Stanford is hiring veteran NFL coach Frank Reich as the school's interim football coach for the 2025 season, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel on Monday.
Both sides have agreed this will only be a one-season deal, sources told ESPN. At that point, Stanford will launch a national search to replace coach Troy Taylor.
Taylor was fired last week amid findings by two outside firms that he had bullied and belittled female athletic staffers, sought to have an NCAA compliance officer removed after she warned him of rules violations and repeatedly made "inappropriate" comments to another woman about her appearance.
Stanford also is promoting tight ends coach Nate Byham to offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN. Byham will call plays for the Cardinal offense.
Reich was fired by the Carolina Panthers in November 2023 after a 1-10 start to his only season with the team, becoming the first NFL head coach since the 1970 merger to be fired in back-to-back seasons after his 2022 dismissal from the Indianapolis Colts.
The 63-year-old Reich, who has a career NFL coaching record of 41-43-1 over six seasons, went to four Super Bowls as a player with the Buffalo Bills, where he was primarily a backup. As a coach, he won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles after the 2017 season in which he was the offensive coordinator.
In 2017, Reich helped Carson Wentz go 11-2 with MVP-caliber numbers before a season-ending injury, and Nick Foles become the Super Bowl MVP in a 41-33 victory against the New England Patriots.
He also worked with future Hall of Fame quarterback Philip Rivers with the then-San Diego Chargers and the Colts.
Reich will be working alongside former Stanford and NFL quarterback Andrew Luck, who was hired as the football program's general manager in November.
ESPN's David Newton, Kyle Bonagura and Xuan Thai contributed to this report.
