Stanford hopes Luck can help rebuild program

STANFORD, Calif. — Andrew Luck is returning to Stanford in hopes of turning around a struggling football program that he once helped become a national power.

Athletic director Bernard Muir announced Saturday that Luck has been hired as the general manager of the Stanford football team, tasked with overseeing all aspects of the program that just finished a 3-9 season under coach Troy Taylor.

“I am a product of this university, of Nerd Nation; I love this place,” Luck said. “I believe deeply in Stanford’s unique approach to athletics and academics and the opportunity to help drive our program back to the top. Coach Taylor has the team pointed in the right direction, and I cannot wait to work with him, the staff, and the best, brightest, and toughest football players in the world.”

Luck has kept a low profile since his surprise retirement from the NFL at age 29 when he announced in August 2019 that he was leaving the Indianapolis Colts and pro football.

In his new role, Luck will work with Taylor on recruiting and roster management, and with athletic department and university leadership on fundraising, alumni relations, sponsorships, student-athlete support and stadium experience.

“Andrew’s credentials as a student-athlete speak for themselves, and in addition to his legacy of excellence, he also brings a deep understanding of the college football landscape and community, and an unparalleled passion for Stanford football,” Muir said. “I could not think of a person better qualified to guide our football program through a continuously evolving landscape, and I am thrilled that Andrew has agreed to join our team. This change represents a very different way of operating our program and competing in an evolving college football landscape.”

Luck was one of the players who helped elevate Stanford into a West Coast powerhouse for several years. He helped end a seven-year bowl drought in his first season as starting quarterback in 2009 under coach Jim Harbaugh and led the Cardinal to back-to-back BCS bowl berths his final two seasons, when he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up both seasons.

That was part of a seven-year stretch in which Stanford posted the fourth-best record in the nation at 76-18 and qualified for five BCS bowl berths under Harbaugh and David Shaw.

But the Cardinal have struggled for success in recent years and haven’t won more than four games in a season since 2018. Stanford just finished its fourth straight 3-9 campaign in Taylor’s second season since replacing Shaw. The Cardinal are the only power conference team to lose at least nine games in each of the past four seasons.

Luck graduated from Stanford with a bachelor’s degree in architectural design and returned after retiring from the NFL to get his master’s degree in education in 2023.

He was picked No. 1 overall by Indianapolis in the 2012 draft and made four Pro Bowls and was AP Comeback Player of the Year in 2018 in his brief but successful NFL career.