Stanford was 6-18 in Troy Taylor’s two seasons in charge. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
(Thearon W. Henderson via Getty Images)
Former Stanford coach Troy Taylor said Wednesday that he was not fired for cause by the university and that he had received his buyout.
Taylor was fired on March 25, less than a week after an ESPN report about his workplace behavior. In a statement announcing Taylor’s firing, Stanford general manager Andrew Luck said that the program “needs a reset” and that he “no longer believe[s] that Coach Taylor is the right coach to lead our football program.”
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Taylor was accused of bullying and demeaning behavior toward female athletic staffers. Two investigations into his actions happened over the course of his two seasons as the team’s coach and the second began after his behavior towards others was still allegedly an issue following the initial investigation.
In his statement, Taylor claimed the existence of the first investigation was “improperly disclosed to local and national media” and said that he received a contract extension with the school in February of 2024, less than a month before a complaint led to the second investigation. If a school fires a coach for cause, it has the ability to not pay the buyout to get out of the deal.
“Later in March 2024, a second complaint was made by a member of the compliance office regarding a discussion about the physical speed at which Stanford players could participate in a walk-through. This was resolved in July 2024. Two other witnesses (one male and one female) were present during the initial discussion about the speed at which players could participate in a walk-through. Both told me at the time that my behavior was appropriate.”
“Nevertheless, I willingly complied with the second investigation, this time based on this brief interaction. Based on the investigator’s conclusion related to this interaction, which I disagreed with, Stanford asked that I forfeit an agreed upon raise and change my tone. I accepted Stanford’s demand last summer for the sake of the team. I was not shown the private and confidential second report that was also improperly disclosed to ESPN recently. I’ve not been the subject of any other complaints or investigations since this investigation ended last summer.”
Both of the investigations happened before Luck was hired as the team’s general manager in the fall of 2024.
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Stanford went 6-18 in Taylor’s two seasons with the team. He was hired from Sacramento State to replace David Shaw after Shaw stepped down following back-to-back 3-9 seasons in 2021 and 2022.
Frank Reich, Luck’s former coach with the Indianapolis Colts and most recently the coach of the Carolina Panthers in 2023, has been hired as Stanford’s interim coach for the 2025 season. Reich has taken the job on a temporary basis and is not a candidate to be Stanford’s next permanent head coach.
