Stanford hires Sacramento State’s Troy Taylor as new football coach

Stanford has hired Sacramento State coach Troy Taylor as its next head football coach, the university announced on Saturday.

Taylor, a former Cal Bears star quarterback, guided Sacramento State to a 30-8 mark in four seasons and a berth in the 2022 Football Championship Subdivision Quarterfinals for the first time in school history. The team’s season came to a close on Friday with a 66-63 defeat in the FCS Quarterfinals.

“Taylor is a proven winner who has experienced success at many levels of football,” Bernard Muir, Stanford director of athletics, said in the university’s announcement. “Throughout our visits together he demonstrated an understanding of what makes Stanford special and a deep desire to capitalize on our unique strengths. He possesses an incredible football mind and has a long history of caring deeply for the student-athletes he leads. I am excited for the next chapter of Cardinal football and eager for our student-athletes to experience Troy’s passion, wisdom and leadership.”

Taylor, 54, takes over for David Shaw, who stepped down on Nov. 28 after 12 seasons as the winningest football coach in Stanford history with an overall record of 96-54. Shaw won two Rose Bowls, three conference championships and was named Pac-12 coach of the year four times.

“I am thrilled to be the new head football coach at Stanford University,” Taylor said. “The opportunity to lead the finest student-athletes in the country is truly a dream come true, and I would like to thank President Tessier-Lavigne, Provost Drell and Bernard Muir. I believe that Stanford Football is perfectly positioned to become champions on the football field while maintaining our world-class reputation for academic excellence.”

Taylor was hired as head coach at Sacramento State in December 2018, inheriting a program that had compiled three two-win seasons in the prior four-year stretch. Taylor immediately turned the Hornets into nine-game winners in his first season, guiding the program to its first three Big Sky championships (the program opted out of the 2021 spring season) and its first FCS Playoff appearances in school history, despite competing at the FCS level since 1994 and in the Big Sky Conference since 1996.

Under Taylor, the Hornets set the school record for victories in a season in 2022. For those efforts, he was named the conference Coach of the Year and was the recipient of the Eddie Robinson Award (FCS national coach of the year).

Taylor served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Utah for two seasons (2017-18), helping the Utes to their first Pac-12 South Division title in program history in 2018.

Prior to joining the Football Bowl Subdivision, Taylor was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Eastern Washington in 2016. That season, he directed the top passing offense in the FCS and set numerous national and school records.

Taylor takes over a Stanford program that has won 108 games since the start of the 2010 season — a total that ranks among the nation’s top 20. Since 2010, Stanford has appeared in nine bowl games, including three Rose Bowl Games, an Orange Bowl and a Fiesta Bowl.

Taylor played as quarterback for Cal from 1986 to 1989 and left as the all-time leading passer. He is scheduled to be introduced at a press conference at 11 a.m., on Monday, Dec. 12, Stanford said in the announcement.