STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — When Andrew Luck decided Stanford needed to change its head football coach at an unusual time in late March, he turned to a familiar face.
Luck reached out to his former NFL coach Frank Reich — who was in the middle of a shopping trip at Costco — and made the pitch for Reich to coach the team for one season to give Luck more time to find a long-term replacement.
“I think I was walking around with my fingers and toes crossed for four days hoping this was going to work out,” Luck said Tuesday. “I think it’s a way for us to move forward in all the right ways.”
Luck and Reich believe they are once again a perfect fit nearly six years after their time together in Indianapolis came to an abrupt end when Luck announced his surprise retirement just before the start of the 2019 season.
The two formed strong bonds during their year and a half together in the NFL, with Reich even officiating at Luck's wedding. They remained close over the ensuing years and now are back together in new roles with Luck in charge as the general manager of the football program.
“He’s the boss," Reich said with a smile when asked about the differences from their time with the Colts. “I was the boss the last time. ... I can do that for one season maybe.”
The temporary timeframe was a selling point to both sides. Reich was enjoying his time away from coaching, working for his foundation — which is aimed at ending the sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking of children — and speaking to religious groups and writing a book that he described as a “biblical view of competition.”
Reich considered some offers this offseason to return to coaching as an assistant in the NFL but only wanted a job he felt was right with people he respected. When Luck called him last week, he found that job.
“This is the perfect scenario for both of us," Reich said. “It fits absolutely perfect. Just because it’s a one-year deal does not mean that we can’t take a major step to helping fulfill this vision, have massive success, and what that looks like in the whole picture of success, not just the immediate ways that come to mind, but the whole picture of success. I feel like in the 2025 season, I can make an impact to go in that direction.”
Luck was hired in November by new school President Jon Levin to rebuild Stanford's struggling football program after four straight seasons with a 3-9 record, including the last two with Troy Taylor in charge.
ESPN reported two weeks ago that Taylor had been investigated twice since taking over before the 2023 season over allegations of hostile and aggressive behavior, as well as personal attacks, against female staff members.
Both investigations determined Taylor’s treatment of employees, particularly of women, was inconsistent with Stanford’s standards, according to ESPN.
Luck said he was superficially aware of the investigations last summer when the second one concluded and was briefed on them when he took the job in late November.
He spent the time since then evaluating the program and came to the conclusion a coaching change was needed shortly after ESPN's report was published. Luck declined to say whether a change would have been made had Taylor's issues not become public.
“But with time, like on many things, new data points, a deeper and new perspective, realized it was time for a reset at the head coaching position,” he said. “While perhaps the timing is non-traditional, it was the right time for this program and for us.”
Reich played 13 years in the NFL as mostly a backup quarterback before embarking on a long coaching career in the NFL, first as an assistant in Indianapolis, San Diego and Philadelphia, and then as a head coach in Indianapolis and Carolina.
Reich was fired by the Colts during the 2022 season. He was fired by Carolina the following year after a 1-10 start to his tenure with the Panthers.
He inherits Taylor's entire staff and said he will use the playbook that was already in place before adding a few of his own wrinkles over time.
Reich met with the players for the first time Monday and started spring practice Tuesday, his first practice ever as a college coach.
“Good football is good football,” Luck said. “Frank certainly is a learner. Part of why I loved playing for him, he was always learning, I was always learning, coaches were always learning. There are rules in college that are different. He’ll get caught up to speed on those. But I think the foundation of good football translates to any level, Pop Warner, high school, college, NFL. That’s part of the excitement that our players are feeling, I’m feeling and our coaches are feeling.”
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
