Stanford brings ex-star 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, which will place him above the entire program and is a distinct evolution from the traditional college general manager role. The hire could loom as a harbinger for structural changes in college football front offices across the sport.

Luck’s role involves everything Stanford football touches, football-wise and business-wise. The football-specific duties will include managing the coaching staff, the player personnel 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 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.”

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

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

Luck recalled with his trademark laugh: “I sort of have to. This makes too much sense. I would not do this at any other place, 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, as he returned in 2022 to get a master’s degree in education to go along with his undergraduate degree in architectural design. He credits his time there, especially as an undergrad, for indelibly shaping him. He met his wife, Nicole Pechanec, who is a former Stanford gymnast, while in school there. He said they are thrilled to be formally back at the university, with their two young daughters in tow.

“I’m a product of this place,” Luck said. “Besides my folks and the friends and extended family I grew up with, Stanford, this is home for my wife and I. I’m profoundly influenced by Jim Harbaugh, David Shaw, Pep Hamilton and all the coaches and professors that I’ve ever 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 of staying in school when he would have likely been the top pick in the 2011 NFL draft. He adopted the school’s Nerd Nation ethos, spending his career deflecting praise with his hallmark laugh and shining light on his teammates.

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

Luck is confident that Stanford can return to that level with a lot of work, and that confidence begins with alignment 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’s alignment from the top of university about football,” Luck said. “President Levin is committed to doing that. We wouldn’t do 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’s an understanding that Stanford — like many of the high-academic schools — has been “slow to the draw” regarding the realities of modern college football: name, image and likeness considerations, as well as the portal and leveraging 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 that he will be on a steep learning curve and that he lacks hands-on front office experience, as his football experience comes from Stanford, seven NFL seasons and two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach at nearby Palo Alto High School — so close to Stanford 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 entering this with eyes wide open and aware of my strengths and my limitations,” Luck said when asked about his direct experience. “I know there’s a lot that I do not know. Part of that makes it exciting. I’m excited to work with Bernard and Troy. I’ve got 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 examining a similar structure. As college athletics shift to a revenue share model, the traditional way a program is structured with head coaches holding all the power and making all the decisions makes less sense. This season, many programs have been exploring different front office structures for the new era.

Coaches have already shifted distinctly from focusing on schemes, and this type of model might eventually give them more of a 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 ” hardest decision of my life,” as he had been in a constant battle with injuries.

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

“I’m very thankful for what football has given me,” Luck said. “In many, many ways on many, many levels. Stanford is one of those 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.”