Picture this. You show up on your first day of High School Football practice and your coach is a USC Trojans legend and Heisman Trophy winner.
That will be many young men’s reality as former Trojans Quarterback Carson Palmer has just accepted the head coaching job at Santa Margarita. Palmer played his high school ball at Santa Margarita.
Santa Margarita Hires USC Trojans Legend Carson Palmer
Santa Margarita finished the 2024 season 5-7, and 1-4 in Trinity League play. But the biggest story of the season was that head coach Anthony Rouzier, who had led the program since 2021, was placed on Administrative leave in October while an investigation took place “concerning incidents within the football program.”
Defensive Coordinator, Steve Fifita, was the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
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The 44-year-old Palmer will take over one of the top football programs in the country with an opportunity to bring them back to prominance.
On the Trojans front, this could certainly set up a pipeline between USC and the Eagles.
Fans have been begging for Lincoln Riley to restablish a strong SoCal recruiting front and having a Trojan legend coach at one of the premier schools will certainly help.
While playing for the Eagles, Palmer finished with 27 school records and 2 straight CIF championships.
He was one of the key players to bring USC Football back to relevance, leading the Trojans to an 11-2 record in his final season and wining the Heisman Trophy.
Palmer was selected first overall in the 2003 NFL Draft.