Former Colts quarterback Andrew Luck will become the general manager for the Stanford football team, ESPN’s Pete Thamel is reporting. Luck will be “above the entire program and is a distinct evolution from the traditional college GM,” according to the report as the traditional college general manager has worked for the coach.
“I’m excited,” Luck, 35, told ESPN. “I think Stanford is taking an assertive and innovative step. We’re undoubtedly the best athletic department in college sports. We have to re-prove it in football, and we’re excited to be part of the challenge.”
Stanford has gone 3-9 the last four seasons, two under David Shaw and two under Troy Taylor. The Cardinal hasn’t gone to a bowl game since 2018.
Former Stanford star Andrew Luck is returning to the Cardinal to become the football program’s general manager, Luck told ESPN. Luck has accepted a new role at Stanford, which will place him above the entire program and is a distinct evolution from the traditional college GM. pic.twitter.com/O2FJMkmHtj
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 30, 2024
Luck’s responsibilities will more closely reflect an NFL team president’s role — fundraising, sponsorships, attendance, sales, in-stadium experience and alumni relations — according to the report. On the football side, the role will include managing the coaching staff, recruiting and roster management.
“I would not do this at any other place,” Luck told ESPN.
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Luck shockingly retired on Aug. 24, 2019 during a preseason game citing the repeated injuries he suffered during his career. He referred to himself as a stay-at-home dad for his young daughters Lucy and Penelope, and was serving as a volunteer coach twice a week for the Palo Alto High School football team when he appeared at the Chuckstrong fundraising event for former coach Chuck Pagano at the Colts complex earlier this year.
“Lower-case ‘c’ coaching,” Luck said of his part-time duties then, “as opposed to capital-letter Coaching.”
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But he acknowledged that he’d be returning to football: “Part of me realized that at some point in my life I needed to reintegrate football. I love the game still.”
“I’m a football fan. I pay attention to football — college, NFL, and certainly I still have buddies on the Colts who I root for,” he said.
Luck said then he wasn’t sure what he would do next having recently completed his master’s in education at Stanford.
“Football gave me a lot, a lot, a LOT,” he says. “I think part of me feels, and I don’t mean this in a cheesy way, but part of me feels like it’s time for me to give back to this game.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Andrew Luck returns to Stanford as football team’s GM, per report
