Top Takeaways From Frank Reich's Introductory Press Conference with Stanford

A new era of Stanford football has officially begun, with interim head coach Frank Reich being formally introduced on Tuesday afternoon. During his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Reich and general manager, Andrew Luck, broke down the plans for the upcoming season and what to expect with Reich at the helm.

Signing a one-year deal, Reich will take control of the program and look to defy the odds and bring the Stanford Cardinal back to national prominence. While it will be no easy task, Reich has a strong track record of success and is no stranger to turning things around, demonstrating that countless times throughout his NFL career.

Here are the top takeaways from the press conference and the key points to know heading into the fall season.

The connection with Luck and the fit at Stanford was key in drawing Reich back to coaching

Roaming another sideline was not in the cards for Reich. After sitting out the entire 2024 season, Reich revealed that he was ready to end his coaching career despite receiving other offers, feeling that none of the offers that came his way were ideal for his situation. Luckily, working with Luck at Stanford warranted him to change his mind.

"My wife and I sat down after the Super Bowl this season," Reich said. "I had been offered several other positions in the NFL at various different degrees and levels [and] they weren't the right fit. I told Linda going into this hiring cycle [that] I would only consider something if it were the right person and the right place, that was the clear vision.

After the Super Bowl ended, we were moving on in our life. Obviously the timing of this was different, so when Andrew called, it was the right person and it's the right place."

Now back in charge of a football team for the first time in two years, Reich will look to leave his mark on the Cardinal program just like he has done at all of his previous destinations and be the strong leader that he is known for being.

An interim coach for this season was always the plan once Troy Taylor was fired

Except for when a coach is fired midseason, a search for a permanent replacement usually commences immediately after the head coach is relieved of their duties, with a team wanting to waste no time in finding someone.

But given the timing of the Taylor situation and wanting to stay focused on the upcoming campaign, the idea was always to employ an interim in order to get back to worrying only about football.

"We have to move forward," Luck said. "What's best for this program, what's best for these kids, what's best for our coaches on staff because they have a lot of belief with these kids, a lot of belief with the coaches and of these sort of options of how you move forward, not necessarily who you are moving forward with but how.

"It became more evident to me, that the ideal situation was an interim for this season that could come in and not take a step back, but keep moving forward."

In bringing in a coach like Reich, Luck is handing the reins over to someone who truly knows football and is an elite mind when it comes to coaching the game, allowing the players currently in the program to continue to develop and help the team win games while a thorough coaching search is conducted.

This will be a one year arrangement-- regardless of performance

When Reich was hired, one immediate question that popped up was whether or not this could become a permanent deal should the Cardinal perform at a high level. While expectations for this season still remain high, it does not appear that Reich will be in the running for the permanent job--even if he manages to lead the Cardinal to glory.

"There is not and that was maybe the third sentence that come out of my mouth and then the response from Frank was like 'that's perfect'," Luck said. "This year is what works for my life, this year is what works for Stanford football. And it reaffirmed why Frank was the first call for me. It reaffirmed why I loved playing for Frank.

"Because our relationship certainly as quarterback, play caller, head coach when we were working together in Indy, when we were successful, it's because we were direct, transparent and honest and we knew where we stood."

With this expected to be Reich's only season in charge, the program will look to go all out for him and leave nothing behind, with the goal of being as successful as possible in order to set the next head coach up for sustainable success in the future.

Recruiting plans will not change, with Luck expected to take on bulk of duties

In college sports, when a player signs with a school, they are committing to that coach and that regime. With the regime now looking different, losing players to the portal is one issue, but another issue that could pop is how are the Cardinal going to be able to recruit players to play for Stanford given the current situation being temporary.

But as confirmed by Luck, he will have a big role in that, emphasizing that the plans for recruiting remain the same.

"I've been way more involved in recruiting since I joined than probably a traditional general manager would and that's also part of the setup of our structure in the office," Luck said. "We're not taking a step back in recruiting either.

"I think our young men out there that are tough, that are bright, that can play good football, this institution endures. I mean, it's the best school in the world and it'll stay that way... I'm here in providing that continuity for them and we've got a vision."

If Luck is still able to lure in top notch talent for the program and keep the standards of Stanford football high throughout this whole situation, it could say a lot both about him and the resilience of the team and be what makes the head coaching job that much more appealing to Reich's successor.

Reich is not expected to bring in any new coaches

Normally when a new coach is appointed, they bring in a whole new slew of coaches in order to form their own staff that they are comfortable with. But in this situation, with it being a one-year job, Reich will instead trust the guys already on staff and instead of bringing in his own crew, is expected to keep the staff as is.

"You have to be nimble and you have to be able to adapt," Reich said. "Thankfully in both cases, I was going to amazing organizations who had good people in place and when I came here, Andrew told me the staff was very good.

"He said much of the staff is younger. After one day of meeting with them, I said to Andrew 'you underestimated how good this staff is...' as the head coach, that's a big question...We're starting with trusting each other, we're together, let's go make this a special year."

The Cardinal have a staff filled with coaching veterans, and while Reich comes in as the new kid on the block, the strong group of assistant coaches that he has to help him out could make his transition into college football that much easier.