STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football Troy Taylor announced today that Tavita Pritchard will remain on staff as the Kevin M. Hogan Quarterbacks Coach to complete Taylor's offensive staff. Taylor will serve as Stanford's offensive coordinator and play caller.
"I'm excited to announce that Tavita Pritchard will stay on as the QB coach here at Stanford," Taylor said. "Tavita has a strong reputation as a QB developer and recruiter. He will be a great fit to our offensive staff."
Pritchard, a 2009 Stanford graduate, will enter his 18th season on The Farm as a student-athlete or member of the football coaching staff. A quarterback himself from 2006-09, Pritchard has coached the Cardinal quarterbacks since 2014 and also served as the offensive coordinator from 2018-22.
"My love for Stanford runs bone-deep," Pritchard said. "I know the capacity that our players and this program have for greatness, and I believe that's exactly where we're headed. I take the responsibility and privilege of being a part of this next chapter very seriously, and I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to stay on as a part of Coach Taylor's staff. Along with these players, I am hungry to build on our storied quarterback tradition here on The Farm."
In Pritchard's time as Stanford's offensive coordinator, eight offensive players were drafted: WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (2019 second round, Philadelphia), RB Bryce Love (2019 fourth round, Washington), TE Kaden Smith (2019 sixth round, San Francisco), TE Colby Parkinson (2020 fourth round, Seattle), OT Walter Little (2021 second round, Jacksonville), QB Davis Mills (2021 third round, Houston), C Drew Dalman (2021 fourth round, Atlanta) and WR Simi Fehoko (2021 fifth round, Dallas).
Pritchard mentored quarterback Tanner McKee over the last two seasons. In 2022, McKee threw for 2,947 yards, the ninth-most by a Cardinal QB in school history. McKee finished with 264 completions, tied for fifth-most in school history.
Pritchard's work helped lead to the emergence of McKee in the 2021 season. McKee took over the starting job in Week 2 and led the Cardinal to upset victories over No. 14 USC and No. 3 Oregon. A midseason injury forced the Cardinal to start four quarterbacks during the season, with Jack West, Isaiah Sanders and Ari Patu - the first true freshman to start a game for the Cardinal since 1983 - each starting a game. It was the first time in program history Stanford has started more than three different quarterbacks in a season.
Despite missing a pair of games, McKee's 19 total touchdowns were the most ever by a freshman starting quarterback, while his 15 passing touchdowns tied the freshman school record. McKee became only the third freshman to pass for over 2,000 yards in a season, joining Andrew Luck and Chad Hutchinson, as he passed for 2,327 yards. His five games with at least three total touchdowns was the fourth-most by a Stanford quarterback since 2000, and the most by a freshman.
In 2020, Pritchard coached quarterback Davis Mills, who guided the Cardinal to a 4-2 record, including four straight wins to end the season. Mills earned honorable mention All-Pac-12, finishing 129-of-195 (66.2%) for 1,508 yards and 10 total touchdowns (7 passing, 3 rushing). His 301.6 passing yards per game was second best in the Pac-12.
Stanford averaged 420.2 yards per game offensively, including 287.3 yards per game through the air and 132.8 on the ground. The Cardinal was much-improved on third down (48% in 2020 vs. 39% in 2019) and red-zone offense (78% TDs in 2020 vs. 47% TDs in 2019), while totaling 15 TDs on the ground in just six games vs. just eight rushing touchdowns in 2019 over 12 total games.
Center Drew Dalman and wide receiver Simi Fehoko earned first team All-Pac-12 honors under Pritchard, while six other offensive players were named honorable mention.
Despite starting three different quarterbacks for the first time since the 1974 season during 2019, Stanford's quarterbacks passed for 3,149 yards (11th-most in school history) and 18 touchdowns under Pritchard's guidance. The 276 completions were the fourth-most in school history while the 444 passing attempts were third-most. Mills, a junior, started six games, while senior K.J. Costello started five and sophomore Jack West one.
Against Washington State, Mills set a new school record passing for 504 yards on 33-of-50 passing.
Four offensive players earned All-Pac-12 recognition in 2019, with C Dalman and TE Colby Parkinson earning second-team honors. RT Foster Sarell and WR Connor Wedington earned honorable mention. The Cardinal continued to excel in pillars of the program under Pritchard in 2019, as Stanford ranked amongst the nation's best in turnovers lost (14th - 13), time of possession (19th - 32:11), fewest penalty yards (29th - 585) and red zone offense (37th - .882).
In 2018, under Pritchard's tutelage, Costello led a lethal passing attack that ranked second in the Pac-12. Costello ranked among the top of the league in nearly every statistical category as he was second in the Pac-12 in completion percentage, passing yards and touchdowns. His 3,540 passing yards were second-most in school history as were his seven 300-yard games, and only Andrew Luck has thrown more touchdown passes at Stanford than Costello's 29 in 2018.
Against Arizona State on Sept. 30, 2017, Costello became the seventh straight Stanford quarterback to win his starting debut. Costello went on to lead Stanford to three more wins -- including victories over No. 9 Washington and No. 9 Notre Dame -- and guided the Cardinal to the Pac-12 Championship Game and Alamo Bowl.
Pritchard's quarterbacks played a significant role in Stanford's success throughout the 2016 season, as the team utilized the skill sets of both Ryan Burns and Keller Chryst.
Burns was efficient in his starting debut against Kansas State, finishing with 156 yards passing and one touchdown while controlling the offense. Burns became the first quarterback since Florida State's Jameis Winston (2013) to begin his first career start with 10 straight pass completions, and the first Pac-12 quarterback to do so since Cal's Aaron Rodgers in 2004.
In a comeback win at UCLA, Burns led the Cardinal's late fourth-quarter scoring drive, which spanned 1:41 and covered 70 yards in 10 plays. Burns was 5-of-8 passing for 66 yards, including the winning eight-yard touchdown completion to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. Arcega-Whiteside and Trenton Irwin, the two wide receivers named to the 2015 Parade All-America first team, accounted for all five receptions.
When Chryst assumed the starting role midway through the season against Arizona, he earned the first of six straight wins in as many starts. Chryst was the sixth-straight Stanford quarterback to win his starting debut, and against Cal became the only Stanford quarterback in over two decades with both a rushing and passing touchdown in the Big Game.
Pritchard instructed Kevin Hogan, a fifth-round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs, during his monumental final season in a Cardinal uniform. Hogan led the Cardinal to the 2015 Pac-12 title and a Rose Bowl crown to cap a season in which he threw 27 touchdowns to eight interceptions and completed 67.8 percent of his throws.
Hogan appeared in more than 50 contests and posted a school-best 36-10 record as a starter. He ranked first in career total offense (10,634), second in completion percentage (.659) and passing efficiency (154.6), and third in passing yards (9,385) and passing touchdowns (75). His 171.0 passing efficiency clip in 2015 was the best single-season mark ever by a Cardinal signal caller.
Hogan also set school records for career rushing yards (1,249) and touchdowns (15) by a quarterback. But what Hogan boasted, based on four years' starting experience in the Pac-12, were intangibles: competitiveness, resilience, leadership and selflessness.
In Pritchard's first season coaching the quarterbacks and wide receivers in 2014, Stanford averaged 229.8 yards/game through the air. Hogan increased his completion percentage from 61.0 to 65.9 percent and reduced his interception total from 10 to eight, even though he threw almost 60 more passes in 2014 than 2013.
As the running backs coach in 2013, Pritchard nurtured Tyler Gaffney to second team All-Pac-12 honors. Gaffney, a Doak Walker Award semifinalist, rushed for over 100 yards in nine games and was selected as the team's most valuable player. Gaffney rushed for 1,709 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season and was named the Pac-12 Championship Game MVP after rushing for 133 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-20 win over Arizona State.
Gaffney was selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.
Pritchard was also a defensive assistant for two years after serving as a volunteer assistant in 2010.
Behind Pritchard's efforts with the defense, the Cardinal finished with consecutive top-15 national standings in defensive efficiency in 2011 and 2012. In 2012, Stanford's defense broke the school's season sacks record (57) and led the Pac-12 in scoring defense (17.21), total defense (336.21), rushing defense (97.0), sacks (4.07) and tackles for loss (9.00).
Capped off by a Pac-12 title game victory and Rose Bowl crown, the 2012 Cardinal ranked first nationally in sacks, second in tackles for loss, fifth in rushing defense and 11th in scoring defense.
A four-year letterwinner for the Cardinal from 2006-09, Pritchard appeared in 31 career games and made 20 starts, throwing for 2,865 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Pritchard made his first career start against USC on Oct. 6, 2007, and engineered an epic 24-23 upset of the second-ranked Trojans in the Los Angeles Coliseum when the Cardinal was a 41-point underdog. His 10-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Mark Bradford on fourth down with 0:49 left in the game secured his spot in Stanford football lore.
Pritchard started all 12 games as a junior in 2008 and threw for 1,633 yards and 10 touchdowns, helping Stanford to a 5-7 record. He relinquished his starting duties to Andrew Luck in 2009. Pritchard saw action in five games that season, capped off by a start in the Sun Bowl for an injured Luck.
A native of Tacoma, Washington, Pritchard earned a communication degree from Stanford. He and his wife, Caroline, have two sons, Afi and Manu, and a daughter, Leone.
Coaching Experience
2023-present – Stanford (Kevin M. Hogan Quarterbacks Coach)
2018-22 – Stanford (Andrew Luck Director of Offense/Kevin M. Hogan Quarterbacks Coach)
2014-17 – Stanford (Kevin M. Hogan Quarterbacks Coach/Wide Receivers)
2013 – Stanford (Running Backs)
2011-12 – Stanford (Defensive Assistant)
2010 – Stanford (Volunteer Assistant)