New Stanford GM Andrew Luck fired Troy Taylor and replaced him with Frank Reich. Reich and Luck have a history from the NFL, and the Cardinal need all the help they can get in the ACC.
Stanford finished the 2024 season 3-9 with ACC wins over Syracuse and Louisville. The Cardinal have struggled lately including only one winning season since 2019, the 2020 COVID season where they went 4-2.
The Troy Taylor hire was a disaster. Taylor won six games in two seasons and was fired this spring by new GM Andrew Luck while under some controversy. Luck replaced Taylor with an interim head coach in Frank Reich. Yes, these are that Luck and that Reich.
Stanford signed the 12th best class in the ACC in ‘25, good for 54th in FBS. Four-star WR JonAnthony Hall was the cream of the crop in this off-season’s class.
Stanford might have the worst schedule I’ve seen in years regarding both quality of opponent and travel. The Cardinal aren’t just traveling to Hawaii and Provo, but also to face UVA, SMU, Miami, and UNC. Stanford will also host FSU, plucky San Jose State, Pitt and Notre Dame.
The Card Preseason Overall SP+ is 88th in FBS. The Cardinal are the lowest rated ACC team per Bill Connelly’s metrics. Meanwhile their ST’s are 28th in SP+.
The Lean ‘Canes Business Model
Problem: They’re in the ACC now, and that was a terrible move for the Cardinal. For a school that value innovation and creativity Stanford did the least original thing they could by following Cal into a number of cross country flights per year. I’m not sure where teams like Stanford and Cal fit in the modern college football world, but it’s surely not in the ACC.
Solution: Their attempt at a solution was to hire Andrew Luck as GM and fire Taylor as head coach. Stanford brought in an NFL veteran coach in Reich (41-43-1 in the NFL) as the interim.
I have no idea what that really offers for Stanford as a solution as they’re trapped in NIL and transfer portal purgatory with the cost of living in Palo Alto and the academic expectations of Stanford. Maybe the “smart guys” need their own conference (Rice, Northwestern, Stanford, Cal, Tulane, the service academies).
Unique Value Proposition: It’s Stanford and they have an academic experience that’s second to none as well as a beautiful campus if you can afford to live there.
Photo by David Madison/Getty Images
Key Metric: Giveaways. The Cardinal QB’s were throwing interceptions like Oprah handing out new cars. If the combo of Reich and Luck can do anything for Brown it’s to cut down on the 10:12 TD:INT ratio that Daniels had a year ago, and the 2:3 ratio Brown had last season as well. Take care of the football and things could change for the offense and defense.
Competitive Advantage: Stanford used to be vastly ahead of the game in strength and conditioning under Shannon Turley. Turley has had an odd career path since being fired from Stanford and then Colorado and he’s now a high school strength coach in Colorado. But the point is still that they were far ahead of the game under Turley, and the development of players might need to be their C.A. once again.
The Achievers
The High Achievers one of the high achievers Stanford will probably have to focus on is Clemson. The Cardinal won’t work the transfer portal for a dozen, or nearly two dozen new transfers like SMU and Miami have, respectively. Clemson recruits for fit and character, even if it puts them a little lower down the 247 rankings. Stanford needs to find players that fit their mold and who are looking for a piece of paper that says Stanford at the end of four years of CFB.
The Low Achievers include Stanford, and they need to figure out how not to be poached like they have been, or their fellow bottom feeders in Wake Forest and UVA and Cal.
The Offense
The preseason SP+ for Stanford on offense is 82nd in all of FBS. Stanford only scored 22.8 PPG in ‘24 (106th in FBS).
QB Ashton Daniels has left Palo Alto for The Plains which leaves Elijah Brown and Bear Bachmeier to battle over the starting QB job. Whoever the QB is, they’ll be joined in the backfield by RB Micah Ford.
The offense added around eight transfer to the two-deep. WR CJ Williams, who is now on his 3rd college football team, averaged 15.5 yards per catch a year ago. Even Stanford is getting into the repeat portal offenders in ‘25.
The Film: Stanford 26 vs. Syracuse 24
3-9 Stanford beat a Syracuse team that upset Miami to knock the ‘Canes out of the ACC Championship Game and the CFB Playoff. So how did they do it? The teams were even in penalties and close in penalty yards.
They both turned the ball over twice, but that’s where a deeper look matters- one Stanford INT turned into a defensive score for the Cardinal. We know how much that impacted the game in favor of ‘Cuse vs. Miami on the fumble return. Not all turnovers are created equally.
Above– Offenses use shifts and motion to force the defense to communicate and adjust. Syracuse is going to have this LB move with the RB that’s in motion.
Above– now you’ve got a safety rotated into the box as a LB and a LB out in the flat as a safety. That’s how you win on a bullet motion.
Above– Syracuse thinks they’re setting up the quick swing screen but in reality it’s a “money” call and the WR isn’t blocking, he’s faking it before running switch.
Above– You can see the reaction of the Orange DB when he realizes he’s been tricked. That’s the cat and mouse game that makes football so much fun.
Above– And then you have to finish the play. Great athletic grab from the Stanford WR.
The Defense
The defensive preseason SP+ for the Cardinal is 96th in the country after allowing 33.7 PPG a year ago (116th in FBS). Stanford lost David Bailey to Texas Tech’s portal kombat (eight TFL’s seven sacks).
However, the Cardinal return LB Tevarua Tafiti (seven TFL’s), CB Collin Wright (five PBU’s, three INT’s), and S Mitch Leigber (two INT’s, one TD).
Stanford will rely on homegrown talent on the defensive side of the ball as they’ve added only a small number of portal transfers for that side.
Above– Pre-snap Kyle McCord can see he’s got a few potential issues for the post route he eventually throws. 43, 35, 8, and 5 can all be potential middle of field hole drop guys.
Above– 32 leaves the middle to break to the side, 5 goes to his side parting the sea. 8 is frozen by the play-action and 35 is a pressure guy.
Above– McCord does a great job of looking that safety over to the sideline before coming back to the post.
Above– The WR can be lead away from that DB because of the open middle of the field.
Stanford is a complete mess and I have no idea what they’re going to do on defense, but that’s an early “what’s open” look vs. the Cardinal for Carson Beck and Miami.
2025 Prediction
Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
The Canyonero Keys to Victory for the ‘Canes this season over Stanford is for bully ball mode of Mario to be initiated. Don’t get cute, just curb stomp the Cardinal and get this butt whooping over with.
Way too early prediction: Miami by 21. Stanford will finish 2-10 with the Frank Reich and Andrew Luck combination trying to figure out what to do in the NIL and transfer portal era at a place like Stanford. Stanford plays the 33rd toughest schedule which for them is far too much firepower to overcome.