Andrew Luck almost retired one year earlier. Entering the 2018 season -- his seventh with the Indianapolis Colts -- fresh off of a 2017 campaign spent on the sidelines due to a shoulder injury, Luck had serious questions about his future.

Andrew Luck quoted Ernest Hemingway, rattled off Latin phrases and talked about how his new job as general manager of Stanford’s football program compared to facing a Bill Belichick-coached defense in the NFL.

Stanford and California, left for dead not long ago, may finally be serious about college football with their celebrity general managers in charge.

On Tuesday, Luck made his most consequential move yet, firing head coach Troy Taylor. The decision, which he made in concert with University leadership but ultimately was his, came just days after ESPN reported Taylor was under investigation for employee abuse — a probe that had not been publicly known prior to the story's publication.