The 1976 Stanford Cardinals football team represented

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in the

Pacific-8 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

during the

1976 NCAA Division I football season The 1976 NCAA Division I football season ended with a championship for the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh. Led by head coach Johnny Majors (voted the AFCA Coach of the Year), the Pitt Panthers brought a college football championship to ...

. Led by fifth-year head coach

Jack Christiansen Jack LeRoy Christiansen (December 20, 1928 – June 29, 1986) was an American professional football player who became a college and pro coach. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions as a safety and ...

, the Cardinals were 6–5 overall (5–2 in Pac-8, third) and played home games on campus at

Stanford Stadium Stanford Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium located on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States. It is the home of the Stanford Cardinal and hosts the university's commencement exercises. Opened in 19 ...

Stanford, California Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University, after which it was named. The CDP's population was 21,150 at the United States Census, ...

After a disappointing season that started at 1–4, Christiansen was fired the day before the last game of the season, the Big Game at

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

; he coached that final game, which Stanford rallied to win in the final two minutes. With two seasons remaining on a five-year contract (at $27,500 annually), Christiansen did not have a losing season at Stanford, was overall, and in conference. The Cardinals had five Pac-8 wins in each of his last four seasons, finishing no lower than third.

Bill Walsh William Ernest Walsh (November 30, 1931 – July 30, 2007) was an American professional and college football coach. He served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the Stanford Cardinal, during which time he popularized the West Coast off ...

, the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

, was hired as head coach in December, and led Stanford for the next two seasons, both ending with bowl wins.

Schedule

Roster

*OT Gary Anderson *QB

Guy Benjamin Guy Emory Benjamin (born June 27, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinals (now Cardinal), earni ...

*LB Gordy Ceresino *QB Mike Cordova *QB

Steve Dils Stephen Whitfield Dils (born December 8, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal. College career Dils played high schoo ...

*WR

James Lofton James David Lofton (born July 5, 1956) is an American former professional football player and coach. He played in the National Football League (NFL) as a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers (1978–1986), Los Angeles Raiders (1987&nda ...

*WR Tony Hill *DE Duncan McColl *PK Mike Michel *QB

Turk Schonert Turk Leroy Schonert (January 15, 1957 – January 17, 2019) was an American professional football player and assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a quarterback in the NFL before becoming a coach. Schonert playe ...

NFL draft

Five Cardinals were selected in the

1977 NFL draft The 1977 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1977, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

. * List of Stanford Cardinal in the NFL draft

References

External links

Game program: Stanford at Washington State
– October 23, 1976 {{Stanford Cardinal football navbox

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Stanford Cardinal football seasons

Stanford Cardinals football The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The program was previously in the Pac-12 Conference. The team is known as ...