The Stanford football program received a $50 million gift from a former player, the school announced Wednesday, a significant donation as it attempts to revive the program’s fortunes under general manager Andrew Luck.
It is the largest individual gift other than facilities in Stanford football history, and an unusually large gift for an individual program. Donations of that value are generally associated with buildings or facilities.
The donation comes from former Stanford football player Bradford M. Freeman, who graduated from the school in 1964 and has been a major donor to Stanford for decades.
The Cardinal are currently playing catchup in the modern college football landscape, and have finished 3–9 in each of their last four seasons. Stanford is 2-3 this season under interim coach Frank Reich.
“With Brad’s incredible gift, we are in a position to win on the field and build a bridge to the lasting future of Stanford football,” Luck said in a statement. “The new scholarship and the ability to support our players through the institutional void will solidify Stanford as the premier place in the country to become a football scholar-athlete.”
The gift is also an adrenaline shot for the tenure of Luck, who is general manager through November 2024 (with fundraising a significant part of his job), and for new athletic director John Donahoe, who was hired in July.
Stanford is searching for a full-time coach, as both the program and Reich have made clear he will not coach beyond this interim season. This gift is a marketing boost for the job, as it demonstrates the immediate availability of resources and the power to tap Stanford’s network.
Stanford will honor this gift by naming both a tunnel and a gate at Stanford Stadium after Freeman, who has made numerous gifts to both Stanford athletics and the university. In 1988, Freeman was offered the nation’s first head coach position; The title is known as the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football.
Freeman is also a former school trustee who has served on several advisory boards. He co-founded Freeman Spogli, a private equity investment firm, and in the statement, he said he credits his time spent at Stanford for influencing “the trajectory of my life” and hopes it will help “usher in a new era of excellence for Stanford football.”
Luck said: “I believe Stanford has the opportunity to become the leading program in college football, and we are fully motivated to field championship-caliber teams.”
