Stanford brings former QB Andrew Luck ‘home’ as new GM

Former Stanford star quarterback Andrew Luck is returning to the Cardinal to become the football program’s general manager, he told ESPN in a phone interview.

Luck, 35, has accepted a newly created role at Stanford that will place him over the entire program and is a distinct evolution from the traditional college general manager role. The hiring could be seen as a harbinger of structural changes in college football’s front offices across the sport.

Luck’s role involves everything Stanford football touches, both football-wise and business-wise. The football-specific duties will include management of the coaching staff, playing staff, recruiting, roster management and the student-athlete experience.

His business duties will include some aspects often associated with an NFL team president role: fundraising, sponsorships, attendance, sales, in-stadium experience and alumni relations.

“I’m excited,” Luck told ESPN. “I think Stanford is taking an assertive and innovative step. We’re arguably the best athletic department in college sports. We need to prove that again in football, and we’re excited to be a part of that challenge.”

Stanford has endured five losing seasons over the past six years, and Luck’s goal is to lock arms with second-year coach Troy Taylor to help build the program to re-enter the national conversation. Taylor has expressed his excitement about the partnership with Luck and the chance to build with him.

Luck said the idea came about “organically” a month ago in a conversation with president Jonathan Levin. Luck is the most decorated Stanford player of the past generation; he finished as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy twice and left the school after the 2011 season to become the no. 1 pick in the NFL draft. He recalled Levin suggesting to him, “Why don’t you run football, Andrew?”

Luck recalled with his trademark laugh, “I kind of have to. This makes too much sense. I wouldn’t do it anywhere else, not just me, but my wife too. It’s a special place for me and a lot of people .”

Luck is a proud Stanford graduate, having returned in 2022 to earn a master’s degree in education to go along with his bachelor’s degree in architectural design. He credits his time there, especially as an undergraduate, for indelibly shaping him. He met his wife, Nicole Pechanec, who is a former Stanford gymnast, while attending school there. He said they are thrilled to be formally back at university with their two young daughters in tow.

“I’m a product of this place,” Luck said. “Besides my families and friends and extended family I grew up with, Stanford is home to my wife and I. I’m deeply influenced by Jim Harbaugh, David Shaw, Pep Hamilton and all the coaches and professors I’ve ever had had.”

In his playing days, Luck helped swing the fortunes of Stanford football as he helped end a run of seven consecutive losing seasons after taking over as the starting quarterback in 2009.

He stayed there for his redshirt junior year in 2011, making the rare choice to stay in school as he likely would have been the top pick in the 2011 NFL draft. He adopted the school’s Nerd Nation ethos and spent his career deflecting praise with his trademark grin and shining a light on his teammates.

Luck points out that if there had been a 12-team playoff earlier this century, Stanford likely would have reached or at least been in contention for spots in six of seven years from 2010 to 2016. In six of those seven years, the Stanford in top 12 of Associated Press poll.

Luck is confident that Stanford can return to that level with a lot of work, and that confidence begins with adjustment under Levin, who has been president since the start of the current school year, and veteran athletic director Bernard Muir.

“Stanford is at its best when there is agreement from the top of the university about football,” Luck said. “President Levin is committed to doing that. We wouldn’t be doing this without that kind of commitment from the president. He’s committed to being innovative and creative to find ways for us to compete.”

Luck said there is an understanding that Stanford — like many of the highly academic schools — has been “slow to the draw” regarding the realities of modern college football: considerations of name, image and likeness, as well as the portal and exploitation essentially unlimited transfers. The Cardinal, who just completed back-to-back 3-9 seasons, have struggled in the new era.

Luck said he believes in “the unique value proposition” of the Stanford degree as part of the equation. And he admitted he will be on a steep learning curve and lacks hands-on front office experience, with his football experience coming from Stanford, seven NFL seasons and two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach at nearby Palo Alto High School — so close to Stanford that he could “hear the band”.

He said he was looking forward to working with Coach Taylor and AD Muir as he has a lot to learn to overcome his lack of experience.

“I think I’m going into this with my eyes open and aware of my strengths and my limitations,” Luck said when asked about his direct experience. “I know there’s a lot I don’t know. Part of that makes it exciting. I’m excited to work with Bernard and Troy. I have a lot to learn from Troy. He’s been a winner everywhere he’s been.”

If Luck can help Taylor build a winner, it could lead to other programs further exploring a similar structure. As college athletics shifts to a revenue-sharing model, the traditional way a program is structured, where head coaches have all the power and make all the decisions, makes less sense. This season, many programs have explored different front office structures for the new era.

Coaches have already clearly shifted away from focusing on schemes, and this type of model may ultimately give them a greater chance to coach.

Luck said his two years as a high school assistant coach served as a reminder of his love for football after his sudden retirement from the NFL in August 2019. He called it the “toughest decision of my life” as he had been in a constant struggle with injuries.

He is excited to be back in the college game at a place he loves.

“I’m very grateful for what football has given me,” Luck said. “In many, many ways on many, many levels. Stanford is one of the deeper levels. There’s something about it, especially the people there. This is going to be a daunting challenge. It’s a steep climb. But I’m fired up .

“It’s going to take a whole team of people.”