If you know Stanford Athletics, you know Andrew Luck ‘12 M.A. ’23. Down to his glasses, Luck is the embodiment of Nerd Nation, driving a culture of excellence in athletics and academics, sitting front row at nearly every game and interacting with players on the sidelines. But despite his impressive accolades, the former NFL quarterback kept his humility.

Emerging from the doors of the football offices with a big smile, he introduces himself with a hint of Texas twang: “Hi — I’m Andrew Luck.” As a Stanford legend, Luck’s reputation precedes him, but his modest greeting proves that humility comes with even the brightest of careers. In November, Luck was hired as the general manager of Stanford Football, the first position of its kind in the program. After two consecutive 3-9 seasons, and with the new age of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and revenue sharing complicating recruitment, Stanford supporters are waiting for the program to return to the glory days when Luck was playing.

After a storied career with the Indianapolis Colts, Luck returned to Stanford in 2022 for his master’s degree in education. Luck and his wife Nicole, a former Cardinal gymnast, spent time volunteering with the Athletic Department to give back to the programs that molded them. 

Luck and Nicole met early in their Stanford careers, during move-in for student-athletes in Roble Hall, and have been together ever since. Over the summer, the couple and their two daughters housed men’s and women’s gymnasts training for their season and the Olympics.

After a few years of volunteering, including joining the board of Lifetime Cardinal, Stanford’s NIL collective, University president Jon Levin and provost Jenny Martinez approached Luck with a full-time proposition: become Stanford Football’s first general manager.

The choice wasn’t immediate for Luck.

“We sat and thought long and hard about it and were like, this opportunity makes sense. The first-of-its-kind, figure-it-out-as-we-go feels very Silicon Valley, very on brand. It was not a linear path,” Luck said.

Despite winning the Learfield Directors’ Cup, an award given to the most successful overall intercollegiate athletic department in the nation, in 26 out of 30 seasons, many critics have defined Stanford as an Olympic sports school, writing off top revenue sports, like football and basketball, as out of their prime. This didn’t stop Luck from accepting the role and thrusting himself into an uphill battle with the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. 

“Count us out. We don’t mind,” said Luck. “When I think about football, I think the landscape is changing, certainly, and it’s been difficult for us to come by wins as of late, but I do think Coach Taylor has this team pointed in the right direction.”

“I know we can stake our claim as a unique one-of-one university that’s different than everybody else, and it means adapting to the realities of this landscape today,” said Luck.

To compete with the multimillion-dollar contracts offered by top athletic programs, Luck is pushing for Stanford’s unique value proposition: “Stanford has the best combination of academics and athletics in the world. Stanford has amazing people. That’s why I came back,” said Luck.

“We compete with the best academic institutions in the world. Our East Coast peers, our schools around the world, we compete with them on research, anything. Our hospital system competes with every hospital system in the world to be the best. And our college football team competes with the Tennessees, Ohio States, Clemsons, Florida States and Berkeleys,” Luck said. “We have our own arena of competition.”

During his own recruiting process, Luck was drawn to Stanford’s culture.

“At the time, Coach Harbaugh was infectious, and I knew he would challenge me to get the best I could out of myself. I wanted to be in a locker room with guys from all over the country. I wanted to have a random roommate freshman year. I wanted all that,” Luck said.

However, even the Stanford legend questions what could have been if NIL was present during his college years.

“If Stanford had been the only school that wasn’t offering NIL opportunities or money to me, I would say, ‘Ooh, it’s going to be really hard to go there,’ because my dream is to play in the NFL,” said Luck.

As a Texas native, Luck understands high school football culture and that Stanford’s recruitment process must include compensation. 

“Money is certainly part of it,” Luck said. “It took me a moment to accept it, but it’s here to stay.”

As a result, Luck is currently thinking about how the Stanford brand, Lifetime Cardinal and NIL can combine to create the strongest recruiting pitch.

Even in its recruiting, Stanford is a unicorn, prioritizing both athletic and academic excellence. 

“We embrace a challenge,” Luck said. “Those student athletes are out there. Our challenge is to make sure if we identify 25 athletes, that we’re getting all 25 of these young men to come to this school, that our yield is as close to 100 percent as possible.” 

In addition to first-year recruits, Luck has prioritized the transfer portal to build out the football roster, recruiting over 12 new players for this upcoming season from a range of schools, including pulling from the Ivy League and Big Ten conferences. 

Leading up to next season, Luck is looking to change the atmosphere around Stanford football, including increasing game attendance. 

“It was not so long ago that the student section of the football games had a waitlist on it. That’s what I got to play in. It was awesome,” Luck said.

While the road ahead will be challenging, Luck is approaching the task to restore Stanford football to its glory days with humility and grace. Luck is working with Sam Fisher ’14 MBA ’19, who was named the assistant general manager for the Stanford football program in January. Fisher is evaluating high school and college prospects and working to build strategy. 

To Stanford supporters, Luck has one message: “Take this leap of faith with us. It’s going to be a big mountain to climb, and it’s going to be real sweet if you got on the climb early and went there with us.”