Stanford has fired its head football coach amid allegations he mistreated female staff members. This comes days after a report cited complaints against Troy Taylor, describing him as hostile and aggressive. Ian Cull has the latest.
Stanford football general manager Andrew Luck is hiring a familiar face.
Former Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich will serve as the interim coach for Stanford this season, the school announced Monday.
Luck played his final NFL season for Reich with the Colts in 2018 before retiring abruptly. He was hired as Stanford's football GM last November and immediately faced a controversy surrounding former head coach Troy Taylor.
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Taylor was fired last week after outside firms found that he had mistreated female athletic staffers, pushed to have a compliance officer removed after she warned him of rules violations and made "inappropriate" comments to another woman about her appearance.
Reich, 63, most recently served as the Panthers' head coach in 2023 before getting fired following a 1-10 start. Reich was 40-33-1 in four-and-a-half seasons with Indianapolis and has never coached collegiately.
"I am thrilled to be working with Andrew again to help take an important step in establishing his vision for the Stanford Football program," Reich said in a statement. "Andrew is an elite leader and competitor, and those traits, along with his genuine passion for this university, resonated in every way and inspired me to accept this role. The unique responsibility to mentor the best student-athletes in the world, to be the absolute best in what they aspire to do, is an opportunity I will fully embrace."
Reich and Stanford agreed that this will be a one-year partnership before Luck conducts a full search for the program's next head coach.
Stanford has gone 3-9 in four straight seasons, two under Taylor and two under David Shaw. The Cardinal last made a bowl game in 2018.