Why Stanford's 2025 Season Could Be the Start of a Major Football Turnaround

The Stanford football season has come to a close. Losing to Notre Dame at home in their final game of the season, the Cardinal finished 4-8 and missed an opportunity to play in a bowl game for the seventh straight season.

On the surface, missing postseason play once again and failing to post a winning record may seem disappointing, but this season actually is a very good sign for things to come.

Hiring former Stanford quarterback and assistant coach Tavita Pritchard as the head coach late last week, a new era of Cardinal football is set to begin once again, and they will be led by a coach who is coming off of a very successful tenure as the Washington Commanders quarterbacks coach.

While not the flashiest hire, the Cardinal showed with the decision to go with Pritchard that they not only want to keep the Stanford culture going, but they are also serious about player development, as Pritchard played a vital role in helping Jayden Daniels see success as a rookie with the Commanders.

Being able to improve off of four straight 3-9 seasons, while also being a very good team at home, the Cardinal go into the new era confident that they can build off of what they showed this season and bring in the right guys to help them get over that hump.

Able to get the most out of the players they had this season under interim coach Frank Reich, with transfers such as CJ Williams breaking out and veterans such as Elijah Brown, Matt Rose and others finding a rhythm, bringing in a talent developer like Pritchard could see those that stick around take a step forward in 2026.

In 2025, the Cardinal may not have gotten that win over a top 25 team like they did last season, but they certainly competed in a lot more contests and looked like a much more competitive team in a lot of ways.

For example, last season, the Cardinal lost to San José State in the final game of the season in heartbreaking fashion, going into the offseason basically in limbo.

But this season, the Cardinal came from behind and won that game against the Spartans earlier in the year, while also putting together many memorable moments, including wins over Boston College, Florida State and their first win over Cal since 2020.

They also played fairly well against teams like BYU and North Carolina, while holding their own against teams like Miami-- tied 7-7 at the half and within a touchdown of the Hurricanes late into the third against one of the nation's top teams.

In terms of recruits, it is evident that Stanford is looking like a more desirable destination once again. Announcing his decommitment from Vanderbilt last month, the Cardinal were able to land the services of three-star quarterback Michael Mitchell Jr. out of Riordan High School in San Francisco.

If Stanford is able to get guys like this more regularly, something they were able to do back during the 2000s and 2010s when they had players like Christian McCaffrey and others committing to The Farm, then Cardinal football could well on its way to being back.

Stanford still has a long way to go in terms of rebuilding, but if the 2025 season showed us anything, it's that with the right leadership and direction, Stanford football could be on the fast track to being nationally relevant once again.