Latest on Stanford Head Coaching Search After Mora Lands with Colorado State

With Jim Mora headed to Colorado State, here are some other candidates to take over on The Farm

Sep 28, 2024; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Connecticut Huskies head coach Jim Mora watches from the sideline as they take on the Buffalo Bulls at Rentschler Field at Pratt & Whitney Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

Stanford football is expected to announce their next head coach shortly after Saturday's game against Notre Dame after Andrew Luck has spent the better part of 2025 searching for a long-term solution. Frank Reich was brought in as the interim head coach for this season, and he has been fairly successful, but this was a one year arrangement.

One name that has been floated around of late has been UConn head coach Jim Mora, but late on Tuesday night it was reported by Pete Thamel of ESPN that Mora is expected to head to Colorado State, another program that he'd been linked to.

In four seasons with the Huskies, Mora has led them to three bowl seasons, and the past two seasons he has finished with at least nine wins. That seems like the kind of trajectory that Stanford would love to be on in the near future.

Where Does Stanford Turn Now?

Sep 14, 2024; Berkeley, California, USA; San Diego State Aztecs head coach Sean Lewis walks on the field before the game against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

On3 reported yesterday that in addition to Mora, San Diego State head coach Sean Lewis was among the names that they'd heard connected with the Cardinal. Lewis landed with the Aztecs in 2024 and went 3-9 (2-5 in the Mountain West), but this season they have bounced back in a big way, holding a 9-2 record with one to play.

The nine wins are the most that any program has reached under Lewis, who also spent five years as the head coach of Kent State, going a combined 24-31. With San Diego State he is 12-11.

One key victory for SDSU this season was a 34-0 win over Cal back in September. That's certainly enough of a headlining win to land a job at Stanford. He has also lost in Hawai'i (38-6) and stomped out San José State last weekend, 25-3, to provide a sense of how his team has fared against opponents that Stanford has also had this season.

In other words, both programs are 2-1 against the same teams.

Luck Scouring the NFL

Jun 8, 2023; Ashburn, Virginia, USA; Washington Commanders quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard (M) talks to Commanders quarterback Sam Howell (14) and Commanders quarterback Jacoby Brissett (12) during day three of minicamp at OrthoVirginia Training Center at Commanders Park, held inside the training bubble due to poor air quality from Canadian wildfire smoke in Ashburn. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

On3 also reported that Washington Commanders quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard "was a very popular name early on, but has since cooled off." Pritchard was a QB on The Farm from 2006-09, and was on the roster as a senior the year that Luck came to town in '09. The belief is that Luck has also talked to a fair number of head coach candidates with ties to the NFL.

Luck and company have been very secretive throughout the entire search, but the expectation is that the announcement happens some time after the Notre Dame game on Saturday. Given that it's a 7:30 p.m. kickoff time, we would guess that the announcement would come on Sunday or Monday morning instead of directly following the game.

That would also allow coach Reich to have his final day in charge without making it look like he's being pushed to the side in his post-game presser.