Stanford football continues to bolster its coaching staff ahead of the 2025 season. Adding Sacramento State’s Andy Thompson to the defensive staff earlier in the offseason, the Cardinal continue to add new minds to help with that side of the ball, with Pete Thamel confirming via X that they have hired former UCLA cornerbacks coach/special teams coordinator, Kodi Whitfield.

A player for Stanford from 2012-2015, as well as being a former assistant on Troy Taylor’s staff at Sac State, Whitfield has a long history with the program in a variety of ways, something that could have played a major role in his decision to leave UCLA and the Big Ten in favor of the ACC.

Whitfield’s official title with Stanford will be Senior Defensive Backs Quality Control Analyst, according to the official Stanford Athletics website.

Beginning his coaching career in 2020 as a graduate assistant with the Bruins, Whitfield then moved over to Sac State in 2022, where he served as the safeties coach in Taylor’s final season in charge of the Hornets.

Following Taylor’s departure to take over the program at Stanford, Whitfield was rehired by UCLA in 2023 to be the cornerbacks coach. Prior to the ’24 campaign, he was promoted, and earned the special teams coordinator job as well.

During Whitfield’s four seasons as a Cardinal player, he played both wide receiver and safety, and was a member of Cardinal programs that won three Pac-12 championships. By the time his college career ended, he amassed 60 total tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, an interception, a forced fumble and two passes defended on defense while making 18 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown on offense in 51 games.

After graduating from Stanford, Whitfield then proceeded to earn a master’s degree from the University of Oregon and worked at Adidas for a little bit before turning his attention to coaching. Now, with his career coming full circle, Whitfield will look to add even more flair to the coaching staff and help turn Stanford’s defensive backs into some of the best in the nation.

The 2025 season will be pivotal for the Cardinal, as they look to not only improve from four straight 3-9 seasons and qualify for their first bowl game since 2018, but also be a major threat in an ACC conference that houses some of college football’s best teams.