Young was supposed to play a leading role in the Cardinal’s running back system this last season, but that didn’t pan out, as the running back job was in flux for the first half of the year before Remound Wright secured himself as the starter and Christian McCaffrey emerged as Stanford’s likely running back of the future.
J.B. Salem, Lance Callihan, Anthony Hayes, Charlie Hopkins, Kevin Reihner and Torsten Rotto will also not return to the team.
Spring practices will kick off this weekend for the 2015-16 season.
Contact Do-Hyoung Park at dpark027 ‘at’ stanford.edu.