Stanford announces hiring of former college QB as next head coach
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Stanford announced on Friday afternoon that its next head coach will be current Washington Commanders quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard, who just happens to be a former Cardinal quarterback and assistant coach.
All these years later, Pritchard is now the leader of the football program at his alma mater. He takes over for Frank Reich, who’s been the interim head coach during the entire 2025 season. The program fired Troy Taylor back in March, so after tabbing Reich as the temporary solution Stanford finally has its permanent solution as head coach going forward.
Pritchard was expected to still serve in his current role with the Commanders coaching staff for this Sunday night’s game against the Denver Broncos before he heads back to a very familiar place to get started in his new role.
Stanford, which has gone 4-7 this season under Reich leading into Saturday night’s season finale against Notre Dame, celebrated Friday’s announcement with this post, referencing that Pritchard was already a member of the Cardinal football family:
Pritchard played at Stanford from 2006-09 and stayed in Palo Alto afterward as a graduate assistant in 2010. He then served in various role on both sides of the ball on the Cardinal coaching staff from 2011-2022 before spending the past 3 years as the Commanders’ quarterbacks coach.
Now, after a brief time away from Stanford and after getting a taste of the NFL, Pritchard is heading west again to be the leader of Stanford football.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
