Troy Taylor on How Stanford Will Plan for East Coast Trips

Jason Burke | Aug 1, 2024

Jul 23, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Stanford head coach Troy Taylor answers questions from the media during the ACC Kickoff at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

With Stanford set to join the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), there will be some challenges presented along the way as they adjust to facing some unfamiliar foes. 

This football season, the Cardinal will open up with two games at home, with the first on Friday, August 30 against TCU, and the second on Saturday, September 7, taking on Cal Poly, followed by a bye week. From there, Stanford will hit the road for two straight weeks, taking on Syracuse on Friday, September 20. The following week they're across the country again, facing Clemson on Saturday, September 28. 

In the NFL, teams can attack a trip like that a couple of different ways. One is to fly out for the game, fly back home for practice, then fly out again the following week. The other is to remain out east to keep everyone adjusted to the time difference. 

With this being college football, and with Stanford's focus on academics, the Cardinal will be returning home in between their east coast games, according to head coach Troy Taylor at ACC media day. 

"We will turn back so our students can go to class. We have a pretty good plan. We're going to go out a day early. [For] a Saturday game, we'll go out on a Thursday. Fly in the evening, and hopefully get our players acclimated the next day. Then we pick up three hours flying back to the west coast. We've never done it before--back-to-back trips--but our guys do a great job of adjusting. They'll balance the two things, being a student and an athlete, and we'll make sure that great things in terms of a larger plane when we travel." 

The Cardinal will also visit Notre Dame and North Carolina State for their longer road trips, with trips to Cal and San Jose State also in the mix to wrap up their 2024 season.