Arizona State's Sam Leavitt is exactly where he thought he'd be — everyone else is just catching up
TEMPE, Ariz. — Sam Leavitt recently appeared on 'The Matt Barrie Show,' the third national interview the Arizona State quarterback had done that day. He wore a maroon polo, the top button unfastened. His sandy blonde hair was stylishly messy.
Throughout a 20-minute interview, ESPN's Barrie, a popular voice in the college football media-verse and fellow Arizona State product, asked Leavitt about last season's improbable College Football Playoff run and how coach Kenny Dillingham has changed the program. He also innocently described Leavitt as a rising star and a sleeper Heisman Trophy candidate.
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It's a good bet Leavitt noticed. Athletes using slights, real or imagined, storing them for motivation, is nothing new. Leavitt, however, takes this to another level. High school teammate Mark Hamper says the chip on his friend's shoulder is as big as the Eiffel Tower, but it's useful, 'and it's going to take him to some pretty big places.'
This fall, with Arizona State projected to contend in the Big 12, the grudge and determination could help make Leavitt a household name. It's how Leavitt has always seen himself, following older brother Dallin Leavitt to the NFL, possibly as a first-round draft pick. The redshirt-sophomore just had to wait for everyone else to catch up. To see what he sees.
'People say I have a shot to win (the Heisman), but I'm not the No. 1 candidate,' Leavitt, 20, had said an hour or so before the Barrie interview, explaining motivation for his second Arizona State season. 'So you really think these other players are going to play better than me this year?'
As a reminder, the quarterback keeps a large whiteboard in his bedroom. It's the first thing he sees every morning and the last he sees before bed. The theme — 'How great do you want to be?' — hasn't changed, but Leavitt recently added another element. On the left side, in purple marker, are 10 names, his national quarterback competition.
Arch Manning …
Cade Klubnik …
DJ Lagway …
This probably doesn't surprise those who follow Arizona State closely. Leavitt made it clear last year after transferring from Michigan State that the chip on his shoulder wasn't just motivation, but an actual character in his journey. In November, Leavitt said he had looked forward to playing against Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson, who had been ranked higher than Leavitt during the 2023 recruiting cycle; Johnson ninth, Leavitt 18th, per 247 Sports. (Leavitt threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-14 Arizona State win.)
More memorably, Leavitt told reporters before Arizona State's CFP matchup against Texas and Quinn Ewers that he looked forward to proving he was the better quarterback, an approach he took every game. Given the contest's magnitude — and the fact that Ewers had won 20 games and led the Longhorns to two CFP appearances over two seasons — his comments made headlines. Dallin Leavitt said his brother called and told him he was shocked that everyone else was shocked. 'Like, how do you not think that I'm better than Quinn Ewers?' Dallin recalled Leavitt saying that afternoon. (Leavitt threw for 222 yards but was picked off on the final play of a 39-31 double-overtime loss.)
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Jon Eagle, Leavitt's coach at West Linn High in Oregon, did not hear the exact Ewers exchange, but he got the gist. His reaction: '100 percent Sam.' In 40 years of coaching, Eagle had seldom come across a player with more confidence. And as often is the case, disrespect turns into fuel.
Asked about the chip's origins, Leavitt started with a teammate in eighth grade who told him he wasn't the best player on the team. Later, he noticed people's reactions when he said he planned to follow his older brother's path to the NFL. (A 5-foot-10 safety who lacked great speed, Dallin Leavitt wasn't drafted out of Utah State but managed to play six NFL seasons, four with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, two with the Green Bay Packers.)
Every year, it was something new. You're not going to play Div. I. You're not going to be a blue-chip prospect. You'll never win a state championship.
At West Linn, Leavitt was the No. 2 prospect in Oregon, but his recruitment was slow to pop. Eagle said coaches from the former Pac-12 came to watch Leavitt, but whenever he pressed for reaction, they always provided a lukewarm response. Yeah, we're not sure. He's on our list. We'll see.
Eagle didn't understand. Not only did he see the arm talent in Leavitt, he saw a quarterback who processed information quickly. One who could make a mistake on one play and forget it the next. One who led the Lions to a state championship his senior season.
'There's two types of 'A' students,' Eagle said. 'There's the guy who's in the front row with his hand in the air. That's Sam. Then there's a guy in the back row that's scratching his chin, thinking about it. They're both 'A' students, but the guy up front is going to be your quarterback.'
Part of this is how Leavitt was raised. His father, Jared, played outside linebacker at BYU, where he was honored as the program's best conditioned and most courageous athlete. Dallin said early football conversations around the house didn't focus on touchdowns but on physicality, as in, 'Are you going to dominate the person across from you?'
Dallin's NFL journey showed Leavitt what was possible, but Dallin also credits their mother. The Leavitts grew up watching Tania Leavitt compete in triathlons. If she hiked a mountain with friends, she wanted to be first to the top.
Asked about this, Tania said Leavitt comes from a large family, and as the youngest of four, he always had support. It also helped that Leavitt was good at most everything he tried. In addition to football, Leavitt also played on West Linn's nationally ranked basketball team. Then-coach Robert Key said Leavitt could shoot the rock, 'but defensively, he was a dude,' and had he so desired, he probably could have played basketball in college.
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'Yeah, I'd say pretty much everything he does,' Olivia Price said of her brother's activities. 'He was always really good at school. He, like growing up, would be singing around the house and he had a good voice — not a great voice, but a good voice. He can dance. He's just good at everything he does, and as an older sibling, it's really annoying.'
But football was always the priority. Trainer Ryan Paul, who has worked with Leavitt and his brother for years, recalls Leavitt telling him as a high school sophomore that he one day would play in the NFL. (Paul's reaction: 'Well, that's cool, kid. We'll see how it goes.') Key recalls a similar exchange before basketball season. He asked Leavitt about his end result, and Leavitt responded: 'I want to play on Sundays.'
'It's funny,' Tania Leavitt said, 'because I know it comes across as super cocky, but it's kind of this, not a persona, but if you don't feel like you're the best, why go do it?'
The difference between confidence and cockiness can be tricky — the former a springboard, the latter a banana peel. Dillingham says the difference is work ethic, and this is an area in which Leavitt excels, always trying to outwork himself from the previous year.
Before Arizona State home games, Leavitt meditates in the facility's ice-tub room, where it's easy to get lost in the sound of rushing water. Leavitt used to try and force his thoughts into a certain mindset, but as time passed, he learned to embrace his mood. If he was mad, he let himself be mad. If he was sad, he let himself be sad. 'You're only going to play as comfortable as you feel,' he said.
Away from campus, Leavitt works with a sports chiropractor, learning how to stay calm under stress. At home, he meditates in a Solodome chair, which helps promote well-being through sound therapy. Leavitt also journals, not every day, but when he needs to improve at something or make an important decision. Writing it down brings accountability.
'Sam does everything he can do to create an advantage, so if there's anything that somebody's told him that can help him win, he's going to look into it and try to do it,' Dillingham said. 'I think that's what defines Sam. He's going to open every door to try and be the best.'
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In Week 6 last season, in the first half against No. 16 Utah, Leavitt faked a handoff and ran left. After a short gain, Utah linebacker Lander Barton slammed into the quarterback's side, fracturing a rib. Leavitt said it might have been the worst pain he'd ever felt, but it also might have been a blessing.
He missed Arizona State's next game, a 24-14 loss at Cincinnati, but returned after the Sun Devils' off week to face Oklahoma State. And he did so with a different mindset. To protect his body, Leavitt changed his game. He thought about protections more. If he escaped pressure, he looked to throw instead of run. He did whatever was necessary to get the ball into the hands of playmakers like Cam Skattebo and Jordyn Tyson. He threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-21 win.
Over Arizona State's final five regular-season games, all wins, Leavitt said he felt like he started to dominate mentally. ('I was killing Cover 0 checks,' he said.) He completed 66.7 percent of his attempts for 1,278 yards with 13 touchdowns and one interception. Arizona State, a team picked to finish last in the Big 12, went to Arlington, Texas, to face Iowa State for the conference title and a spot in the CFP. The Sun Devils won, 45-19. Leavitt threw three touchdown passes and ran for another.
After the game, Leavitt ran into Dallin. Although 10 years apart, the brothers are best friends. At AT&T Stadium, they celebrated, red-faced, yelling, chest-bumping, hand-slapping, butting heads. Dallin Leavitt saw a video of this as he left the stadium later that afternoon. He thought the moment, pure and raw, offered a glimpse into their relationship, their family and their motivation.
'It was such a cool moment because it felt like — man, excuse my language, but I don't really know how else to say it — but it felt like, 'F— everybody who doubted. I knew we were this. And I'm glad you got to show it,'' Dallin Leavitt said. 'That was the reality of it. That chip is just kind of how we function.'
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