The Lane Kiffin show is about to begin for the LSU Tigers in the 2026 college football season. However, so will Sam Leavitt’s tenure in Baton Rouge get started. The expectations are set high for the redshirt junior quarterback, who is coming off a season-ending foot injury in 2025.
After Kiffin’s dramatic departure from the University of Mississippi to take over as the head coach at Louisiana State University, the Tigers have been under the national spotlight. That means they have a lot to prove, and so does Arizona State transfer Leavitt. Although he could have made excuses just in case things don’t pan out, LSU‘s starting quarterback delivered a bold update on his health.
“I’m 100% right now, and I’ve been 100% for the past few months,” Leavitt admitted during a press conference on Monday. “I really don’t think about [the injury when I’m] out on the field. My health is one thing that I take very seriously. So, it was really never a question for me. So, yeah, I’m ready to go.”
Leavitt’s injury
Leavitt suffered a Lisfranc injury to his right foot in October 2025, which led to season-ending surgery. That was all she wrote for his time with the Sun Devils, as he would go on to enter the transfer portal and commit to Kiffin and the Tigers.
Lane Kiffin of the LSU Tigers at SEC Football Kickoff Media Day.
During the spring, Leavitt underwent a second procedure to remove the pins from his foot. As Leavitt noted during his media availability, he has no more “hardware” in his right foot and faces no setbacks or hurdles in his return to action.
With him fully healthy, LSU expects Leavitt to start in NCAA‘s Week 1, when the Fighting Tigers take on the Tigers from Clemson at Death Valley—the one in Baton Rouge—in a true battle of namesakes and a competition for bragging rights.
Leavitt’s stats in college
At six-foot-two and as a four-star prospect out of West Linn High School in Oregon, Leavitt has become quite the journeyman in college football. The redshirt junior redshirted his true freshman year at Michigan State, appearing in four games, before transferring to Arizona State, where he led the Sun Devils to a Big 12 Championship.
So far in his NCAA career, Leavitt has completed 376 of 612 passes (61.4 completion percentage) for 4,652 yards and 36 touchdowns. Leavitt has also rushed for 816 yards and 10 touchdowns.
His decision-making and tendency to play hero ball still raise eyebrows, but if there’s a school that can make the most out of such a talent, it’s LSU—and Kiffin is the head coach who can help make that possible.
