Stanford hires former Cowboys, Seahawks assistant as DC

Stanford football clearly envisions tapping back into its NFL identity under Tavita Pritchard. The former Washington Commanders quarterbacks coach pulled a stunning move Thursday: Tabbing a Super Bowl winning assistant from the 2013 Seattle Seahawks as the “director of defense.” Ex-Seahawks and former Dallas Cowboys assistant Kris Richard is now coming to The Farm.

The university officially announced Richard as the Willie Shaw Director of Defense and defensive backs coach Thursday evening.

Welcome to The Farm

Kris Richard has been named Willie Shaw Director of Defense and Defensive Backs Coach.

https://t.co/hjQQlB8uZG pic.twitter.com/iZLmLb2JhM

— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) February 20, 2026

Richard was among four coaching announcements the school made. Stanford also revealed Brian Bratton (wide receivers), Keli’i Kekuewa (offensive line) and James Mosely (defensive line) as the newest coaching hires under Pritchard.

Ex-Seahawks, Cowboys assistant a massive hire for Stanford

Richard’s appointment brings a mix of perplexing thoughts and excitement.

The former is regarding how a longtime NFL assistant would consider dipping back into the college football game. Richard hasn’t coached collegiately since 2009 with USC as a graduate assistant. He’s also been a defensive coordinator twice in the league — 2015-2017 with Seattle, then handling co-DC duties with the New Orleans Saints in 2022.

Of course Seahawk fans remember Richard for overseeing the Legion of Boom — featuring Cardinal legend Richard Sherman. That famed secondary won Seattle’s first Super Bowl together by trouncing the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII.

Richard was last seen with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2024, serving as defensive backs coach before the arrival of Liam Coen.

But now the Cardinal are dipping back to a past vision popularized by Pritchard’s former head coach Jim Harbaugh. Stanford is putting together some NFL representation post Troy Taylor. Of course the man making the decisions is past NFL Pro Bowler and Stanford great Andrew Luck.

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