Andrew Luck is back at Stanford, not just as a former player basking in past glories, but as the general manager of the football program that once revolved around him as the school’s star quarterback. After walking away from a seven-year NFL career, he eventually returned to his alma mater with a mission to modernize the program while preserving the traditions and developmental opportunities that shaped him as an athlete.
Luck’s path back to Stanford football began with a meeting he requested with university president Jonathan Levin, where he shared his thoughts on the program and its future. The Cardinal have not been to a bowl game since 2018 and have failed to win more than four games in each of the last six seasons.
Luck helped Stanford football reach its peak in the early 2010s, when the program was a fixture in BCS bowls and a national title contender. But 14 years since his departure, the Cardinal have slid into mediocrity, struggling to regain relevance.
Late last November, the day after the Cardinal lost their final game of the season to finish 3-9 and 16th in the ACC, news broke that school’s two-time runner-up to the Heisman Trophy was going to be heading back to Palo Alto as the program’s GM. Ahead of Stanford’s first game of the season, which will be at Hawaii on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET on CBS), Luck opened up about how the idea of the position first presented itself.
“It actually wasn’t a phone call,” Luck, 35, said in an interview with Inside College Football’s Rick Neuheisel. “My wife and I and family, we had plans to sort of make our way out of Palo Alto after I did my master’s in education. And I sort of requested an audience with our new president to download on football and share some thoughts. I realized a few minutes in that he knew it all … In the course of that conversation he turned to me and said, ‘Andrew, why don’t you run football? Why don’t you become our GM?’ And that certainly excited me in the moment.”
The general manager role is a relatively new concept in college athletics, but one that is increasingly necessary with the new complexities of NIL deals, the transfer portal and expanded revenue sharing.
“There’s a feedback loop, right?” Luck said. “You go, you play the game, you watch it, and you learn from it, and you move on, and you have practice, and you learn from that. So, applying those principles to this job has certainly made me feel like we’re getting somewhere.”
Still confident in decision to leave the NFL
Luck’s decision to retire from the NFL after only seven seasons was stunning especially as contemporaries like Kirk Cousins, Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson are still playing into 2025. Luck acknowledged the difficulty of stepping away.
“It definitely was the hardest decision I’d made in my life, and it was the most emotional decision, but it was a finite decision,” Luck said.
But part of the reason he returned to Stanford as GM is that he missed being involved in football.
“I love the game. I love working on a team,” Luck said. “I think the game is important. I think the game is important to this country. I think this game is important to a lot of people. But playing the game, I feel great about that decision.”
Luck quickly became a program star as quarterback at Stanford, earning unanimous All-American honors and finishing as a Heisman Trophy finalist. Selected No. 1 overall by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2012 NFL Draft, Luck became the centerpiece of the franchise, leading them to multiple playoff appearances and earning four Pro Bowl selections. But the physical toll of the NFL ultimately influenced his decision to retire at just 29.
Learning on the job: coaching decisions
Luck’s first major personnel move as Stanford’s GM came under intense scrutiny. After investigations revealed in March that then-coach Troy Taylor mistreated female staffers, Stanford swiftly moved to part ways with him, with Luck playing a central role in the decision. To fill the gap, Luck turned to a familiar face: former Colts coach Frank Reich, who led Luck during his final NFL season in 2018.
Reich joined Stanford on a one-year deal at the end of March, giving the program time to conduct a national search after the 2025 season.
Stanford hires Frank Reich: Ex-NFL coach will serve as interim boss for one season under unique agreement
Will Backus
“The timing of our coaching change was odd — it’s mid-March, it’s off-cycle and it presented unique challenges,” Luck said. “Coach Reich was the first name on my list when I realized this was where I was going. And so he was my first call. He was intrigued enough about this opportunity for the year, and it worked with where him and his family were in life.”
Even if Stanford has a strong season under Reich, the agreement is explicitly for a single year. Both Luck and Reich emphasized that the short-term arrangement provides clarity and transparency for the program, allowing Stanford to reset while still benefiting from Reich’s experience.
Taking new responsibilities ‘one day at a time’
Given how abruptly his NFL career ended, it’s fair to question whether Luck is thinking about this GM role long-term or if his perspective could suddenly change.
“It’s one day at a time,” Luck said. “That’s how I played football. That’s part of why I love playing under coach Reich, because it is a stay where your feet are, stay rooted, stay present. Certainly in this role, unlike a player, seeing the macro is important. A path to sustained success and winning and competing is vital. But you don’t get there by living there all the time.”
Luck admits he isn’t making long-term plans yet, focusing instead on learning the job and taking each day as it comes.
Luck is keenly aware that college football looks very different than it did when he last played at Stanford. The rise of NIL, the transfer portal and shifts in revenue sharing have created both new opportunities and complex challenges for programs. Still, he believes these changes can coexist with the core mission of the sport.
“Do I think we’re sitting at the perfect system of college football? … Probably not,” Luck said. “There’s some adjustments that need to be made. Do I think a lot of the changes are for the positive? Yeah, I do. Do I think the combination of changes creates some challenges? Absolutely.”
Still, Luck stresses that amid all the new rules and business pressures, college football has to stay about the players. He sees the game as a space where young athletes can push themselves and figure out what they’re capable of — on and off the field. For him, managing a program means keeping one eye on the realities of modern college athletics while never losing sight of its human side.
“It’s about winning and human development vehicle, and young men coming in and growing and self-actualizing, and getting somewhere they never thought they could,” Luck said. “That’s sitting in a locker room — that’s what gets my blood hot.”
Recruiting for new era of Stanford football
Recruiting to Stanford presents unique challenges, from strict academic standards to the allure of the transfer portal, which makes roster continuity difficult. Luck acknowledges these hurdles but sees them as opportunities to build a distinct, high-character roster.
“This is part of the question I’m asking myself every day, and we as a team are asking ourselves every day: How do we keep building?” Luck said. “It starts with great culture, and teaching great football. And we’re certainly doing that right now and taking incredible steps forward. And it’s about people. It’s about the young men in the locker room and attracting great young men to this locker room. I’m incredibly proud of the guys that are sitting in our locker room today, including — we did have more transfers than ever come into Stanford football this past season. That gives us a great chance, especially with experience and age.”
Luck emphasizes identifying “unicorns” — players who meet Stanford’s high academic and athletic standards while fitting the team culture. He recruits nationally to ensure every region of the country is represented and seeks out athletes who can thrive both on the field and in the classroom, shaping a roster that reflects the values and competitiveness he wants for the program.
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