Frank Reich's Stanford Football Spring Practice Press Conference Takeaways

Stanford's spring practice is in full swing. And on Monday, week two began with a two-hour session that saw more high energy, as the build up and anticipation for the fall season intensifies. New head coach Frank Reich met with the media earlier this week to talk about how the start of spring practices have gone and what to expect for this season.

Here are the key takeways from what coach Reich said on Monday afternoon.

Despite the circumstances, everyone is buying in

When a new coach is brought in right before spring practice, sometimes it can be hard to fully be invested and buy into what they are doing. But luckily, with Reich fully committed and intent on bringing success to the program during his one season in charge, it looks like the early portion of practices have been very productive, with Reich making sure to bring the energy each day.

"This is it, man," Reich said. "I'm all in and I am so excited to be here. I feel great about this group of players and coaches. I'm happy to be part of it and play the role that I'm supposed to play. I just happen to believe that we can do something and that we're gonna make progress.

"We've got a long way to go but we've got a bunch of really hard working players and coaches who are committed to each other to do everything we need to do to make this a special year."

While Stanford has seen a couple of players enter the portal after Troy Taylor was fired, the ones who remain could look to be big pieces to the team this year and help restore hope and glory to a Stanford program that was once in the upper tier of college football.

Establishing the standard is the main goal of spring ball

With a new era beginning for Stanford football, it is important that this version of the Cardinal are able to establish the identity that they will play with this season.

While that can sometimes take a little while, given all of the changes that have happened, Reich is making it a point to figure that out early and is looking to use spring ball as a means of establish what type of team the Cardinal will be in 2025.

"Establish the standards that we're gonna live by every day and the consistency," Reich said. "These are our standards, this is what we're gonna do, we're gonna commit to each other and then we want to put consistent effort and focus and detail into the work that we do out here.

"Because that process will bring the results that we want. We've got 15 days of practice, we can't waste a rep, we can't waste a period and I think the guys understand that and are committed to making the most out of every rep that we get out there."

While the Cardinal may not be looked at as a serious threat this season by outsiders, Reich and company are expecting big things out of the program this season and with the chance to get a sneak peek at what he has to work with this season during spring practice, expect the Cardinal to come out firing to start the fall and create havoc for their opponents.

The run game will be a major focal point this season

Historically, Stanford football has been known for its playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, having had a plethora of offensive superstars come through the program. And with Reich being an offensive minded coach known for his innovation, it appears that offense could be the star of the show this fall--particularly in the run game.

And with the rushing attack somewhat of an issue last season, the goal this year is to be lethal at running the ball.

"We want to dictate the game on offense," Reich said. "What that means is we want to run the ball on our terms when we want to run it. And we want to throw it on our terms, when we want to throw it. The whole point of this game is trying to impose your will on the other team.

"So we want to have a balanced offense, we want to run the football, that's part of Stanford's tradition on offense to be good [at] running the football. Any success that I've had in the NFL as a coach were on teams that ran the football well.

"So we're gonna run the football well but, you can't get to where you want to get to unless you can do both. And so we gotta find ways to be good playmakers in the run and the pass game."

Any successful offense is built on a good running and passing attack, and if Stanford's offense can get back to that level of dominance that it used to be at, the rest of the ACC and college football in general should be very worried for what is to come out of The Farm.