Stanford Cardinal football was hoping to get back to its roots when it hired former No. 1 overall draft pick and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck as the general manager of the program. Luck is a Stanford alum who led the Cardinal to back-to-back BCS bowls to launch a period of prosperity in which Stanford won 102 games over a 10-year span from 2009-2018. However, the football team hasn’t won more than four games in six years and head coach Troy Taylor was dismissed after two seasons.
Now, Luck and Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir will embark on an exhaustive search for the next Stanford football coach. Who are the top Stanford football coaching candidates and how can the program realize the potential it showed during the previous decade? If you love the Cardinal, or just want to know who will be calling the shots for Stanford in the future, be sure to see what the proven team of experts are saying at Cardinal247, the 247Sports affiliate that covers Stanford.
The Cardinal247 experts are providing on-the-ground updates on every development surrounding Taylor’s firing and the future of the Stanford football program, including insights from Lorenzo J. Reyna, who has deep-rooted ties inside the Stanford program. Get all the inside scoop on the search, plus VIP intel on Stanford football, basketball, recruiting, and more, as well as access to the Cardinal247 VIP forums, where you can connect with other Stanford fans and insiders.
Top Stanford football coach candidates
One name the staff has identified as a potential target on the Stanford football coaching hot board is Maryland offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. The 50-year-old North Carolina native was a quarterback at Howard in the 90s and he started his coaching career at his alma mater before earning his first NFL job as an assistant with the Jets in 2003. He’d go on to work for the 49ers and the Bears before taking a job as the wide receivers coach under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford in 2010.
When Harbaugh left and David Shaw was promoted, Hamilton was elevated to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Stanford. He’d eventually leave to become the offensive coordinator for the Colts in 2013, but the three years he spent at Stanford yielded 35 wins for the Cardinal. He’s held multiple NFL and college jobs – as well as head coach of the UFL’s DC Defenders – since then, but his ties to Luck and a recent return to the college ranks after being hired by Maryland in February have put him on Stanford’s radar. See more candidates at Cardinal247.
How to get insider Stanford coaching search updates
The rest of the list includes several other exciting possibilities, including a big-name former NFL coach and the head coach of a recent College Football Playoff team. You can only see who they are at Cardinal247.
And remember, Cardinal247 is offering 50% off an annual VIP membership as a coaching search special, so subscribe now before it’s too late. The team at Cardinal247 already has a list of several potential candidates, and there are some surprising names on the list. Head to Cardinal247 now to see them all.
