Stanford head football coach Troy Taylor has been fired in the wake of a recent report that he revealed he was accused of inappropriate behavior toward female athletic department employees at the school.
Former NFL quarterback and Stanford alum Andrew Luck, who is the general manager of the Cardinal football program, issued a statement on Tuesday announcing that Taylor has been dismissed.
“Since beginning my role as General Manager, I have been thoroughly assessing the entire Stanford football program. It has been clear that certain aspects of the program need to change,” Luck wrote. “Additionally, in recent days, there has been significant attention to Stanford investigations in previous years under Coach Taylor.
“After continued consideration it is evident to me that our program needs a reset. In consultation with university leadership I no longer believe that Coach Taylor is the right coach to lead our football program. Coach Taylor has been informed today and the change is effective immediately.”
A statement from Stanford Football General Manager Andrew Luck.
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) March 25, 2025
🗞️ » https://t.co/Gb677bSF5u pic.twitter.com/Tk0YBa88t9
Last week, an ESPN report detailed allegations of bullying that were made against Taylor by female athletic staffers at Stanford. Taylor was also accused of seeking to have an NCAA compliance officer removed after she warned him of violations.
The initial allegations resulted in Taylor receiving a warning letter on Feb. 14, 2024. The coach signed documents that warned he would be fired if his conduct continued. Additional complaints were then made as part of a second investigation that concluded in July.
Luck was named Stanford’s general manager in November.
In a statement that was released by Stanford in response to the ESPN report, Taylor said he was aiming to grow and learn from the investigations.
“I willingly complied with the investigations, accepted the recommendations that came out of them, and used them as a learning opportunity to grow in leadership and how I interact with others,” Taylor said. “I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively and collegially with my colleagues so that we can achieve success for our football program together.”
Taylor, 56, was hired by Stanford in December 2022 after the school parted ways with David Shaw. Taylor went 3-9 in each of his two seasons with the Cardinal. He was the head coach at Sacramento State for four seasons (one canceled due to the pandemic) prior to that and compiled a record of 30-8.
