So much of football revolves around relationships forged over the years, and a key one is coming into play in Palo Alto, CA at Stanford University.
Former Indianapolis Colts quarterback and current Stanford football program general manager Andrew Luck is hiring his former Colts head coach Frank Reich as the interim head coach for Stanford Football for the 2025 season. This comes a week after Luck fired Troy Taylor as the program’s head coach after investigations revealed Taylor mistreated female members of the staff.
ESPN College Football Senior Writer Pete Thamel broke the news on Monday morning.
“Sources: Stanford is hiring veteran NFL coach Frank Reich as the school’s interim football coach for 2025 season,” Thanel posted on X. “Both sides have agreed this will be only a one-season agreement. At that point, Stanford will launch a national search.”
Luck and Reich now reunite after they spent one season in Indianapolis with the Colts. Although it was the final year he would play, 2018 was arguably the best season of Luck’s abridged career.
On his way to Pro Bowl and NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors, Luck went 430-of-639 passing (67.3%) for 4,593 yards (7.2 YPA), 39 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, and a 98.7 passer rating. He also ran for 148 yards on 46 carries (3.2 avg.).
Clearly, Luck and Reich work well together and trust each other’s vision, as Luck set new single-season career bests in completions, attempts, completion percentage, first downs, and passer rating in 2018 despite it being his seventh year in the league, also coming off of a shoulder surgery that kept him off the field the year before.
Reich was a relatively successful head coach for the Colts from 2018-22, getting the team to two playoff appearances, including three games (1-2, 0.333). He was fired midseason in 2023 after his message appeared to run stale, and owner Jim Irsay craved a shake-up. Reich went 40-33-1 (.547) as the Colts’ head coach.
His next coaching tenure ended after just 11 games into the 2023 season with the Carolina Panthers, going 1-10 (.091).
Reich does not have any college coaching credits to his name but is now tasked with leading Stanford’s program for at least the 2025 season.
Luck was hired as Stanford football’s GM in November 2024 after the team compiled a record of 20-46 (.435) over the last six seasons.
