Former Stanford Football Standout Now with Rams on Tavita Pritchard's Hiring

A new era is here for Stanford football. Coming off of a 4-8 season in the first season under the leadership of general manager Andrew Luck, the Cardinal were able to improve off of their four straight 3-9 finishes and bring some hope for the future of the program.

After hiring a new head coach in Tavita Pritchard, it is clear that Stanford is doing everything it can to bring the football program back to the national spotlight.

A quarterback at Stanford from 2006-09 before taking on various coaching roles with the program starting in 2010 through the 2022 season, Pritchard is a Stanford man through and through.

Even after spending the last two plus seasons as the quarterbacks coach of the Washington Commanders, his connection with Stanford never faded—ultimately earning the job as the program's new full-time head coach, replacing interim Frank Reich.

But while Pritchard is a first time head coach with nobody really knowing what to expect in his first season in charge, his hiring is drawing a lot of praise from some of his former players. Former Stanford tight end Colby Parkinson, now with the Los Angeles Rams, was asked about Pritchard's hiring after his big game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Dec. 7 and was quick to give Pritchard his flowers.

Parkinson, who played for Stanford from 2017-19, had Pritchard as one of his coaches all three years on The Farm, with Pritchard serving as his offensive coordinator in his final two years.

"I'm super excited for Ta," Parkinson said. "I mean, he is a phenomenal dude. I think that is a great hire for Stanford. Excited to see what he does with the program moving forward. I know it's only up from here. Tavita is a very personable guy.

"He's going to kill it with recruiting. He's the perfect Stanford man. Obviously, he played there in the early 2000s and we've had some of the most memorable games in Stanford history. So excited to see what he does, and excited to get back on The Farm and see him up there."

During Parkinson's time at Stanford, the Cardinal were still experiencing the success that they had in the 2000s and 2010s, finishing 9-5 in 2017 with a Pac-12 Championship Game appearance and an Alamo Bowl appearance.

In 2018, the most recent season in which the Cardinal had a winning record in a full campaign, the Cardinal finished 9-4 with a win in the Sun Bowl. After finishing with 29 catches for 485 yards and seven touchdowns in 2018, Parkinson had an even better junior season in 2019, earning Second-team All-Pac-12 honors.

But what makes Parkinson's comments so interesting and eye opening is while he was there, and during Pritchard's first stint as a coach on The Farm, Stanford was known as Tight End U, with multiple star tight ends coming out of the program.

In addition to Parkinson, Pritchard coached several future NFL star tight ends including Parkinson, Zach Ertz, Austin Hooper, Dalton Schultz among others. Now with Pritchard back, but this time running the show, it will be interesting to see what direction he takes Stanford football.

Recommended Articles: