Getting to know new LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt
Every athlete has their own personalized pregame playlist.
Hip hop is commonly blasted through stadiums and locker rooms to get players and fans energized. Heavy metal or hard rock music might get some guys ready to go to battle.
But for LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt, he prefers a more mellow route.
“I always have to listen to reggae music,” Leavitt tells 225. “My whole family always listened to reggae growing up, so it’s something that puts me in a feel-good mood. I try not to get too amped up before the game, and it’s really calming.”
He’s got all his favorites on there—Bob Marley, J-Boog, Common Kings—but he only pops the playlist on after his pregame meditation.
Leavitt, who transferred in from Arizona State, will be hoping Tigers fans don’t worry about a thing with him under center this year. He has a 16-4 record as a starter and led his team to the College Football Playoffs in 2024.
He’s spent much of the offseason recovering from a Lisfranc foot injury, but he has been at or near full speed throughout the summer. Leavitt spoke with 225 this summer to chat about how his foot rehab is going, why he chose LSU, and even a little reggae music.
You’ve been going through a lot of rehab throughout the spring and summer. How has that gone and how tough was it not being able to be out there?
Coming off the injury and not being able to go with the team full go is really cruel. [My teammates] aren’t able to see me put in the work and be a grinder out there for them. That’s something that was eating at me the most of spring ball was not being out there for them. One thing about me is I’m a competitor, and it was difficult for me to not be out there competing with my guys. Other than that, summer has been going incredible. It’s been a huge jump in the system for me and physically, just constantly getting better.
You could have gone to a number of elite schools. Why LSU?
It was about finding the best possible situation for me to go have an incredible year and have a chance to go win a national championship, a Heisman and then put myself in the best position to go be the first pick in the draft next year. Other than winning a national championship, that is my No. 1 goal. Obviously, those are high expectations, but I’ve always had since I was a little kid that belief in myself. So I was looking at all these different schools, and if you just look at this offense, it’s so incredible what they’ve done. I want to be in a situation that plays a lot to my strengths. [The offense] reminds me a lot of my senior year. I transferred to a new school and it was a more RPO (run-pass option) driven offense—spread it out. Those things are kind of lining up, and it’s going to be really fun to watch it unfold.
You transferred in to Arizona State, won the starting job and led your team to the College Football Playoffs. What did you learn in your time there that will help you at LSU?
My time at ASU was incredible. I learned a lot as a human, as a football player, as a leader. Some things that I took away that were really positive were just my grind factor and how much I cared about every individual. My care factor for winning I think just rubbed off on everyone and they saw it. I do think that being in [the College Football Playoffs], I’m now going into the season [knowing] that especially in the first half of a game, I’ll be way calmer. I understand how the flow of the game goes, especially in those big-time moments where anything can really happen and you just always go to play the next play. You’re never focused on the next drive or something someone said. It’s just super focused on that singular play at hand.
What’s it been like working with all these new receivers? How have you managed to build a rapport with them?
We’ve got some young guys that have got some juice, and some older transfer guys that we brought in that understand the game really well. So me being able to express to them how I view certain concepts and things like that, I think, is the biggest thing that’s been able to grow throughout this summer. You can always run these routes how they’re drawn on paper and run them super hard and there’s going to be a million people who can do that. But how well do you understand the concept, the timing of the route, and the space that you need to be in? Certain times you’re sitting in windows where you don’t need to sprint for the tempo of routes. Me just constantly putting the ball in those situations and then expressing to them, ‘Hey, this is where you need to be on this timing,’ or ‘Oh, that was too fast there.’ I think we’ve done a great job in the spring and summer since I’ve been able to start throwing a lot more with them. We’ve skyrocketed in a month.
Your offense is being paired with what looks to be a strong defense, and many have you ranked in the preseason top 10 already. What are the team’s expectations this year?
Our defense is incredible. Being able to go against them every single day is going to be one of the greatest blessings I’m going to have. To be able to see their pre-snap holds and how they’re disguising stuff—Coach Baker does a great job with them. On top of that, just having incredible players at every single position, our defense is beyond loaded. And on offense, we’ve got a bunch of dudes as well. I’m just blessed to be able to go against them every single day and learn and grow. I never really try to put expectations on the year. The only expectation I put on us is to get better every single day. Everybody says get 1% better. How are we going to get 2% better?
This article was originally published in 225 Magazine’s 2026 Tiger Pride edition.
