A Southern California football icon is back at his alma mater.
Longtime NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer will be the new varsity coach of the Santa Margarita High School football program.
Palmer broke dozens of high school records for the school while playing there in the 1990s before enrolling at nearby USC. His son, Fletch, is currently a freshman quarterback at Santa Margarita. Palmer spent the 2024 season as a volunteer coach for Fletch and the freshman team.
The former Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders, and Arizona Cardinals quarterback succeeds Anthony Rouzier, who spent five years at the helm. Rouzier was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 1 and the Eagles closed the season out under interim coach Steve Fifita, the team’s defensive coordinator.
Santa Margarita made the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division I playoffs this fall, beating Inglewood 59-26 in Round 1. The Eagles ultimately fell 31-29 to Division I runner-up St. John Bosco in the quarterfinals.
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Rouzier went 23-21 as the Eagles’ head coach. Santa Margarita president Andy Sulik said in a statement following Rouzier’s leave that the coach ‘reported an incident to the administration that involved allegations of student misconduct in the locker room, and he was then placed on a leave of absence related to the incident.’
Sulik went on to state that Rouzier’s leave had ‘nothing to do with any concerns by us that Coach Rouzier personally posed a threat to any of his players’ safety and well being.’
Palmer led Santa Margarita to consecutive Division V state titles in 1996 and 1997 before enrolling at USC. He led the Pac-10 in completion percentage three straight seasons (2000-2002). His 2002 season earned him the Heisman Trophy and Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year honors. His No. 3 was retired by the program following his playing career.
The Bengals selected him No. 1 overall in the 2003 NFL draft and he spent the next eight seasons in Cincinnati. He made the Pro Bowl in 2005 when he ended the team’s 15-year playoff drought and again in 2006. He requested a trade following the 2010 season and contemplated retirement before eventually being dealt to the Raiders during the 2011 season.
Palmer spent two years there before spending the final five seasons of his NFL career with the Cardinals. He had one of the best seasons of his career in 2015 when he earned his only playoff win and led Arizona to the NFC championship game.
He retired after the 2017 NFL season after spending much of the year on injured reserve.
Since retiring, Palmer hasn’t spent much time around the game until this fall, when he was a volunteer coach for the Eagles’ freshman team. He now steps up to lead a team in one of the toughest high school football leagues in the country. Santa Margarita plays in the Trinity League featuring national powers like St. John Bosco and Mater Dei, who regularly compete for state titles.