Stanford Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. It is the home of the Stanford Cardinal and hosts the university's commencement exercises. Opened 103 years ago in 1921 as a football and track and field stadium, it was an earthen horseshoe with wooden bleacher seating and flooring upon a steel frame. Its original seating capacity was 60,000, which grew to 89,000 by 1927 as a nearly enclosed bowl.
Thomas Arthur "Touchdown Tommy" Vardell is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal and was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 1992 NFL draft with the ninth overall pick.
The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 136 NCAA team championships, the most of any university. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 48 consecutive years, starting in 1976–77 and continuing through 2023–24. Through June 2024, Stanford athletes have won 554 individual NCAA titles.
Rodney Douglas Dowhower is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Stanford University and Vanderbilt University; in between he was the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL).
The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The program was previously in the Pac-12 Conference. The team is known as the Cardinal, adopted prior to the 1982 season. Stanford was known as the "Cardinal" for its first two decades of athletic competition, then more commonly as the "Cardinals" until 1930. The name was changed to the "Indians" from 1930 to January 1972, and back to the "Cardinals" from 1972 through 1981. A student vote in December 1975 to change the nickname to "Robber Barons" was not approved by administrators.
Steve Stenstrom is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal. He was selected in the fourth round of the 1995 NFL draft.
John Paye is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL), and also a former high school basketball coach. He is the older brother of Kate Paye, who is currently the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team.
The 2010 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was in his 4th and final season before leaving to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Harbaugh ended his four-year tenure at Stanford having taken a team that finished 1–11 in the year prior to his arrival, to a team that ended the regular season 11–1. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the Pacific-10 Conference.
The Notre Dame–Stanford football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team of the University of Notre Dame and Stanford Cardinal football team of Stanford University. As of 2023, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Stanford Cardinal have met 37 times, beginning in 1925. The Notre Dame–Stanford game has been played annually since 1997, with the teams meeting at Notre Dame Stadium earlier in the season in even-numbered years, and at Stanford Stadium on the weekend following Thanksgiving in odd-numbered years since 1999. The game typically alternates positions in Notre Dame's schedule with its other former Pac-12 opponent, USC.
David Lorenzo Shaw is an American football coach and the current senior personnel executive for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He served as head coach of the Stanford Cardinal football team from 2011 to 2022. Shaw was the team's offensive coordinator for the entire tenure of his predecessor, head coach Jim Harbaugh, from 2007 to 2010. Previously, Shaw was a four-year letter winner as a wide receiver for the Cardinal from 1991 to 1994, where he was coached by Dennis Green and Bill Walsh. Prior to returning to Stanford as offensive coordinator, Shaw was Harbaugh's passing game coordinator at the University of San Diego and an assistant coach in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders, and Baltimore Ravens. Shaw resigned as the Stanford head coach on November 27, 2022.
The 2012 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by second-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
The 1981 Stanford Cardinals football team represented Stanford University in the Pacific-10 Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach Paul Wiggin, the Cardinal had an overall record of 4–7, and played home games on campus at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California. Ranked in the preseason top twenty, Stanford opened with four losses and dropped six of its first seven games to incur their first losing season since 1963.
The 1993 Blockbuster Bowl game was a post-season college football bowl game between the Stanford Cardinal and the Penn State Nittany Lions played on January 1, 1993, at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It was the third edition of the bowl game, and a Bowl Coalition game.
The 1995 Liberty Bowl (December) game was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 1995, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 37th edition of the Liberty Bowl, it featured the Stanford Cardinal and the East Carolina Pirates.
The 2018 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by eighth-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2019 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by ninth-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 3–6 in Pac-12 play, to finish last place in the North Division. This was Stanford's worst record since 2007 and the first time that they did not earn bowl eligibility since 2008.
Mark Butterfield is a former American football quarterback who played for the Stanford Cardinal from 1992 to 1995. Butterfield was also a member of the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He later spent time with the Scottish Claymores and Frankfurt Galaxy of the NFL Europe.
The 2022 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the Pac-12 Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by twelfth-year head coach David Shaw, the Cardinal was 3–9 and played home games on campus at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.
The 2023 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the Pac-12 Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by new head coach Troy Taylor, the Cardinal played its home games on campus at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.
