Frank Reich's former players endorse Andrew Luck's pick for Stanford: 'He'll make this thing go'

Andrew Luck was a little jet-lagged after a private wedding ceremony in March of 2019 in Prague. He and wife Nicole were wed in the Czech Republic, but hadn’t yet put pen to paper in the U.S.

back in Indiana. The pragmatic NFL quarterback immediately knew who to call in a pinch — his head coach. Luck asked Frank Reich, an ordained minister, if he would marry the pair at City Hall in Indianapolis.



Reich happily obliged that April. Advertisement Nearly six years later, that familiar intuition of knowing who to turn to when in a sudden bind struck Luck once again. Call Frank Reich.

It usually works out. Last week, Stanford introduced the 63-year-old Reich as the interim head coach of the Cardinal for the 2025 football season. Luck, now the shot caller of his alma mater as the program’s general manager, fired former head coach Troy Taylor after an ESPN report detailed multiple investigations into inappropriate behavior toward female staffers.

Luck tabbed Taylor to serve as Stanford’s caretaker instead of trying to land a new permanent coach at the most inopportune time in the football calendar. It’s been a year and a half since Reich last coached football. The former Colts coach was fired following a nightmare 1-10 start in his first and only season as coach of the Carolina Panthers in 2023.

Those who have played for Reich, beyond Luck, believe he can make the best of a challenging situation. “If there’s anyone that can do it, it’s him,” said two-time Super Bowl champion wide receiver Torrey Smith. Smith, who won a Super Bowl with Reich as the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, said Reich’s down-to-earth persona should immediately resonate in a locker room that has been through tumultuous times.

Under Taylor, the Cardinal went 6-18 and looked nothing like one of the most reliably tough-to-face programs in college football of the past. “His emotional stability is enough to handle literally anything this world throws at him,” Smith said. “He’s super calm under pressure.

He doesn’t panic. He doesn’t get overwhelmed. The situation may appear different and chaotic from the outside, but he’s the person that’s not going to be distracted from the task at hand, which is coaching those young men up.

” Full steam ahead 🔋 pic.twitter.com/xm0MIZFpE0 — Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) April 2, 2025 Reich agreed with Luck’s vision for using the next year to provide a stable environment for the Cardinal program and construct pieces of a winning culture that permeated the Stanford football facility for much of the last decade.

Under Taylor, Stanford was one of the worst offensive teams in the country, ranking 120th in total offense in 2024 and 112th in 2023. The Cardinal were even worse defensively, ranking 132nd, second-to-last among FBS teams in 2023 in total defense, and 116th in 2024. Advertisement “We’re doing something that will last in many ways,” Luck said.

“That’s why I have deep conviction that this will work.” Part of the pitch to Reich was Luck making it clear that Luck was going to handle everything off the field — the whirlwind of players in and out of the transfer portal, NIL discussions, revenue-sharing mechanisms and more. Reich could strictly home in on ingratiating himself to the players and the existing coaching staff.

A former quarterback of the offensive line in Indianapolis believes Reich can install an offensive scheme that will best suit the Cardinal roster. ESPN analyst and former Colts center Jeff Saturday said the two routinely would break down ways to free up more optimal passing plays for Peyton Manning during Reich’s first coaching phase with the Colts from 2006 to 2011. “Frank understands how to simplify the game,” Saturday said.

“He wants guys to play fast and physical, and he wants them to be smart. And you’re at an institution where you’re already going to have the higher end of intellect anyway. He understands more isn’t always better.

He’ll bring a foundation of what he wants to get executed. That part I don’t think he’ll have a difficult part.” Saturday knows the unique challenges of being an interim head coach better than most.

Colts owner Jim Irsay shocked the sports world by asking Saturday to be the acting coach after firing Reich midway through his fifth year in Indianapolis. Saturday had been head coach at a small private school in Georgia before replacing Reich for the remainder of the 2022 season. Like Smith, Saturday has faith that Reich will be an ideal transitional figure before Luck conducts a full-scale search for the next Stanford coach.

“He don’t need any advice from me, dude,” Saturday said. “He’ll crush it. He’ll make this thing go.

The Cardinal will be pleasantly surprised at what they’ve gotten themselves into.” Advertisement Former Colts receiver Austin Collie said Reich’s amenable nature will endear himself to a locker room shaken by poor seasons and a head coach being dismissed. “He’s got this phenomenal ability to come down to the players’ level and make guys feel comfortable and feel wanted,” Collie said.

“He will validate their talent and skill set and what they bring to the team. But he has high standards and expectations for everybody around him.” Stanford’s spring practices started last week, Reich’s first on the job.

When asked how he plans on calling games, he said one of the core principles he plans to introduce to the Cardinal is his staunch commitment to being an aggressive play caller and game manager. “Measured aggressiveness,” he said. Then the ordained minister cited a passage from Ecclesiastes 7:16, which states, “We understand a man of wisdom avoids all extremes.

” (Photo: Bob Donnan / USA Today).