Sam Leavitt breaks silence on transferring away from Arizona State

LSU football head coach Lane Kiffin has his prized quarterback to work with in Sam Leavitt. Kiffin even compared him to his past QB star Jaxson Dart. Yet Leavitt needed to bolt from Arizona State in the College Football Transfer Portal to join the Tigers.

So why the change of scenery? Especially after helping turn ASU into a Big 12 powerhouse?

Leavitt broke his silence during a booster event held at LSU. Clad in his future gameday jersey, Leavitt dove into the reason behind exiting Tempe.

“I want to do something a little bit different,” Leavitt began. “It’s funny because everyone around here says to be ‘just different.’ It really is. You come out here to practices and the way individual reps are ran, the way every single coach pours into this, it truly is a different situation.”

LSU QB Sam Leavitt on why he chose to transfer from ASU to LSU at The Huddle event at LSU’s Indoor Practice Facility.

This is the first time Leavitt has spoken since his arrival to Baton Rouge. #lsufootball pic.twitter.com/zQebFl2cEu

— Juliette Marino (@MarinoJuli23940) July 30, 2026

Sounds like Kiffin is installing a highly competitive atmosphere already in Baton Rouge that mirrors what he learned in Oxford and Tuscaloosa, the latter during a time he was offensive coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama.

Leavitt is garnering lots of preseason praise. Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt plugged Leavitt as the nation’s No. 10 overall quarterback. The QB soon will play for a head coach who’s overseen the production of future first rounders, a la Dart.

Granted, Kiffin left Ole Miss in controversial fashion amid the Rebels’ playoff push. Kiffin is expected to hear rabid boos when his Tigers face the Rebels this season. But now he’ll lean into the past Big 12 champ Leavitt behind center to help block that noise.

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