Stanford football heads to the Queen City for 2026 ACC Kickoff - RAW CHILI

This week, Stanford football heads to Charlotte, North Carolina for the 2026 ACC Kickoff. Head coach Tavita Pritchard will be joined by junior running back Micah Ford, redshirt senior safety Jay Green, and graduate student quarterback Davis Warren. The event will go from Wednesday, July 15th to Friday, July 17th. Stanford will take center stage on Wednesday. Their opening game is Saturday, August 29th at home against against Hawaii. Kickoff is set for 4:00 PM PT on ACC Network.

VIDEO: Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard reflects on the spring

When looking at who is representing the Cardinal, it’s clear that this is a different looking team than it was a year ago. For starters, Tavita Pritchard is the head coach, replacing interim head coach Frank Reich, who is now offensive coordinator for the New York Jets. Secondly, Davis Warren is a grad transfer from Michigan. When you have a new head coach and a new quarterback, that alone gives your team a very different look and feel.

At the same time, this is year two with Andrew Luck as general manager. On top of that, both running back Micah Ford and safety Jay Green are experienced guys who were major contributors last year. I think the blend of guys representing Stanford perfectly encapsulate what kind of team this is. A lot is new, but there are also some familiar faces as well.

Touching more on Davis Warren, the fact that he is representing the Cardinal indicates he’s in a strong position to be the starting quarterback this season. I think we already kinda knew that given he’s a grad transfer who has starting experience at Michigan. Still, with true freshman Michael Mitchell Jr. being an early enrollee, in theory there could have been at least a bit of a quarterback battle. That isn’t to say there won’t be any sort of competition in fall camp, but if there was any serious debate going on with respect to who would be the starting quarterback, you wouldn’t have Warren make the trip to Charlotte.

As for Micah Ford, he’s somebody who has a chance to really break out and become an elite running back this season. I wrote back in the spring that he could be a 1000 yard rusher given what we saw from him last season. The fact that he’s representing the Cardinal speaks to the confidence that Pritchard has in him. If Stanford wants to improve from their 4-8 season of a year ago, Ford is going to have to become a guy who they can consistently give the ball to.

Regarding Jay Green, he’s a guy who is a real anchor of the defense. He’s vocal, physical, and a true leader out there. He inked an endorsement deal with Nike a few weeks back and is aiming to put himself in the conversation to be drafted into the NFL.

Lastly, Pritchard has a lot on his shoulders as a first year head coach. It’ll be fun to hear more from him and how he’s feeling about the direction of the program. One thing that I do think speaks well of Pritchard is the staff he’s put around him. He’s got some really good coaches on board. Defensive coordinator Kris Richard appears to be a great hire and just up and down the staff, there’s a lot of impressive guys. Regardless of what year you are as a head coach, your coaching staff matters a ton and that’s something that Pritchard clearly understands.

To wrap this all up, there’s a lot of reasons to be excited about Stanford football. There’s a fresh buzz and energy with the new leadership and a feeling like they finally know what direction they want to go in as a program. This is the first time in a while that Stanford has truly felt that way. On top of that, they have some playmakers in guys like Ford, Green, and Warren. While no games will be played this week in Charlotte, we will get a glimpse into how the Cardinal are feeling and that in and of itself is worth paying attention to.

Note: Cardinal Sports Report has you covered for all the latest news on Stanford as they begin the Tavita Pritchard era.

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