Stanford Banks on Some Good Luck; Ugly Brawls Diminish Rivalries

Stanford made a smart move Saturday.

The University announced that former Cardinal All-American and two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up Andrew Luck has been appointed General Manager of Stanford football.

As schools throughout the country consider new approaches to deal with the seismic changes taking place in college football, Stanford is among the first to have created the GM position. 

Every aspect of Stanford's football program, both on and off the field, will be under Luck's purview--from the coaching staff to recruiting, roster management, fund-raising, sponsorships and in-stadium experience.

The fact that the idea for the appointment came up during a conversation between Luck and new University President Jonathan Levin--the president  apparently asked, "Why don't you run football, Andrew?"--suggests that the university administration might be ready to help boost football's fortunes. 

As in, allowing more transfers to be admitted. 

People often forget that back in the 1970-71 season, when Stanford upset Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, several of the top players on the team, including wide receiver Randy Vataha and defensive back Benny Barnes, were transfers.

In those days, most transfers came from junior colleges and no money changed hands. Nowadays, it's a different world, but there's no reason Stanford can't play in that world. 

Stanford's low transfer quotas and early application dates have limited the ability to bring in athletic transfers in recent years. A few minor modifications could facilitate transfer admissions without sacrificing academic integrity.

To this proud alum, it's encouraging to see Stanford make this hire. If the Cardinal is going to be competitive in the NIL/transfer portal era, it needs someone to run point on NIL deals, transfer recruitment, and the fund-raising required to attract talent. Someone who can take a hard look at game presentation, marketing and other ways of increasing the meager crowds at Stanford home games.

Luck (above) has the chops, the track record, and the universal respect to get it done. He is one of the greatest quarterbacks in Stanford history, along with Jim Plunkett, John Elway and Frankie Albert, and had a distinguished career in the NFL. Based on my interactions with him, he's also one helluva guy.

“I am a product of this University, of Nerd Nation; I love this place,” Luck said in the school's news release. “I believe deeply in Stanford’s unique approach to athletics and academics and the opportunity to help drive our program back to the top. Coach Taylor has the team pointed in the right direction, and I cannot wait to work with him, the staff, and the best, brightest, and toughest football players in the world.”

Luck told ESPN's Pete Thamel "I think Stanford is taking an assertive and innovative step. We're undoubtedly the best athletic department in college sports. We have to re-prove it in football, and we're excited to be part of that challenge."

Luck pointed out that if there had been a 12-team College Football Playoff 15 years ago, the Cardinal would've reached the playoffs in six of the seven years from 2010 to 2016. Stanford won 76 games during those seven seasons and finished in the top 12 in the national AP poll six times.

I like the way Luck is thinking.

Sad Ending: The day before Luck's hiring was announced, Stanford ended the 2024 season in disappointing fashion with a 34-31 loss at San Jose State.

As a result, Stanford finished with a 3-9 record for the fourth year in a row.

Against SJS, the Cardinal came back from a 24-10 deficit to take a 31-27 lead, thanks to a defensive touchdown and a goal-line interception and 50 yard return by Collin Wright, then made another defensive stop with under three minutes remaining.

All Stanford had to do was get one first down and run out the clock.

But quarterback Ashton Daniels threw a brutal interception, his third of the game, to give SJS the ball inside the Stanford 40, and the Spartans proceeded to score the winning touchdown.

To be sure, Daniels did a lot of good things during the game. He completed 26 of 40 passes for 252 yards and a TD, and also rushed for 91 yards and another score.

But his three interceptions cost Stanford the game.

Unfortunately, Stanford fans have seen this movie before. This year, Daniels threw 10 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions. Over his career, he has thrown for 21 touchdowns and had 20 passes intercepted.

That's not going to get it done. 

Coach Troy Taylor has a decision to make relative to his quarterback next season. Daniels is established as the starter, but waiting in the wings is 5-star recruit Elijah Brown, who led Mater Dei to two California state high school championships and posted a 42-2 record in four years as a starter, throwing for 115 touchdowns with only 16 interceptions.

Brown saw limited action in three games this season, in part because of a broken finger suffered in practice. He sparkled in a garbage time effort against outmanned Cal Poly, completing seven of seven passes for 98 yards, but struggled against Wake Forest (5-9, 24 yards, 1 Int) and SMU (16-32, 153 yards, 1 TD, 2 Ints).

From this vantage point, it would seem Brown offers the best chance for Stanford to improve. Daniels, in coach speak, is just good enough to get you beat. Brown offers a higher ceiling. We need to find out if he's the real deal.

O-Line Needed! Luck and Taylor's first order of business should be to find some top-flight offensive linemen in the transfer portal. The O-line, once a strong point under Jim Harbaugh and in the early David Shaw years, has been one of the major weaknesses the past several seasons. 

As evidenced by the fact that no Stanford running back scored a touchdown this year. In fact, Stanford's quarterbacks rushed for 763 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, while a half-dozen Stanford running backs ran for just 840 yards total and did not cross the goal line.

As Taylor said in his post-San Jose State game press conference, "we couldn't run the ball."

If you can't run the ball, you can't win consistently.

The second order of business should be to recruit some defensive studs. Stanford gave up over 30 points in eight games this season. That ain't going to get it done.

Rivalry Brawlfest: Saturday's rivalry games were tarnished, in several cases, by post-game scuffles between the teams. Most of the skirmishes--Michigan-Ohio State, North Carolina-North Carolina State, Arizona-Arizona State, and Florida-Florida State--broke out after the victorious teams attempted to plant a flag on the losing team's midfield logo.

The old adage, "win with class, lose with class" seems to have gone by the board in recent years as players celebrate with a lot of "in your face" antics.

My favorite is when a guy gets a sack when his team's down 35-10 and he struts around like he just won the game. Ridiculous.

So let's forget about raising the flag on the logo. This ain't Iwo Jima, fellas.

For me, it falls on the coaches to make sure their players show respect for the game, respect for the opposition, and tone down the classless celebrations.

At the Ohio State-Michigan post-game fracas, Buckeye coach Ryan Day was shown standing by idly, rather than intervening to break up the fight or get his team to the locker room, and asking "what happened?"

He might have been asking about the game itself. Ohio State was beaten 13-10, at home, by a three touchdown underdog playing a walk-on at quarterback. It was Day's fourth straight loss to Michigan, and he was thoroughly outcoached by the Wolverines' rookie coach, Sherrone Moore.

Ohio State pumped $20 million to buy this year's team. If the Buckeyes don't bounce back and win the national title, Day's days in Columbus might be numbered.