Andrew Luck took over the Stanford football program as its general manager at the end of last year, and he put his stamp on the program in March when he fired head coach Troy Taylor and replaced him with Frank Reich, who previously coached Luck on the Colts.
One game in, Luck, Reich and Stanford are 0-1 after losing to Hawaii 23-20 on Saturday. Stanford jumped out to an early 10-0 lead but was outplayed after that and Hawaii kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired. Hawaii was expected to be one of the weakest opponents on Stanford’s schedule, so an 0-1 start is a bad sign for Stanford’s ability to improve upon last year’s 3-9 record.
“Obviously a tough loss,” Reich said. “We came in off what I felt like was a very good week of practice, a very good six months of practice and hard work, so this hurts. I’m not gonna lie. This stings.”
Still, Reich — who is currently considered an interim head coach and may not stay beyond 2025 — said he and Luck are getting to work on rebuilding the Stanford program.
“Thankful to Andrew Luck for the opportunity to help him start to fulfill a vision that he has for this program, excited for the experience and opportunity with these players and coaches, and to be part of the Stanford community. We’ve worked very hard in the six months we’ve been here to put on a good show for the Stanford community,” Reich said. “Disappointed in the start, but we’re not going to let this get us down.”
