The Stanford Cardinal football program has stumbled on hard times. The Palo Alto, California school where more than half of the students admitted between 2023 and 2024 boasted an SAT score of 1510 to 1580 used to a put a highly competitive product on the gridiron yearly.
In fact, from 2009 to 2019 under the leadership of former head coaches Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw the school didn’t have a season where it won less than 8 games. That timeframe also included six double-digit win seasons, with three of them ending with at least 12 wins. That hasn’t been the case in five of the last six seasons as the Cardinal haven’t won more than four games in any season, finishing 3-9 in the last four.
Andrew Luck To The Rescue But That Still Wasn’t Enough
As a result, the school hired former Cardinal quarterback and 2012 No.1 overall pick Andrew Luck as the General Manager for their stumbling football program, and he hired former NFL quarterback and Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich as the program’s interim coach this season.
But, despite having the last name Luck, it takes so much more than that to run a football program nowadays. In the new NIL era it takes resources and that’s something the Cardinal just didn’t have a lot of until now. A recent monstrous donation by former player Bradford Freeman is being looked at as the jolt the program needed to compete with the big boys once again.
Freeman’s $50 Million Donation Unmatched
Freeman, a 1974 graduate, has a been a major donor to the school for decades, but his $50 million infusion directly to the football program is the biggest individual gift outside of facilities, and definitely not the norm for any program. Freeman, the owner of a private investment firm called Freeman-Spogli mentioned that his time in Palo Alto forever impacted “the trajectory of his life,” and he also hopes will “herald a new era of excellence for Stanford football.”
Luck, the former generational talent who saw his playing career come to an abrupt end in 2019 following a slew of injuries issued a statement on the massive game changing donation.
“With Brad’s incredible gift, we are positioned to win on the field and build a bridge to a sustainable future for Stanford football,” Luck said in a statement. “The ability to support our players through new scholarships and institutional NIL will reinforce Stanford as the preeminent place in the country to be a football scholar-athlete.”
“I believe that Stanford has the opportunity to be a leading program in college football, and we are entirely motivated to field championship-caliber teams.”
Donation Should Help Lure Permanent Head Coach
The 63-year-old Reich only took the job as a favor to Luck, a player which whom he built a strong bond with in Indianapolis. But, he also made it clear that he was only in it for this season. Freeman’s donation should help Luck and first-year athletic director John Donahoe in their coaching search.
In the NIL era quality coaches aren’t taking jobs without knowing they have the ability to go out and spend money and resources to lure top talent to their program. It’s the only way to compete in the ever changing athletic landscape, and the aforementioned Freeman’s donation has given the Stanford Cardinal that opportunity.
The school is already considered “The Ivy League of the West.” A desirable location for athletes, scholars and creatives. Because of Stanford’s strict academic admission policies, recruiting the top players is always challenging. Freeman’s money should enable Stanford to zero in on specific five-star players and have enough financial pull to gain a commitment.
The Cardinal are currently 2-3 with a road game at newfound ACC foe SMU scheduled for Saturday in Dallas.
