Stanford’s Luck expands on Taylor firing as Reich introduced

STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford football general manager Andrew Luck was briefed on the two outside investigations into former coach Troy Taylor as part of his onboarding process when he returned to his alma mater in November, he said during a news conference to introduce interim coach Frank Reich on Tuesday.

“Even a week and a half ago, I thought the direction for the program was different than where we are now,” Luck said. “But with time, like on many things, and new data points and a deeper and new perspective, realized that it was time for a reset at the head coaching position.”

After ESPN reported two weeks ago that two outside firms had found that Taylor bullied and belittled female athletic staffers, sought to have an NCAA compliance officer removed after she warned him of rules violations and repeatedly made “inappropriate” comments to another woman about her appearance, Luck said he initially intended to retain him.

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However, days later Luck — and the school — changed course.

“I’m not sure how much or how little external pressure or constituent I felt,” Luck told ESPN. “But I did have some clarity after some time that we needed a reset.”

It all led him to Reich, who was Luck’s head coach with the Colts during his final season in the NFL in 2018, when he was named the league’s Comeback Player of the Year.

This offseason, Reich said he turned down several opportunities to coach in the NFL in various capacities and was set to spend another year away from football. But then Luck called last week while Reich was shopping at a Costco in North Carolina. Reich had told his wife, Linda, he was interested in coaching this season only if the right opportunity came along.

“That was our clear vision after this football season, after the Super Bowl ended, we were moving on in our life,” Reich said. “And then obviously the timing of this was different. So when Andrew called, it was the right person, and it’s the right place.”

Neither side is interested in the relationship lasting beyond this season. Luck said he made it clear almost immediately when he contacted Reich that he was only interested in his former coach — the man who married him and his wife six years ago — helping get Stanford through this season.

“That was maybe the third sentence that came out of my mouth, and then the response was from Frank, and it was like, ‘That’s perfect. This year is what works for my life,'” Luck said.

Reich was fired by the Carolina Panthers in November 2023 after a 1-10 start to his only season with the team. He became the first NFL head coach since the 1970 merger to be fired in back-to-back seasons after his 2022 dismissal from the Colts.

Reich, who has a career NFL coaching record of 41-43-1 over six seasons, went to four Super Bowls as a player with the Buffalo Bills, where he was primarily a backup quarterback. As an assistant coach, he won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles after the 2017 season in which he was the offensive coordinator. He never has coached at the college level.

Stanford tight ends coach Nate Byham was elevated to offensive coordinator after Taylor was fired, and the team will maintain the same playbook and scheme, Luck said. Reich is expected to add to it as the year progresses, but there will not be a major offseason overhaul. The coaching staff is expected stay intact without Reich bringing any of his own hires.

With the unique timing of Taylor’s dismissal, Luck determined it didn’t make sense to attempt to hire a permanent replacement and doesn’t expect that to happen until after the 2025 college football season.

“It became more evident to me, because I really sat and thought about it, that the ideal situation was an interim for this season, that could come in and not to take a step back, but keep moving forward,” Luck said. “How do I do right by our kids? How do I do right by the people in this program?”

Luck told a story about safety Jay Green calling him while things were still in limbo to gauge where they were headed.

“I said, ‘Jay, this isn’t the NBA, man, like we’re not tanking for the first pick in the draft, right? We need to win,'” Luck said. “We need to win this season. We need to take steps forward. This will be last football season for many seniors of their career.”

The university is also searching for an athletic director, with Alden Mitchell hired last week as interim following Bernard Muir’s decision to step down.

Pete Thamel and Xuan Thai contributed to this report