As June starts to roll into July, and July eventually leads us to the start of fall camps at the beginning of August, the 2023 college football season will be here before we know it. What a season it projects to be in the Pac-12 Conference, as well. With a handful of College Football Playoff contenders, and a group of Heisman Trophy candidates leading their prospective teams, we could be set up for one of the best football seasons out west that we’ve seen in decades. To help get us prepared, we at Ducks Wire wanted to go through each team in the conference and give a comprehensive breakdown of each school, breaking down their 2023 outlook. Welcome to our Pac-12 Previews. New editions will be published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday leading up to the start of fall camp.
Check out our previously published previews: Arizona Wildcats — Arizona State Sun Devils — California Golden Bears — Colorado Buffaloes — Oregon State Beavers
Stanford was once the class of the Pac-12 and competed for Rose Bowl on an annual basis.
Those days are long gone.
Head Coach David Shaw retired after the program went downhill for a variety of reasons and this was even before the pandemic, which set the Cardinal behind the proverbial 8-ball and then some.
After 12 seasons, Stanford was on the market for a new head coach when it finally settled on Sacramento State’s Troy Taylor. Before helming the Hornets, he was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Utah for two seasons.
Stanford also hired Wisconsin defensive coordinator Bobby April where he led one of the top defenses in the country. But again, the talent has to be there and at this very moment, talent is on short supply.
If you think attendance is a problem in Palo Alto when the Cardinal are good, Stanford Stadium could be a graveyard for the next couple of seasons as the rebuild goes on.
Here’s our complete preview for the Cardinal in 2023.