Stanford Football Listed as Program with "Most Uncertainty" in 2025

Another college football season is fast approaching. With spring practices and spring games now over, programs all around the country are shifting gears and looking ahead to summer training camp, signaling the official start of the fall season.

And for programs like the Stanford Cardinal, they will go into the new season with a lot of uncertainty after an offseason of upheaval. According to some analysts, the Cardinal have the most uncertainty of any program going into 2025.

Here are the 10 College Football teams facing the most uncertainty in 2024.

Which of these teams will have the most pleasantly surprising season? pic.twitter.com/w18zawi4Yf
— CFBudge (@CF_Budge) May 13, 2025

The Cardinal being atop this list comes at no surprise, considering the circumstances that have plagued the program this offseason. In March, former head coach Troy Taylor was fired due to toxic workplace allegations, forcing the Cardinal to hire an interim head coach for this season while a national search for a permanent replacement takes place.

While Frank Reich has extensive coaching experience---spending time as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and the Carolina Panthers--he has never coached a college game.

Because of the Taylor firing, the Cardinal have seen a lot of players depart via the transfer portal with the wide receiver room seeing the most change. Out of all the contributors from last season, only one catch from 2024 will return to the program in 2025.

Yet the Cardinal also have the opportunity to defy the odds in a big way. A lot of key players are still returning as well, most notably players such as quarterback Elijah Brown and defensive back Collin Wright, among others, and could be key catalysts for creating something special this season.

Brown, who is expected to be the starter this season, played in three games as a true freshman in 2024-- missing a substantial amount of time due to injury.

Coming off of four stright 3-9 seasons, 2025 will be a pivotal year for the Stanford football program. At one point, this was one of the best programs in the country, but the NIL era has seen the Cardinal struggle to keep up with other programs.

They're struggling to lure in big time talent and present players with solid enough offers to pique their interest. But by bringing in former quarterback Andrew Luck to be the general manager, it shows that the program is serious about winning. Luck is handling the day-to-day operations and all elements of the football program while Reich is focused on leading his team.

The season does not kick off until August, but the Cardinal are eager to show the world what they can do and return to being a perennial contender in the current world of college football.