Stanford quarterbacks and wide receivers coach Mike Sanford, who also serves as the Cardinal’s recruiting coordinator, has been hired by Boise State to be the Broncos’ next offensive coordinator, in a move originally reported by Football Scoop. Sanford is expected to coach the Cardinal in the 100th Rose Bowl Game on Jan. 1 against Michigan State, according to Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman.
Current Stanford running backs coach Tavita Pritchard ’09, who just four years ago was the Cardinal’s starting quarterback in the Sun Bowl, will take over as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach after the Rose Bowl Game. Pritchard was a volunteer assistant and defensive assistant before being promoted to running backs coach last season.
Sanford originally came to Stanford as an offensive assistant in 2007. Sanford then became the recruiting coordinator at Yale for the 2009 season and the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for Western Kentucky during the 2010 season.
Sanford came back to the Farm as the running backs coach for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. He moved into his latest role after the departure of offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton to the Indianapolis Colts, which led to an upward rise by Sanford and current offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren.
Sanford is widely regarded as one of the top young recruiters in college football. He replaced outside linebackers coach Lance Anderson as recruiting coordinator in 2012, which was a sign of confidence in Sanford considering Anderson’s status as one of the top recruiters on the West Coast. Among the early signs of Sanford’s recruiting ability was his success in bringing now-sophomore running back Barry J. Sanders to Stanford.
Sanford has strong ties to Boise State. Sanford played quarterback for the Broncos from 2001-4 and graduated from Boise State in 2005. Sanford lost a tight competition for the starting quarterback job to Jared Zabransky before the 2004 season, which saw the Broncos finish 11-0 in regular season play.
Sanford comes from a decorated coaching family. His father, also named Mike Sanford, has been a college coach since 1977 and is currently the head coach of the Indiana State Sycamores. While the elder Sanford never coached at Boise State, he was the head coach at two other Mountain West Conference schools: Utah State and UNLV.
Contact Sam Fisher at safisher ‘at’ Stanford.edu.