Stanford Head Coach Offers High Praise for Clemson Tigers Program

Stanford comes across the country for an ACC matchup against the Clemson Tigers.

Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers will host the Stanford Cardinal this weekend in a game which despite the fact that one opponent has to travel across the country to get there, will count in the ACC standings.

Conference re-alignment has certainly shaken some things up within the sport as old rivalries fall by the wayside while new rivalries are born. Stanford arriving to the ACC while their campus is based in central California is certainly a bit strange, but the program is embracing the challenge as it embarks on its first season within the conference. In their first official ACC game, the Cardinal went on the road and defeated Syracuse last week to get conference play started off on the right foot.

Now it's an entirely new challenge for head coach Troy Taylor and Stanford as they prepare to take on Clemson in Memorial Stadium in what will be the most hostile environment he has faced since taking over the job prior to the 2023 season. During Taylor's weekly media availability this week, he was asked about facing a program that has been to the top of the mountain multiple times within the last decade and the challenge that the Tigers will present.

"It’s everything you want in a college football program,” Taylor said of Clemson. “They have a great venue, I have never been there, but I have heard it’s very loud and the fans are into it. We are excited for the opportunity to play such a great football program. That is why you get into this thing, to play these games, but in that same sense, we got our hands full."

Taylor has the Cardinal off to a 2-1 start this season after the team went 3-9 during his first season in 2023. He arrived to Stanford after three extremely successful seasons at Sacramento State where he never won less than nine games and won 12 in his final season. Taking over for the legendary David Shaw was never going to be an easy task after Shaw stepped down following the 2022 season, but finding out that the school would be joining the ACC just months after he arrived at Stanford had to be quite the jarring moment.

Nonetheless, Taylor is running towards the fire and ready to bring his team into Clemson, South Carolina this weekend as they try to do the impossible.