Grading Frank Reich's 2025 Season with Stanford

What a weekend for Stanford football. On a four-game losing streak against the California Golden Bears, the Cardinal hosted Cal in the 128th Big Game on Saturday, Nov. 22, a game that Stanford really needed to win.

Behind a dominant effort by the defense, scoring two first half touchdowns, the Cardinal pulled off the 31-10 win, reclaiming the Stanford Axe for the first time since 2020 and also improving past the 3-9 win total that has plagued them the previous four seasons.

While the Cardinal are still 4-7 and are all but out of bowl game contention, this season under Frank Reich has been a highly successful one in a lot of ways. A highly respected NFL coach, with a Super Bowl title as an assistant coach, Reich came in eager to keep developing the Cardinal program while general manager Andrew Luck searched for a full time head coach.

Stanford under Reich has looked like a much improved team from a season ago, staying competitive, and even winning a couple of games that they could have otherwise struggled in last season.

Two of their wins this season, against San José State and Cal, were games that Stanford faltered in last season, leading Cal 21-7 before losing 24-21 and losing to San Jose State in the final game of the season. But under Reich, even in losses, Stanford has managed to compete in a lot of ways.

Against Miami, despite the 42-7 score, the Cardinal were alive in the game for a majority of the contest, scoring the first touchdown and being tied 7-7 at the half.

Before Miami pulled away in the second half, the Cardinal looked like a team that was going to make it a close game for all four quarters. Stanford teams from recent seasons would most likely have been out of the game much earlier.

In terms of X's and O's, Reich has completely overhauled Stanford's offense, transforming a team that ran a West Coast style college offense into one that runs a pro-style attack, allowing for a more creative offensive approach against some of the ACC's toughest teams.

Reich's offense has gotten the best out of the current group of guys, with players such as wide receiver CJ Williams and running back Micah Ford enjoying breakout seasons on The Farm.

The players also love Reich. Bringing a new energy, a breath of fresh air and a confidence not seen within Stanford football for years, Reich has gotten the players to not only buy in, but play their hearts out for their coach—something that not every coach is able to do.

By doing that, Stanford has been able to pick up some key wins over teams such as Boston College, San Jose State, Florida State and Cal while also doing something that they struggled to do under Taylor's leadership: win games at home.

But the most important aspect of Reich's one-year tenure with the Cardinal, and something that Stanford had on its mind since the start of the season, was the game against Cal.

Regardless of how good or bad Stanford was this season, beating Cal is and was the most crucial point of this season. Having come away with a convincing win, Reich was able to accomplish the one thing that any Stanford coach looks to accomplish each season, and that is to take home a win over their most bitter rivals.

Now that Reich has that win, it significantly improves his season grade at Stanford. Since he came in and built the program back up, got the win against Cal, and also snapped the Cardinal's streak of four straight 3-9 seasons, it doesn't really matter how the team does against Notre Dame. Reich accomplished nearly every goal the Stanford faithful had for this season.

The lone exception would have been making a bowl game, but that was a daunting task.

Grade: A-