Former Stanford Defensive Coordinator Lance Anderson Hired As Utah Tech Head Coach

Another former Stanford staffer has gotten hired as a head coach

Over the past weekend, it was revealed that former Stanford staffer Lance Anderson was hired to be the head coach at Utah Tech.

Anderson spent 16 years as a member of Stanford's staff, starting as the defensive tackles coach and working his way up to associate head coach and defensive coordinator. He became the second head coach at Utah Tech in their brief division one history, and spent this past season as an analyst at Boise State.

When speaking to the media, Anderson revealed the influence that notable names such as David Shaw, Derek Mason, Vic Fangio, and Jim Harbaugh had on his career according to KSL.

"I'm really grateful in my coaching career to have worked with a lot of great football coaches: David Shaw, Jim Harbaugh, Derek Mason, Vic Fangio, just to name a few," Anderson said. "I've also been lucky to be part of a lot of great football teams and a lot of winning programs. A lot of that winning is due to the type of players you have; they are the ones who perform, and I've been lucky to coach so many great players, particularly the chance to be at Stanford for 16 years."

He continued, discussing the task of rebuilding a program like they did Stanford under Harbaugh, something he will look to do in St. George. 

"We went in there, took over a 1-11 program, and built that program into one of the most dominant programs in college football for well over a decade. It was an an honor and privilege to go in there and work every day, to coach players like Andrew Luck and Christian McCaffrey. ... For me, that was such a great experience."

The Trailblazers have hit a rough patch as of late, as they have a combined 17-29 record since 2020 after making the jump to division one after the 2019 season. Anderson joins Derek Mason as the second former Stanford staffer to get a head coaching job this cycle.

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