Andrew Luck quoted Ernest Hemingway, mentioned Latin phrases, and discussed how his new role as the general manager of Stanford’s football program is similar to facing a Bill Belichick-coached defense in the NFL.
Luck may be the perfect person to combine the demands of high-level football with the values of a prestigious university like Stanford. This makes him the right choice to help guide the Stanford football program into the current era of college football.
“This amazing place that has, like any institution, its own sort of quirks and culture,” Luck said last week. “Part of why I’m here is because, I understand a lot of it and lived it as an undergrad and grad student and love it. It holds deep, deep meaning for me.”
Luck’s task won’t be simple. The Cardinal have just finished their fourth consecutive 3-9 season and are far from the success they had when Luck played from 2009 to 2011 and during the years right after when Stanford was one of the top teams on the West Coast.
The program has struggled in recent years and now must face the challenges of competing in the ACC while receiving a smaller share of the revenue after Stanford nearly lost its conference spot due to recent realignment.
Now, there are questions about the head coach position after ESPN reported last week that Troy Taylor has been investigated twice since taking over before the 2023 season, following allegations of hostile and aggressive behavior, as well as personal attacks against female staff members.
Luck spoke to reporters last week, before those details were made public, and expressed support for Taylor. However, he has not commented since the report was released.
Andrew Luck watches the players participate in the gameThese are the challenges Luck must address in his new role, including raising funds and attracting talent to help the Cardinal return to the success they had under coach Jim Harbaugh and early in coach David Shaw’s time.
“I certainly want to believe I sell this place as good as anybody around football,” Luck said. “I lived it, and I know it’s authentic when I talk about Stanford and what this place can be for the development of a young man, of a football player academically, socially. I certainly believe deeply in this place.”
Luck was hired last fall by new school President Jonathan Levin as general manager of the football program
Luck reports directly to Levin rather than the athletic director. The Cardinal is also looking for a new athletic director after Bernard Muir announced his decision to step down earlier this month.
Luck has returned to a public role for the first time since his sudden retirement from the Indianapolis Colts just weeks before the 2019 season. He moved back to the Stanford area in 2022 with his wife, Nicole, earned a Master’s degree, and volunteered as a coach at nearby Palo Alto High School.
Luck has been in his new role for less than four months and is working to balance the different tasks of promoting the program, raising funds, motivating the student body, and helping bring in top players to support coach Troy Taylor in his third season.
“I don’t know what that balance is right now,” Luck said. “It’s a little bit of whack-a-mole in some senses, which is to be sort of expected in any new job, especially entering a new job with an incredible sea of change.”
Stanford was slow to adapt to the new era of college football, with unlimited transfers and players being able to earn money through NIL deals. Luck said Levin’s commitment to change is why he was willing to take on the challenge.
The Cardinal added 12 transfers during the winter portal period and are committed to participating in revenue sharing with players if a court settlement is approved next month.
Andrew Luck speaks at a news conferencePrevious Stanford administrations haven’t always been fully committed to big-time athletics, but Luck noticed a clear shift under Levin, who became president last year.
“We are wading into a new era of college sports, which means things have to change,” he said. “It can’t be a toe dip and test the waters out. There’s a level of commitment. And that’s what I felt from President Levin.”
Luck said the immediate goal for the program is to make a bowl game for the first time since 2018 and win it. Luck pointed to the NFL, where more than 30 players who ended their college careers at Stanford played in a game last season, as evidence that the program has the potential to succeed.
“That’s a number more on par with more traditional powers like USC, Miami, Florida State, and Texas A&M than a three-win program,” he said. He wants to bring in players who value top-notch education but also have aspirations to play in the NFL, like former players such as himself, Christian McCaffrey, Richard Sherman, and Zach Ertz.
“We are still different, especially with our academic integrity and the values associated with it,” Luck said. “I know that there are incredibly bright kids out there that are also really good football players and that this is the school for them.”
