Running Back Could be a Strength for Stanford Football

The countdown is officially on. Now that the calendar has flipped to August, the Stanford Cardinal are fully focused on their Week Zero matchup against Hawaii, where they will look to get the 2025 season started on a high note. But before the Cardinal officially take the field for the first time, they must first get through a grueling training camp.

Week three of training camp kicked off on Monday, with the energy high and the progress evident. Coming off of their fourth straight 3-9 season, interim head coach Frank Reich will attempt to turn things around and set the program up for a successful future.

Coach Reich spoke with the media after practice on August 4 to speak on the current state of everything. Here are five takeaways from Reich's post practice presser.

Red zone offense has been a major emphasis in camp

Stanford struggled in many areas last season, but one area in particular that the Cardinal were unable to find a rhythm in was red zone offense, ranking among the bottom half in college football in that category. But under Reich, the Cardinal will look to clean that up and be much more consistent inside the 20 yard line and have made that a major emphasis in training camp.

"I feel like we've made a lot of progress on third down and in the red zone," Reich said. "We've placed a really heavy emphasis there. We put a lot on the players, and today we had a good amount of reps in both of those situations, and I can see it starting to come together. So, [I'm] excited about how they're handling it, I think the quarterbacks are handling this stuff particularly well."

The ACC is a very competitive conference and if the Cardinal want to stand any chance of competing and proving that they can hang with the best of the best, putting points on the board will be of vital importance--especially when the offense moves deep into opponent territory.

Running back room is looking like a major strength this season

While the Cardinal still have a lot of questions about their roster that they need to find answers to, one position that appears to be in good shape is the running back room. Having guys like Sedrick Irvin, Micah Ford, Chris Davis Jr. and Tuna Altahir, Stanford's running back room is filled with starter caliber players and guys who can contribute significantly.

With a good camp showing from that position group, Reich is expecting big things from the running game this season.

"Love that room," Reich said. "I think coach Malc [Malcolm Agnew] does a great job with those guys. I think we've got a lot of depth in that room, I think those guys are really smart players, really physical players. [I] love how they're attacking everyday, love how they're running the ball. It's a physical group."

The Cardinal have not had a 1,000 yard rusher since Bryce Love in 2017 but if the offense plays how Reich envisions, then it is quite possible that the running back position at Stanford returns to its dominant old self week in and week out.

Clean and crisp football is the name of the game this season

Turnovers and costly mistakes plagued the Cardinal in various moments last season, resulting in some prety catastrophic losses.

Given the competitiveness of the conference, as well as the high level talent in college football these days, the Cardinal do not have the same margin of error that they have had in seasons past. That is why this season, Reich and his staff are emphasizing clean and crisp football as the brand that Stanford plays with all year long.

"We want to play good football down in and down out," Reich said. "Winning football it takes two things, right? First of all, we need to play clean, not beat ourselves, play smart football. But then, we need to make plays. And so we're really putting a big emphasis on that and I think we're making good progress in both areas."

Sometimes, winning a game comes down to who can execute in certain situations. And while execution and figuring out play styles comes with time, protecting the football is the first step towards finding sustainable success in a long 12-game season.

Tight ends will have a big role on the offense

Over the past couple of seasons, tight ends have been used sparingly in Stanford's offense, with starting tight end, Sam Roush, finishing the last two seasons with the third most receiving yards among Stanford pass catchers.

But in Reich's offense, it looks like Roush, along with all the tight ends, will be asked to do a lot more in what is expected to be a more pro-style offense. Luckily for the Cardinal, Roush excels at both blocking and pass catching and could be a big name player on this season's team.

"It's a really good unit, really good unit obviously led by Sam Roush," Reich said. "Coach Byham does a phenomenal job. His experience and coaching expertise really has those guys playing at a high level. We've got such good depth in there, which gives us a lot of flexibility in what we can do with personnel groups so, excited to work with those guys."

If the tight ends are able to get more involved with everyone, that could be the key to the offense unlocking a new level and reaching their full potential. All that is left to do is wait and see if those plans start to come together.

Breakout season from Jay Green coming?

Last offseason, the Cardinal made a major splash when they landed former Washington standout, Jay Green, in the transfer portal. Green, a seasoned veteran in college football, came to The Farm with the expectation that he would bolster a thin defensive back core right out of the gate.

While he played well when he was healthy, an injury suffered against Clemson limited him to only four games in 2024. Now back and healthy for 2025, Green is ready to attack everything full force, with Reich expecting him to play a pivotal role for the defense this season.

"He's a leader first of all," Reich said. "He's physical, he's super smart, he has command of the defense, he's a great communicator and he has natural leadership. So really counting on him to play a significant role."

Collin Wright enters the season as the Cardinal's marquee defensive back, but if Green is able to stay healthy all season and live up to his potential, then the Cardinal's defense could be a lot better than anyone thought.