New Stanford Head Coach Tavita Pritchard Set For Introduction

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

This past weekend, Stanford football wrapped up their 2025 season. With big wins over Cal and Florida State and tough losses at Hawaii and North Carolina, it was surely an eventful year for the Cardinal.

Following two years of Troy Taylor as the head football coach, he was fired after going 3-9 in each season, as well as a scandal that ultimately led to his dismissal. While it was late in the offseason, Stanford was able to find their next choice at head coach, hiring Frank Reich to be their interim head coach for the 2025 season, which worked out well.

Stanford broke their streak of four consecutive 3-9 seasons, and got a rivalry win in the Big Game against Cal.

Just before the final game of the season, Stanford announced that they would be hiring Tavita Pritchard as the next head football coach on The Farm. He is now Stanford’s fourth coach of the decade.

Pritchard was a quarterback for the Cardinal from 2006-2009, most known for his victory over No. 2 ranked USC in what is known as one of the greatest upsets in college football history.

After finishing his college football career, Pritchard returned as a graduate assistant for the 2010 season. From 2010-2022, Pritchard had tons of roles with Stanford, varying from defensive assistant to running backs coach, wide receivers coach, quarterbacks coach, and finally offensive coordinator.

Following a successful Stanford career, Pritchard was signed by the Washington Commanders of the NFL to be the quarterbacks coach. While in the NFL, he was a key piece to the development of Jayden Daniels, turning him into one of the league’s best quarterbacks. And now, he’s back on The Farm with a whole team to lead.

Reich will continue to be among Stanford’s staff as a senior advisor, though it seems clear that Stanford is unsure what that will look like at the moment. What is clear though is that Reich loves Stanford, and Stanford loves Reich.

While he does need to return to his family, he can still help the Cardinal program build on the success of the 2025 season from afar.

After Pritchard was signed on Friday, he stayed in Washington DC for his last game as a part of the Commanders organization. In that game, Washington lost an overtime thriller to the Denver Broncos to ultimately end Pritchard's NFL stint. Whether he makes it back to the pros will depend upon how he does at Stanford.

Coach Pritchard and his family are officially on The Farm! 🌲 pic.twitter.com/ZNohi23NgO

— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) December 2, 2025

Following Sunday’s contest, Pritchard took a flight out to the Bay Area to finally be welcomed back on The Ftarm.

Pritchard will hold his inaugural press conference on Tuesday at 10 a.m. PT. It will be live streamed on the Stanford Athletics YouTube page. During the presser, he will be introduced by current general manager Andrew Luck. After, both will give statements on the hire, as well as answer questions from the media.

Stanford fans will get their first great look at their next head coach on Tuesday, and potentially get an idea of how the Cardinal program will look to improve in the foreseeable future.