Tavita Pritchard is expected to be the school's head coach, the school announced Friday.
Pritchard, 38, is currently the Washington Commanders quarterbacks coach, but prior to that he spent 17 consecutive seasons in a variety of roles with the Stanford football program. Pritchard will leave the Commanders after Sunday's game against Denver and be introduced at a Tuesday press conference.
The Tacoma, Wash., native joined the program in 2006 as a quarterback under head coach Walt Harris. He then had a front row seat to one of the most dramatic turnarounds in college football history under Jim Harbaugh; Pritchard was the quarterback of Stanford's landmark upset of No. 2 USC in 2007, at the time the largest point spread upset in college football history.
Pritchard was eventually replaced by the man who hired him, Stanford general manager Andrew Luck.
After graduation, Pritchard was a graduate assistant, a defensive assistant, a position coach and a coordinator over the next 10 seasons from 2013-22. He coached the Cardinal's running backs, wide receivers and quarterbacks at different points, while serving as offensive coordinator from 2018-22.
While Pritchard helped Stanford climb to the top of college football, he was also there during the bumpy ride down. He was the offensive coordinator while the Cardinal went 4-8 in 2019, 4-2 in the shortened 2020 season, and then 3-9 in 2021 and '22.
The Pritchard hire ends what was essentially an 8-month coaching search, after Luck fired Troy Taylor following workplace misconduct allegations that surfaced back in March.
“Winning in college football today requires a leader of men who can build and motivate teams, recruit future stars, and develop and connect with talent,” said Luck. “Tavita Pritchard is exactly the right head coach at the right time to help us build on the foundation of this season and lead Stanford football to its next great era. Coach Pritchard is a culture builder, a teacher of football of the highest caliber, and a humble yet determined servant leader who is committed to the success of Stanford’s student-athletes. I could not be more excited to welcome Tavita, Caroline and their family back to campus.”
“Stanford is a place like no other and my family and I are full of gratitude to be returning home in every sense of the word,” said Pritchard. “I have a clear vision of the hard work, brotherhood and tenacity it will take to build a championship Stanford football program. I cannot wait to partner with Andrew and begin working with the best student-athletes in the world to achieve excellence on and off the field.”
Stanford went 3-9 in both of its seasons under Taylor, and is 4-7 under interim head coach Frank Reich heading into Staurday's finale with No. 9 Notre Dame.