Tag: Matt Leinart

Matt Leinart and Lincoln Riley welcome Mike Williams back to USC

Matt Leinart joined the call with Lincoln Riley in a feel-good moment for every USC football fan.

USC football fans will be talking about the new Trojan defense at the 2024 spring football game on Saturday. They will also talk to each other about Big Mike Williams (BMW) driving the car as the program’s new director of player development. Lincoln Riley made the move, but he consulted with Matt Leinart as well. Riley and Leinart were on the call as they welcomed Mike Williams back into the fold at USC, in a move which has Trojan fans feeling warm and fuzzy all over.

Matt Leinart and Mike Williams teamed up to give USC a potent offense under coordinator Norm Chow in the 2003 season, when the Trojans ascended to the mountaintop and won the Associated Press college football national championship. USC finished No. 1 in the Associated Press Poll, while LSU won the Bowl Championship Series national title by winning the 2004 Sugar Bowl over Oklahoma. Mike Williams now tries to ride the BMW back to national championship contention, helping Riley with player development, an area of the program which needs to improve.

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Matt Leinart discusses Caleb Williams, USC pro day, and which NFL draft QB prospects will thrive

Matt Leinart evaluates the 2024 NFL draft quarterback class.

Colin Cowherd talks to USC’s legendary Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national champion Matt Leinart about Caleb Williams and other quarterback prospects in the 2024 NFL draft.

It seems increasingly likely that Caleb Williams will indeed go to the Chicago Bears with the first pick in the draft. Players already on the Bears say Caleb will have to earn his place.

Bears Wire has more:

“Receiver DJ Moore recently spoke about what Williams needs to do to earn respect from the locker room, cornerback Jaylon Johnson is the latest Bears veteran chiming in on Williams’ impending arrival and how he needs to prove himself.

“’You just humble yourself coming into the building,’ Johnson said on Up & Adams. ‘You can’t bring that Hollywood stuff into the building, especially with guys who have played the game at a high level for consecutive years in the league. Guys like myself, Tremaine (Edmunds), T.J. (Edwards), now Keenan Allen. We’re going to see through that. What you did in college, the Hollywood, nah, you’ve gotta prove yourself. Stuff like that doesn’t matter.’”

Here’s Matt Leinart on Caleb and other 2024 NFL draft quarterback prospects:

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Matt Leinart talks about NFL struggles with Cardinals and high expectations in pro football

Matt Leinart opened up about his time with the Arizona Cardinals.

Matt Leinart’s NFL career never really worked out, but Leinart was a first-round draft pick who played for multiple NFL teams. His pro career is legitimately and accurately called a bust, but Leinart still made good money with his first NFL paycheck. His success at USC and his central presence in the football world has translated into television commentary and a very good living. He has done well for himself, but in terms of achieving on-field NFL success, that one goal eluded him. It is what it is.

Leinart recently talked about his struggles with the Arizona Cardinals, a team which has struggled to find a great quarterback and which is trying to turn the corner with Kyler Murray, a Heisman winner previously coached by Lincoln Riley at the University of Oklahoma before Riley moved to USC. It is notable that the Cardinals’ last great quarterback was a USC product, but not Leinart. Carson Palmer led the Cardinals to the NFC Championship Game in the 2015 NFL season. The Cardinals lost to the Carolina Panthers. It’s the last time the Cardinals went that far in the playoffs.

Here’s Leinart on his time with the Cardinals:

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Matt Leinart and Julian Edelman relive “The Bush Push”

The Bush Push certainly feels different in light of the Tush Push, doesn’t it?

Before there was the “Tush Push” with Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles, there was the Bush Push in the 2005 USC-Notre Dame game. Matt Leinart remembers it well. He was pushed by his teammate, Reggie Bush, into the end zone to complete a 34-31 win in one of the great games in college football history. It was technically not legal at the time for teammates to push players forward the way Bush did for Leinart, but in all candor, the violation of that rule was hardly ever called to begin with. If you’re at least 45 to 50 years old and have an awareness of how football games were officiated 25 and 30 and 40 years ago, you know the Bush Push was not called against offensive teams very often. The rule might have been occasionally enforced, but hardly with any regularity. It was much like the palming violation in the NBA and college basketball.

Matt Leinart was recently joined by New England Patriot Super Bowl champion Julian Edelman to turn back the clock and discuss the Bush Push and everything it meant. That one push owns an enormous amount of historical importance nearly 20 years after it happened.

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The USC quarterback room was stacked when Matt Leinart was a freshman

Matt Leinart is going back in time. Everyone still wants to ask him about the Pete Carroll era.

Matt Leinart watched Caleb Williams win the 2022 Heisman Trophy at USC. He is now seeing Lincoln Riley develop Miller Moss into the next QB1 at his alma mater. Leinart is being asked about the USC glory days in the Pete Carroll era, given that Lincoln Riley is trying to re-create that time but is also not having the level of success many people expected.

Leinart reflected on how loaded the quarterback room was when he stepped into the program as a freshman over 20 years ago. This upcoming season, Miller Moss and Jayden Maiava — a transfer from UNLV — are expected to have a legitimate position battle this coming spring, but it would be reasonable to assume that Moss has the inside track. Maiava would need a huge spring and summer to wrest the quarterback job away from Moss, given that Moss looked so good in the Holiday Bowl against Louisville and is completely trusted by the other players on the USC offense. Moss has earned the respect of the locker room, and that should be no small thing in handicapping who will be the starter for USC’s huge season opener against LSU in Las Vegas on Labor Day weekend. It’s the biggest football game in Las Vegas since Super Bowl LVIII.

Here’s Matt Leinart on his USC playing days:

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Matt Leinart recalls throwing passes to Snoop Dogg and many other USC memories

We all want to relive this era under Lincoln Riley.

Matt Leinart made great memories and moments at USC. Two decades later, after the end of his storied collegiate career, Leinart — like most of us — is nostalgic for the warm glow of success in the past under Pete Carroll.

Matt Leinart is one of the most special Trojans ever. The facts speak for themselves, as we have pointed out:

“USC was a complete team with Leinart being a very big part of it. Sure, Leinart had help, but his presence at quarterback made the whole thing work. No Leinart, no 34-game winning streak. No Leinart, no back-to-back nationalk championships and a great Rose Bowl performance which easily could have given USC a third straight title, had it not been for Vince Young putting on his Superman cape to rescue the Texas Longhorns.”

Leinart brought USC a Heisman Trophy, two national championships, and three seasons in which the Trojans competed for a national title in their bowl game. Below is a video in which he recalls sweet memories from the magical era he was part of at USC:

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Matt Leinart describes life as a young celebrity athlete during the USC football dynasty

Matt Leinart recalls a special time in his life, and USC’s ascent in the college football world.

Stardom is not easy to handle for most athletes. When stardom arrives during one’s years at college, the intensity of the spotlight and the enormity of sudden fame can be overpowering. Matt Leinart was a quick study at USC. He learned to handle the limelight and live in it. The proof is in the results.

Leinart stepped right into the starting spot at USC at age 20. He was thrust into the fire and was able to calmly lead the Trojans to a decisive win at Auburn on national television. Leinart wasn’t spectacular that day in Alabama — the USC defense was the star of the show — but Leinart did nothing to put USC in danger. He made smart, controlled plays and provided rock-solid leadership everyone else in the huddle noticed. Leinart’s strong, composed presence was an anchor for a 2003 USC team which slammed Michigan in the 2004 Rose Bowl to win a share of the national championship. Leinart would eventually win 34 straight games at USC, capturing two national titles and making two BCS championship game appearances.

Here is a video of Leinart recalling young-age stardom:

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Can USC build a team like the early 2000s again? Matt Leinart explains

Matt Leinart wants USC to get back to the Pete Carroll standard, but how can it be done?

Can USC reclaim the glories of the Pete Carroll days? It’s a fascinating question, especially since Carroll himself is no longer employed as a football coach. We will see if any NFL team reaches out to Carroll in the coming weeks. If not, Carroll will be a free agent on the open market. You know there’s a USC fan somewhere who wishes Pete Carroll would return to USC. Most fans? No. Some fans? Again, they’re out there.

All of this brings up an interesting question: Can USC build a team like the ones Carroll had from 2002 through 2008? The Trojans were so physically dominant and athletically superior back then. It’s what Trojan fans yearn for. USC was athletically superior under Carroll, much as it was under John McKay and John Robinson in the 1960s and 1970s.

Can USC realistically recapture this formula? Can the Trojans become what they once were? One interesting question is how USC can attract and sign elite players in the NIL and transfer portal eras. Other schools are landing more — and bigger — recruits and portal prospects than the Trojans are.

Matt Leinart, the quarterback at the heart of the Carroll era and its successes, is wondering if USC can get back on top:

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EXCLUSIVE: Matt Leinart previews Michigan football vs. Ohio State

Some really, really good stuff here from the former Heisman winner on #Michigan. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Matt Leinart has a pretty good handle on the game of football. The former Heisman Trophy winner and national champion with USC has played in some big, big games, including rivalry games against Notre Dame and UCLA. He’s played against the Wolverines in the Rose Bowl and he’s played in multiple national championship games under Pete Carroll.

On Friday, as Fox Sports readies its coverage of Michigan football vs. Ohio State on Saturday, we met up with Leinart to discuss what he’s seen from the Wolverines of late, J.J. McCarthy’s play this year, the run game for both teams, the Michigan offensive line, and more.

Here’s everything he had to say.

Reggie Bush ranks his top 5 USC quarterbacks of all time

Is it Matt Leinart or Caleb Williams?

The USC Trojans have a large collection of national championships, Heisman Trophy winners, bowl wins, conference titles, and Rose Bowl wins in their storied history.

The Trojans were at the top of the college football world in the early to mid-2000s. It was a great time to be a Trojan. The Men of Troy were the best of the best at the time. The era was headlined by head coach Pete Carroll, running back Reggie Bush, and quarterback Matt Leinart.

Bush appeared on “The Reel” by Bleacher Report and was asked to give his top five USC quarterbacks of all time .

“I have to put my dog Matt Leinart at the top. But, right underneath Matt, I have to put Caleb Williams, man. Caleb is doing stuff at USC at the quarterback position that has never been done before–ever, by any quarterback. Carson Palmer, Rodney Peete, and Mark Sanchez.”

We will see where Caleb Williams lands in the 2024 NFL draft. He could give USC a No. 1 overall pick.

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