Three Stanford Football Players Most Impacted by Kris Richard's Hiring

A new era of Stanford football is here. Following a 4-8 season under interim head coach Frank Reich in 2025, the Cardinal hired former quarterback, Tavita Pritchard, to be the program's permanent replacement ahead of the 2026 season.

Tasked with bringing new life into a program that was once a perennial top-25 team, Pritchard's first season on The Farm will be met with higher expectations than in year's past.

And in order for the Cardinal to see success under a rookie head coach, hiring an experienced staff around him became priority No. 1.

Having NFL experience under his belt after serving as the Washington Commanders' quarterbacks coach for three seasons, Pritchard got connected with a lot of coaches at that level, and in his first time assembling a coaching staff, he's bringing in a lot of coaches with NFL experience to The Farm.

One of those coaches, new defensive coordinator Kris Richard, comes in after coaching pretty much exclusively in the NFL—most notably as the defensive coordinator for the Legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks.

Now that Richard is coming to the college ranks, expect him to implement his style of coaching on The Farm. And as a Super Bowl winning NFL assistant, Richard figures to bring new life to a defense that has struggled in recent years. But some players will benefit from Richard's hiring more than others. Here are three Stanford players who could be impacted in a positive way.

Safety Jay Green

Starting his college career at Washington where he saw limited action, Green transferred to Stanford ahead of the 2024 season and was supposed to be an immediate impact player. However, a season-ending injury suffered early in that season forced him to wait another year to break out, finally getting the chance to put his skills on full display in 2025.

Showing why the Cardinal were smart to invest in him, Green finished the season with the most defensive snaps played of any Cardinal player and was a key playmaker, finishing with 38 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery in 10 starts.

But Richard, who is known for his work with defensive backs, will probably rely on Green much more in 2025, and given his veteran presence, will most likely task him with being a leader on the defense. If Richard's scheme is anything like he ran in Seattle, expect Green to get a lot more action and put up even bigger numbers in '26.

Cornerback Brandon Nicholson

Nicholson came to Stanford ahead of the 2024 campaign and earned a sizable role as a true freshman, starting in five games and finishing with 31 tackles and an interception.

And as a sophomore, Nicholson was an even bigger part of the defense, especially when star cornerback Collin Wright missed some games due to injury.

But now with Wright bound for the NFL, Nicholson is already a front-runner to be a full-time starter in 2026. And with Richard's scheme very defensive back friendly, with guys like Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and former Cardinal Richard Sherman developing into even bigger NFL superstars under him, Nicholson could take an even bigger step forward.

Linebacker Matt Rose

The first three seasons of Rose's college career saw him wait his turn, with the linebacker room ran by veterans Tristan Sinclair and Gaethan Bernadel. But with both of them leaving after the '24 season, the Cardinal needed a new linebacker to step up and make up for the lost production.

Enter Rose.

In his first season as a starter, Rose finished the '25 campaign with a team-high of 106 tackles (second in the ACC), the most by a Cardinal in a season since Blake Martinez in 2015, and added eight tackles for loss, three sacks, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. Entering 2026, Rose is not only a marquee player on the defense, but could be a headlining player for Stanford as a whole.

With Richard coming in, Rose's ceiling is even higher, raising questions of if he can become one of the best linebackers in college football. When Richard was the Seahawks' DC, Bobby Wagner evolved into a multi-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro, eventually becoming an NFL legend. Rose, possessing all the tools to be a superstar, could seize the opportunity to do just that in Richard's scheme.

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