Stanford Football Locks in 2026 Coaching Staff as New Era Takes Shape

Stanford football is on its way back. Last week, the Stanford Cardinal began their first of a three-week stretch of spring football practice, signaling the start of a new college football season. Coming off of a 4-8 campaign, the Cardinal have a lot to prove this year, and are eager to show that they have what it takes to compete in a loaded ACC.

Led by first year head coach Tavita Pritchard and second year general manager, Andrew Luck, the Cardinal have been hard at work revamping the program and getting the team back to being a perennial top-25 contender. That success starts with the coaching staff.

While the Cardinal have worked tirelessly on building a competitive roster, signing numerous high level high school prospects and bringing in new faces through the transfer portal, Pritchard and company have worked on hiring a coaching staff that can bring the best out of this year's crop of players. Finally, after months of hard work, the 2026 coaching staff on The Farm is finalized.

Starting with Pritchard, the Cardinal will be led by coordinators Terry Heffernan (offense) and Kris Richard (defense) and Nate Kaczor (special teams), three coaches that have extensive resumes.

Coming from Virginia, serving as the program's offensive line coach for three seasons, Heffernan returns to The Farm, where he will be tasked will reviving a Cardinal offense that has been stagnant over the past few seasons. Heffernan is no stranger to Stanford, serving as the program's offensive line coach under David Shaw from 2021-22.

Richard, a longtime NFL coach, comes to The Farm in his first college coaching role since serving as a graduate assistant at USC from 2008-09. One of the architects for the Seattle Seahawks' Legion of Boom defense, Richard hopes that the Cardinal's defense can evolve into one of college football's best.

Kaczor, coming off of a two year stint at Kansas State, has a lot of NFL coaching experience as well, serving as the special teams coordinator for teams such as the Washington Commanders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans.

The Cardinal will look very different this season, but if everything comes together like they hope, success on the gridiron could be coming back to The Farm sooner than expected. After spring practice, the Cardinal will not come together on the field as a team again until training camp, where the focus will fully shift onto preparing for a pivotal week one matchup against Hawaii on Aug. 29.

Here is the full coaching staff:

Head coach: Tavita Pritchard

Offensive Coordinator: Terry Heffernan

Defensive Coordinator: Kris Richard

Special Team Coordinator: Nate Kaczor

QB Coach: Brian Lindgren

RB Coach: Malcolm Agnew

TE Coach: Nate Byham

WR Coach: Brian Bratton

OL Coach: Kel'i Kekuewa

LB Coach: Andy Thompson

CB Coach: Cory Robinson

DL Coach: Jamey Mosley

Safeties Coach: Kodi Whitfield

Defensive Quality Control Analyst: Clevan "Tank" Williams

WR Assistant: Dylan Cruz

Offensive Quality Control Analyst: Tsuyoshi Kawata

Defensive Quality Control Analyst: Jason Slowey

OL Assistant: Tavita Thompson

OL Assistant: Mike Tuiasosopo

Defensive Graduate Assistant: Sam Cohen

Special Teams Analyst: RJ Edwards

LB Assistant: Chris Claiborne

TE Assistant: Sean Davis

For more comprehensive Stanford coverage, follow us on X, @StanfordOnSI or head on over to our Facebook page and give it a like!