Stanford hires new head football coach

The Stanford Cardinal have a new head football coach.

Stanford has hired Troy Taylor away from Sacramento State. Taylor had plans to tell his Sacramento State players about the news on Saturday. He then planned to meet with his Stanford players later in the day. The Cardinal are planning to introduce Taylor to the media on Monday.

Taylor, 54, is from Northern California and has spent most of his coaching career in the area. He coached Sacramento State for three years, going 30-8 and winning the Big Sky in each season.

A former quarterback at rival Cal, Taylor was a fourth-round pick by the Jets in 1990.

Prior to his time at Sac State, Taylor served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Utah for two seasons.

Taylor has a tough job ahead at Stanford, which has fallen towards the bottom of the Pac-12 with consecutive 3-9 seasons. Their academic standards have made it difficult to benefit during the era of the transfer portal. Their late admissions process also makes it difficult to sign players during the early signing period.