By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
All systems are go for LSU projected starting quarterback Sam Leavitt, the No. 1 signal caller and No. 1 player in the 2026 Transfer Portal, LSU coach Lane Kiffin said Tuesday on former LSU great Tyrann Mathieu’s podcast.
We took a trip to LSU for a very special In The Bayou…
— In The Bayou With Tyrann Mathieu (@InTheBayouPod) June 16, 2026
Lane Kiffin joins us tomorrow 👀🚨 https://t.co/NzypPeJhrY pic.twitter.com/ROLvBaL6j5
“Now, he’s just got to put everything together in year one,” Kiffin said on the “In The Bayou” podcast. “A little bit late, because now he’s just finally cleared.”
Leavitt, who will be a junior this season after transferring from Arizona State, had “Lisfranc” surgery on bones in his right midfoot last November that cut short his 2025 season. The surgery, which was named after 1800s French surgeon Jacques Lisfranc de St. Martin, realigns displaced or torn meatatarsal bones in the center of the foot with stabilizing screws, plates or pins. Leavitt had those screws removed early last April and missed most of spring practice.
“He’s doing well,” Kiffin told Mathieu. “He’s been out there and pretty much full strength now. Really good arm, really smart. I mean, he’s in there just grinding all the time on stuff. He’s an NFL-mindset quarterback from a preparation standpoint.”
“He has a super powerful arm and is extremely confident. And he can run. What he’s really good at, too, is deciphering a lot of information in half a second.” LSU QB Sam Leavitt’s coach at West Linn High in Oregon – Jon Eagle. https://t.co/RoUUULDayE
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) January 13, 2026
Kiffin signed Leavitt last January after a very competitive recruiting process for a reported $5 million. But Kiffin’s original offer to Leavitt may have been less than that as Leavitt did not commit to LSU during his visit to campus. He only committed after Kiffin flew to Knoxville to talk to Leavitt while he was at the airport there for a visit to Tennessee before another one to Miami.
Kiffin had also recruited Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby early in the portal recruiting process last January, but reportedly topped his salary offer to Sorsby at $3.5 million. And Sorsby signed with Texas Tech for $5 million after visiting LSU. Whew!
Column: In a master class of policing its own neighborhood, the Big 12 did what a Lubbock court would not and the NCAA could not. It forcefully persuaded Brendan Sorsby to abandon playing college football. https://t.co/6zRt5m8MNf
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) June 16, 2026
A gambling controversy ensued while Sorsby was at Texas Tech, and he is now refreshingly out of college football for breaking NCAA gambling rules and is headed for the NFL supplemental draft this summer.
There have been erroneous reports of late that LSU offered Sorsby $5 million back in January. LSU reportedly never “bet” beyond $3.5 million for Sorsby as it eventually did for Leavitt.
Leavitt completed 145 of 239 passes for 1,628 yards and 10 touchdowns with three interceptions in seven games for Arizona State last season in addition to rushing 73 times for 306 yarsds and five touchdowns before the foot injury ended his season. In 2024, he directed the Sun Devils to an 11-3 season and to the College Football Playoff by completing 216 of 350 passes for 2,885 yards and 24 touchdowns with six interceptions and rushed 110 times for 443 yards and five touchdowns.
Be the first to comment