Stanford tabs former QB Tavita Pritchard as head coach

Stanford hired Tavita Pritchard, a former quarterback and assistant coach at the school, as its new head coach on Friday.

Pritchard, 38, is currently quarterbacks coach of the Washington Commanders but will leave the NFL team after Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos.

"Winning in college football today requires a leader of men who can build and motivate teams, recruit future stars, and develop and connect with talent," Stanford general manager Andrew Luck said of his former teammate in a news release. "Tavita Pritchard is exactly the right head coach at the right time to help us build on the foundation of this season and lead Stanford football to its next great era.

"Coach Pritchard is a culture builder, a teacher of football of the highest caliber, and a humble yet determined servant leader who is committed to the success of Stanford's student-athletes."

Pritchard played at Stanford from 2006-09 and is famously known for delivering one of the biggest upsets in college football history in his first career start.

Pritchard steered the Cardinal to a 24-23 victory over No. 2 Southern California on Oct. 6, 2007, after Stanford was installed as 41-point underdogs. He tossed the winning 10-yard touchdown pass to Mark Bradford on fourth down with 48 seconds left.

In 2009, Luck beat out Pritchard for the starting quarterback job. Pritchard passed for 2,865 yards and 15 touchdowns and was intercepted 24 times in 31 games (20 starts) for the Cardinal.

After his playing career ended in 2009, Pritchard spent the next 13 seasons on the Stanford staff before taking the job with the Commanders in 2023.

"Stanford is a place like no other and my family and I are full of gratitude to be returning home in every sense of the word," Pritchard said in a news release. "I have a clear vision of the hard work, brotherhood and tenacity it will take to build a championship Stanford football program. I cannot wait to partner with Andrew and begin working with the best student-athletes in the world to achieve excellence on and off the field."

Stanford is 4-7 overall and 3-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference play entering Saturday's season finale against No. 9 Notre Dame. Frank Reich is finishing his stint as interim coach on Saturday. Reich formerly coached Luck with the Indianapolis Colts.

There's plenty of rebuilding to be done as the Cardinal have not reached a bowl game since 2018 when they went 9-4 under David Shaw.

Last season with the Commanders, Pritchard helped tutor quarterback Jayden Daniels, who had a monster season while winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

"Tavita will be a fantastic head coach, and I believe he will be especially effective at Stanford," Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said in the news release. "Players gravitate to him, and he quickly earned their respect and mine. Tavita is smart, collaborative, diligent and he brings people together. He is the perfect coach to build a winning program in today's college football landscape."

--Field Level Media