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* They could not have been more definitive that this is only for 2025. That's disappointing to me because the idea of Frank Reich trying to build something at Stanford is something I could really get behind. But there was no wiggle room. I hear what people are saying about how things can change and I know intellectually that's true, but to me this dispelled my notion that this could have been a savvy political move by Luck to circumvent Stanford bureaucracy and get his preferred guy in the door before finding a way to remove the interim tag. Unless they are both lying through their teeth, which seems implausible, this truly was a situation where Luck had a specific interim vision and had that as a condition and Reich bought in to that specifically. If so, it's an unusual and potentially quite awkward situation but I like what Reich said about leaning into it with players and coaches and trying to make 2025 a special year. Still, this is going to make the next Stanford coach a hot topic of discussion for the next eight months and there's no getting around that interim equals lame duck.
* Now is not the time to obsess over who could be next but a stray mischievous thought: if it was important for Luck to keep Taylor's staff and Luck believes in that staff and Luck picked a head coach for whom one of the big selling points is his ability to coach up and mentor the assistant coaches, could Luck already have a vision for the 2026 coach that is somebody eager and willing to mostly retain the Taylor staff? Like Andrew Luck himself? Probably not and more likely that 2025 is a one year thing/interim not just for Reich but also the assistants, but the thought crossed my mind.
* But yeah, I guess I'm still hoping for a magical year that convinces everybody we want to renege on the interim and keep the party going.
* Interesting insight into Luck telling Reich the staff is good but younger and Reich meeting with the staff and telling Luck he understated how good the staff is, though Reich did acknowledge it's a young staff. That was a super interesting answer in general, with Reich acknowledging that it was a big source of uncertainty to come in and not bring his own guys - that's what I'm saying! - and also saying that he told the staff that sometimes you earn trust but in this case we're starting from trust. Clearly Reich was told Taylor's staff was staying on and Reich is working within that construct. I can only hope his impression of the staff is as positive as he is saying. Reich made this explicit at the end of the press conference - Luck dictated that Reich couldn't pick the staff. Welp, hope Luck is making a good call.
* I doubt many people will feel warm and fuzzy about Luck knowing about the Taylor investigations in summer 2024, also being briefed about them before taking the current role, and implying that a week and a half ago he thought the direction of the program was to stick with Taylor. To me Occam's Razor is that Luck bought into Taylor and the tumult of the last few weeks is something he reacted to rather than drove. I think some will view that sequence of events as not exactly flattering to Luck and his judgment. Personally I am more interested in where we are going and I think the future of the football program is brighter than it's been anytime since last summer. Moreover, I kind of get the feeling from the whole thing that it was an example of Luck adjusting to new information and changing priors, which I think speaks well to his flexibility and humility. Put bluntly, I think he was probably wrong about Taylor and changed his mind and now we are in a better spot.
* Luck talking about competitiveness and what we have to prove and how we're playing the game and are going to do it within our ethos but are nonetheless playing the game (i.e., revenue sharing) never ceases to make me want to run through a wall. He's got the pitch down. Really hope this vision translates into results sooner rather than later. I just thought about how we don't get to judge any football in the Luck GM era for another five months. It is going to feel like such a long time and I bet even we Luck Stans get pretty tired of the pitch. Can't wait to see wins but yeah, while before that's even possible.
* It is really something - touching really - to hear Luck talk about what Reich means to him and why they connected so well in Indianapolis. Luck was a sublime quarterback through childhood, high school, college, and the NFL, playing in college for IMHO one of the greatest coaches ever in Jim Harbaugh and in the NFL making four Pro Bowls and yet his last year ever playing football the head coach made such an impression on him? And it's not just talk, you can tell from what Luck says and how he says it that there's a genuine attitudinal connection. Personally, the thing Luck homes in on - preaching trusting a process and getting better every day - is something I'm biased toward as I think it's one of the most important/most beneficial attitudes in life. [I will note that I was jazzed about how much Taylor talked about this. I am not saying people who say this are destined to success, just that I like hearing it.] I think a lot of people will focus on the part of this answer revealing that Reich married Luck and his wife but to me it was all of the other stuff explaining their connection that resonated with me.
* There is something poetic about that coda to Luck's career being so meaningful to him and now Reich coming to Stanford for this interim coaching role, by the way. The one year Reich coached Luck was the last year of Luck's career and, through their connection and perseverance amidst challenges won Luck NFL Comeback Player of the Year. That itself is poignant because Reich is one of the most famous comeback artists in the history of American sports (folks probably tracking, but one of the most legendary comebacks in NFL playoff history, one of the most legendary in college history with his Orange Bowl, and more). And now Reich comes to Stanford for what we hope will be a comeback for Stanford and he, as the only coach ever to be fired from the NFL in back-to-back seasons, is surely hoping will be a comeback for him too. Sports poetry, and we hope the story is even better in the telling nine months from now.
* I think I've made clear that I like the Reich hire and am a fan of what he brings so don't take this the wrong way, but Reich seems somewhat small and meek compared to Luck. Luck so often takes the initiative on the questions and answers more volubly. Some of that may just be personality and loquaciousness but for anybody looking for hints at power dynamic, whether Luck really is the boss, etc., this reinforces the sense most of us already had that Luck is running the football program. By the way, not calling Reich small or meek, to the contrary quite compelling, but the comparison does seem like Luck is an alpha. And then not much later than I write that, Reich had a great self-deprecating comment about how 2025 differs from 2018 because this time Luck is the boss and last time Reich was and how he can do that for one season maybe. Ok, maybe Reich is an alpha willing to make an exception.
* Didn't pick up on any specific hints on how the revenue sharing model will play out, just Luck reiterating that we're playing that game and have our allocations across sports and know that we need to fundraise (as he's doing) and win to make us more attractive. On the winning point, it was one of many times in the interview in which Reich smiled and nodded in concurrence with Luck's vision.
* Luck took the question on goals for the season - taking some umbrage at a suggestion a bunch of players left post-Taylor firing and then focusing on the fact we do have goals and have no intention of being an also-ran. Would have liked to hear Reich's take but, yeah, alpha. For what it's worth, Luck referenced the same goal he did when Taylor was around - winning a bowl game (as well as winning Big Game). That's a stretch goal but it would be thrilling and I will let myself believe for now.
* Luck also owned the question on recruiting. He said he's been involved more in recruiting than a GM typically would be, owing in part to our structure (which presumably will be only more the case with Reich than it was with Taylor). It seemed to me that our main pitch is the institution and Luck himself as continuity. It sounds like we are going to try to convince 2026 recruits that the head coach is tertiary. Kind of weird but sell what you've got, and what we've got (long-term) is Stanford University and Andrew Luck. Like I suggested above, I will be interested to see if this pitch amounts to anything more than treading water with the level of recruiting we had under Taylor.
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