Before Andrew Luck was the general manager for the Stanford football team, he was a star with the Cardinal back in his college days. From 2009 until 2011, Luck played at Stanford, and he led the program to a lot of success. He was one of the best players in all of college football, and his high level of play led to a career in the NFL. Now, he is back at Stanford, and he is a big part of the current hunt for a new athletic director. Luck needs to make sure that the Cardinal make the right hire.

Bernard Muir was the athletic director at Stanford for 13 years, but he made the decision to resign back in the winter. Alden Mitchell was named the interim AD not too long ago, but the Cardinal are still looking for a permanent replacement. Andrew Luck will have a say in the matter.

“Stanford is close to naming a new AD. Probably next 1-2 weeks,” Jon Wilner said in a post. “Expect preferred candidate to have football cops (i.e, Luck's stamp of approval) and rev-gen experience. Non-traditional hire/outside college sports a distinct possibility.”

Hiring a new athletic director is always a big deal, but given the recent changes in college athletics, it is even more important now. There is a lot that goes into a successful athletic department, and it is not an easy job.

Like most schools, the Stanford football team is a big revenue driver for the university. The Cardinal have been struggling on the gridiron for a long time now while other programs have flourished, but the football program is still the one that brings in the big bucks. Luck knows that with the right hire, the school can make the right decisions to help the football program excel as well. When the football team is doing well, it has a ripple effect on the entire athletic department.

Andrew Luck has been giving back to Stanford for a long time in a lot of ways. He obviously brought a ton of success to the football program as a player, and now he is a key decision maker in the process of hiring a new athletic department. Having Luck as the GM of the football program is crucial as we are seeing a lot of programs adopt that position, and it seems to lead to success. Luck knows a thing or two about the Stanford football team having success, and he is now trying to make it happen in an administrative role.