Ex-Heisman winner lands football head coaching job

Nov 26, 2017; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) looks on after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Some seven years after his playing career ended, Carson Palmer is now going into head coaching.

Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that the former NFL quarterback Palmer has been hired as the new head football coach of Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. Sondheimer notes that Palmer spent the 2024 season as a volunteer coach for the school’s freshman team, where his son Fletch was a quarterback.

Palmer, now 44, is an alum of Santa Margarita. He then went on to a successful college career at USC (where he won the Heisman Trophy in 2002) and then became the No. 1 overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2003 NFL Draft. Palmer spent 14 seasons in the league with the Bengals, Raiders, and Cardinals and made three total Pro Bowl appearances as well as an All-Pro team in 2015.

After last playing in the 2017 season for Arizona, Palmer has mostly stayed out of the news (except for some critical comments about certain NFL stars). But now he will be taking over a Santa Margarita team that just went 5-7 this season in the Trinity League (which also has Mater Dei, St. John Bosco, and other well-known high schools).