Frank Reich Explains Why He Took Stanford Job At ACC Media Day

A new era of Stanford football is officially here. For ACC Media Day, Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich and select players traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina for the yearly event. Among the topics discussed were what led to Reich taking the interim job at Stanford following the firing of head coach Troy Taylor.

A longtime coach in the NFL, having spent his entire career up this point coaching in football's highest level, the transition to college football was something that Reich knew would not be easy. But after spending some time getting used to everything these past couple of months, he is now all-in and very excited for the opportunity.

Speaking with On3 reporter, Dan Morrison, Reich explained what was going through his mind when Luck gave him the call.

"Life is full of many journeys and experiences," Reich said. "I think that’s what we’re all looking for, to learn and grow all the time. I just feel like after many years in the NFL, playing and coaching, when Andrew called and said. ‘Will you help us out this year?’

"First, I was a little bit hesitant. But then I came out and just realized I’ve experienced a lot of things in my life in the football world, but I’ve got an opportunity to coach Stanford. This is a unique place."

Beginning his head coaching career with the Indianapolis Colts back in 2018, and coaching Luck in his first season at the helm, he and Luck were able to form a strong relationship that they have maintained to this day. While Luck was originally the only connection to Stanford that Reich had, he now is all-in and feels right at home in Palo Alto on The Farm.

"I’ve been there for three months and I’ve drank the Kool-Aid," Reich said at media day. "And it is different. It is different in the best of ways. The culture there is different. The people. It’s really a unique place.

"Really, for me, where it was about the experience of coaching the student-athlete. The Stanford student-athlete. Guys like that are sitting right over here to my left that I knew would make me better. Make me a better coach, a better person."

But while coaching college is a far cry from Reich's previous jobs, his strong stint in the NFL combined with his track record of working with and developing all different types of players made him confident that he could come in and bring something valuable to the program-- even if he is only expected to stay for one season.

"The other reason I said yes to Andrew was I know I’ve got something to offer," Reich said. "I’ve got something to offer to help Andrew. I’ve got something to offer to help these guys. So, as we come in to kind of kick this new era of football off, we started with here’s the standards that we’re gonna live by and we’re gonna play by.

"We’ve got to all commit to these and we’re gonna put our brand of football out there. And we’ll let people see what that’s gonna be. We’ll let our talk on the field show what it’s gonna be, but I’m extremely optimistic about the progress we’re gonna make in the 2025 season."

It is never easy for any program to go into a season with an interim coach, but in Stanford's case, the Reich situation happened quickly. With Taylor in the midst of a toxic workplace investigation, Luck and company initially backed their former coach, wanting to gather all the facts before making a firm decision.

But right before spring practice was set to begin, Taylor was fired and replaced by Reich, leading to a massive exodus of players right before the start of practices. Stanford has also brought in a program record 17 recruits.

But with Reich creating a good legacy for himself and proving throughout his NFL tenure that he has what it takes to lead a team, he will now come in and leave his own mark on the program, where he will look to either set up the long-term replacement with sustainable success and create a culture that has success long-term.