Stanford football GM Andrew Luck hires ex-Colts coach Frank Reich, source says

After four seasons at the helm, Frank Reich was fired as the Indianapolis Colts' head coach on Nov. 7, 2022. (IBJ photo/Mickey Shuey)

Stanford University has hired former NFL head coach Frank Reich as the interim football coach following the firing of Troy Taylor, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the hiring hadn’t been announced. ESPN first reported the move.

Football program general manager Andrew Luck made the decision last week to fire Taylor after a report became public that Taylor had been investigated twice for allegedly mistreating staffers.

Luck opted to hire his old coach on the Indianapolis Colts for the job for this season. Reich coached six years in the NFL for Indianapolis and Carolina, including the 2018 season when Luck was his starting quarterback.

Stanford is trying to rebuild its struggling football program after four straight seasons with a 3-9 record, including the last two with Taylor in charge.

Luck was hired last November to run the football program and report directly to school president Jon Levin. Stanford is also currently searching for an athletic director with Alden Mitchell hired last week as interim following Bernard Muir’s decision to step down.

Luck said earlier this month that Reich was one of the people he has consulted since taking this new job.

Reich played 13 years in the NFL mostly as a quarterback before having a long coaching career in the league starting in 2006. He was offensive coordinator in 2017 when Philadelphia won its first Super Bowl and was hired after that season as head coach for the Colts.

Reich and Luck teamed to go 10-6 and win a playoff game that season before Luck abruptly retired just before the start of the 2019 season. Reich made the playoffs just one time in his final four seasons without Luck on the Colts and was fired during the 2022 season.

He was hired the following year by Carolina and was fired during the 2023 season after starting his tenure 1-10.

ESPN reported two weeks ago that Taylor had been investigated twice since taking over before the 2023 season over allegations of hostile and aggressive behavior, as well as personal attacks, against female staff members.

Both investigations determined that Taylor’s treatment of employees, particularly of women, was inconsistent with Stanford’s standards, according to ESPN.

The second investigation concluded that Taylor retaliated against a compliance staffer who had found seven minor NCAA infractions by “seeking her removal from her assigned duties.”

The report said investigators had never encountered “this palpable level of animosity and disdain” for a university compliance office, according to ESPN.