The Stanford Cardinal have an interim head football coach, Frank Reich, but the former Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers headman is 0-2 with losses to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and BYU Cougars through the first two weeks of the season.
Who might Stanford Football GM Andrew Luck decide on to be the team’s permanent replacement for Troy Taylor, who was dismissed in March after an investigation found he bullied female staffers?
Jason Garrett, Army Black Knights coach Jeff Monken, and Air Force Falcons coach Troy Calhoun were some of the names The Athletic’s Manny Navarro floated for the Cardinal’s full-time coaching job.
“The same old names with previous ties to the school — Cincinnati Bengals receivers coach Troy Walters and Washington Commanders quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard — make sense. But a more intriguing hire to me would be someone like Army’s Jeff Monken, 58, who consistently wins without big-name recruits. Air Force’s Troy Calhoun, also 58, is a similar type of candidate,” Navarro wrote.
“There’s also former Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, who has been linked to the job in the past. If I’m in Luck’s shoes, I’d want my next head coach to be in place well before the January transfer portal window opens.”
Garrett is several years removed from coaching, having last been involved with football as the New York Giants’ offensive coordinator in 2021. Hiring him would be a curveball in some sense, but he can be hired now and brought up to speed as Reich handles the day-to-day with the current roster.
Either Monken or Calhoun would be a genius hire. Add in Navy Midshipmen coach Brian Newberry to that crowd, too. There is no NIL for military academies, and there will be very little of it going around in Santa Clara County, California. They’ve all handled that issue before and led their teams to double-digit wins.
Luck needs to find someone soon, or else face many questions about whether he’s in over his head in the GM role.