Andrew Luck Says It's Time For Stanford Football to Take Steps Forward

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Stanford football is set to kick off today at 4:00 p.m. with the Cardinal taking on Hawaii for the first time on The Farm. The program is on its third head coach in three seasons, after Troy Taylor was fired right before spring practice in 2025. Frank Reich came on as an interim solution last season, and now we're in the Tavita Pritchard Era, where it seems as if GM Andrew Luck has his running mate on the sidelines. 

In his first KNBR appearance of the season, Luck joked that he and Pritchard started off as teammates and competitors — with Pritchard holding off Luck for one year, but the GM eventually won that competition.

"I eventually beat him out, and I let him know about that every day," Luck joked. He added that after he won the starting quarterback job, all Pritchard did was have his back. 

Luck was also asked about his new QB, Davis Warren, who won the quarterback competition in camp and will be under center on Saturday against Hawaii. Warren began his college career with the Michigan Wolverines being coached by Jim Harbaugh, who was also the head coach at Stanford when Pritchard and Luck were playing on The Farm. 

Luck described his QB as both an alpha and a resilient person, easy to root for. Warren's journey includes a battle with cancer when he was younger, earning the starting job at Michigan in 2024, and then tearing his ACL in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama, costing him the 2025 season. 

As for a Kris Richard defense — one which he faced in the NFL as a player — Luck was blunt: "fast, physical, arrives violently. Gotta play with an attitude. Coach Richard brings an experience and an attitude." He also said that former Cardinal and Seahawk legend Richard Sherman was one of the references for Stanford's new defensive coordinator. 

The biggest talking point from Luck had to be when he was asked about where the Stanford football program is with its reset. 

"Winning more games than the previous year for the first time in like a decade means something," Luck said. "It's not reset anymore. We gotta take steps forward. We're honest with ourselves about that. I think the expectation our players have for themselves is higher." 

The schedule ahead certainly won't be an easy one. After Hawaii, Stanford will take on one of the best programs in the country in Miami in Week 1, and has one of the toughest schedules of any ACC program in 2026. That said, there are some games on the schedule where the Cardinal will have the edge on the line, which could propel the program to a better record than expected. 

The first step forward comes on Saturday, where a game against Hawaii is an early must-win matchup if the program wants to make the progress it's seeking. 

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