How Stanford Stacks Up Against Other Programs Searching for a Coach

Stanford football is in for a busy offseason. While the 2025 season is still going strong, the Cardinal will need to begin thinking about their most important move in years: hiring a permanent, long-term head coach to replace interim Frank Reich at the end of the season.

Hired to replace former coach Troy Taylor at the start of spring practices, Reich's tenure at Stanford is only expected to last one season.

At one point, Stanford was one of college football's most prominent programs in the 2000s and 2010s, consistently winning 10 or more games, and earning trips to bowl games while finishing ranked in the top 25.

But lately, things have been much different on The Farm, with the program finishing 3-9 for the fourth straight season in 2024. Seeking to change the recent culture of the program, general manager Andrew Luck will want to get this hire right.

But as of right now, there are seven other head coaching vacancies throughout college football that will need to be filled this offseason. With all that competition, and some of those teams being among the best of the best, questions will arise about just how desirable a destination Stanford football is for coaching candidates.

Where Stanford Ranks Among Openings

Sep 13, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal head coach Frank Reich stands on the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Boston College Eagles at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The answer? It could be a very mixed bag. For years, and especially during the NIL and transfer portal era, Stanford football has had trouble keeping up with the top programs due to a variety of factors. A top notch academic institution, Stanford's admission criteria is much stricter for student-athletes than some of those other openings, which can restrict the type of talent that comes in.

Add that to the fact that a lot of players want to play for the top Power Four programs, acquiring top notch talent to build the program you want is much harder to do at Stanford.

Ranked at No. 6 out of the eight open jobs, USA Today gave its reasoning for why the Stanford opening is so low. However, a recent $50 million donation from former Stanford football player and prominent alum, Bradford M. Freeman, could help the search go the way that Stanford wants, with the possibility of a big contract now in play.

"A recent $50 million donation earmarked for the football program does make Stanford at least somewhat more appealing to candidates who might otherwise be intimidated by four factors: the long travel as members of the ACC, hurdles in recruiting and talent retention, difficulties in managing the portal and the hard work needed to build an unimpressive roster," USA Today's Paul Myerberg wrote.

"Working with general manager Andrew Luck is a draw, though, and David Shaw proved not too long ago that you can win and win consistently with the Cardinal."

Still, with jobs such as Penn State, Arkansas, UCLA, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State also open—with the high probability of more jobs opening up by the time the season ends—Stanford may miss out on a big name head coach that desires a bigger opportunity.

Schools like Penn State, Arkansas, UCLA and Oklahoma State are all either in the Big Ten, SEC or Big 12—conferences that are arguably considered superior than the ACC in football—while also providing whichever coach they hire the adequate resources to freely build the program how they see fit.

But despite the lower ranking, Stanford is still considered a more desirable job than Oregon State and UAB, ranked at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively.

The inevitable firings that will continue once the regular season ends will most likely change the landscape and affect the desirability level of Stanford football. But for coaches that are looking to take a historic program back to their glory days and prove themselves in the world of college football, look no further than the Stanford Cardinal.