Andrew Luck's return to Stanford football aims to revive struggling program

leland stanford, Calif. — Frank Reich has the statute title of interim coach for Stanford's football team after being hired in the spring to replace the fired Troy Taylor.

The man in charge of getting the Cardinal back to their winning ways is clearly Andrew Luck.

The former star quarterback was hired this year as general manager of the football program, tasked with everything from recruiting to fund-raising to on-field coaching to generating fan interest in a languishing program.

“We’ve had a lot of fun working together, but really it started to shine even more once we got out there for training camp," Reich said. “Him being out on the field as much as he was and letting the team feel his presence on the field and in the meeting room. He’d pick his spots to address the team. I just felt like it had a major impact. When he’s out on the field, you just feel his presence and I think it really lifts the whole program.”

Luck was hired to revitalize a program that is coming off four straight 3-9 seasons. He fired Taylor in March after reports that Taylor had allegedly mistreated staffers became public.

Luck then brought his former coach on the Indianapolis Colts back to college on an interim basis, hoping to rebuild the winning culture the program had when Luck was a player.

“We talked about a vision of something he was looking to create for Stanford football for not just something in the future, but something for the 2025 season,” Reich said. “He and I have talked a lot about that. Players are bought in and they understand. They’re smart guys. They understand the culture in the locker room."

After last year's top two quarterbacks, Ashton Daniels and Justin Lamson, transferred, the Cardinal had a summer competition at quarterback that was won by Oregon State transfer Ben Gulbranson.

Gulbranson played 18 games with 12 starts for the Beavers, completing 61.8% of his passes for 2,648 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Gulbranson went 7-1 as a starter in 2022, throwing a 56-yard TD pass to Tre’Shaun Harrison with 13 seconds left to beat the Cardinal 28-27 at Stanford Stadium.

Gulbranson beat out redshirt freshman Elijah Brown, who threw 48 passes in limited action last season.

Gulbranson is one of a school-record 17 transfers that joined the program this offseason as the administration has given the football program more leeway to add players from the portal.

The biggest additions outside of quarterback are at offensive line, where UCLA transfer Niki Prongos is slated to start at left tackle and Texas Tech transfer Nick Fattig is slated to start at left guard, and receiver, led by Wisconsin transfer C.J. Williams.

Reich got hired on March 31 and inherited the staff that includes Andy Thompson, who was hired by Taylor in December as co-defensive coordinator after the two worked together previously at Sacramento State. Thompson will work with Bobby April to run the defense, while Reich will run the offense.

“It is a unique situation to kind of come in and inherit a staff,” Reich said. “Little bit awkward, but it’s a credit to these guys because A, they’re really good coaches and B, good men. So, feel like we’ve been able to come in, collaborate together, really understand, hey, it’s unique situation. But we are so determined as a staff to want to put these players in the best position possible."

Stanford's second season in the ACC will feature a staggering amount of travel with games in five time zone, including a trip to Hawaii and three to the East Coast. According to the website Bookiescom, the Cardinal will travel more than 23,500 miles this season — more than triple the average of the other 16 ACC teams.

“I think for us just being smart about it,” cornerback Collin Wright said. "We have so many resources, different things we use on the plane and to keep our body moving, keep our blood flowing. I think we have a great support staff that gives us all those resources.

Stanford opens the season early with a trip to Hawaii on Saturday before getting a week off in what is Week 1 for most teams. The nonconference schedule features a trip to BYU on Sept. 6 and a season-ending home game against No. 6 Notre Dame.

The conference schedule features road games in October against preseason Top 25 teams SMU and Miami as well as the Big Game at home against California on Nov. 22.

Get poll alerts and updates on the Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. College football: /hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and /hub/college-football

---

---