The NFL connections keep winding their way into Stanford’s new-look football program.
The latest? The Cardinal is poised to add former Indianapolis Colts assistant wide receivers coach Brian Bratton to their coaching roster as the program’s new wide receivers coach, sources have told FootballScoop, as Stanford transitions into the Tavita Pritchard era.
Per sources, the move is expected to be finalized in the next 24 hours to land Bratton, who’s spent the past four seasons in Indianapolis — where he worked directly under former All-Pro wideout Reggie Wayne. Wayne is a former Colts teammate of Stanford General Manager Andrew Luck, who has been directly involved in the football rebuild at his collegiate alma mater.
Ex-Colts head coach Frank Reich also has been a vocal advocate for Bratton. But it’s the influence of Wayne that resonated most, sources told FootballScoop, as Bratton evolved from Football Championship Subdivision assistant coach to NFL staffer who would work multiple collegiate all-star games.
In addition to his work with the Colts, Bratton — on the East-West Shrine Bowl coaching staff this week for the second year in a row and a former assistant in the Senior Bowl — has professional playing experience in both the NFL, with the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens, and the CFL, where he twice won a prestigious Grey Cup with the league’s Montreal Alouettes.
A former standout-player at Furman University, Bratton also previously coached at his alma mater. He shined under then-head coach Bobby Lamb at Furman, which made FCS Playoffs appearances with Lamb at the helm in 2002, as well as 2004-06. Lamb, now head coach at NCAA Division II program Anderson, also helped relaunch Mercer’s FCS program with a 10-win season in 2013.
Stanford last month hired Pritchard, also a former Stanford quarterback who’s had a longstanding relationship with Luck dating to their shared experiences with the Cardinal.
Pritchard was hired away from the NFL’s Washington Commanders, where he had served as that franchise’s quarterbacks coach for the past three seasons and helped Jayden Daniels produce a record-setting rookie campaign in the 2024 campaign.
Among his first hires, Pritchard, with Luck’s assistance, tabbed Terry Heffernan to become Stanford “Director of Offense,” aka offensive coordinator. He was hired away from the University of Virginia, where he had been offensive line coach in Tony Elliott’s Cavaliers program.
Heffernan is set for his second stint with the Cardinal; he was Stanford’s offensive line coach earlier this decade during the 2021-22 seasons.
The Cardinal, under interim coach Reich, closed the 2025 season 4-8 — the program’s fifth-straight campaign of eight or more losses.
Pritchard will make his debut as Stanford’s head coach in a Week Zero game Aug. 29 at home against Hawaii, which upset the Cardinal to open last season.
Following that game, Stanford launches Atlantic Coast Conference play six days later at home against defending College Football Playoff national runner-up Miami.