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Carson Palmer returns to Santa Margarita looking to make an impact, lift up football program

December 18, 2024

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – He’s not doing it for the money.

Carson Palmer earned millions playing quarterback in the NFL after a Heisman Trophy-winning senior year at USC.

Palmer said he pursued the football head coaching position at Santa Margarita because he feels indebted to the high school that created the foundation that enabled him to have a rewarding and prosperous life in college and pro football.

Palmer was announced as Santa Margarita’s football head coach last week.

This past season he was a voluntary quarterbacks coach for the school’s freshman team that had his son Fletcher playing quarterback. Palmer also has a daughter at Santa Margarita and two younger children.

Santa Margarita hired Carson Palmer as its new football coach on Thursday, Dec. 12. Palmer says he is returning to his alma mater to try to have an impact on the lives of young athletes. 'I want to be part of that. I want to feel that,' he said. (Photo courtesy of Santa Margarita High) — Santa Margarita hired Carson Palmer as its new football coach on Thursday, Dec. 12. Palmer says he is returning to his alma mater to try to have an impact on the lives of young athletes. ‘I want to be part of that. I want to feel that,’ he said. (Photo courtesy of Santa Margarita High)

“As I was around this program more and realized the impact you can have in this game at this level, I wanted to have that impact,” said Palmer who sat down for an interview Tuesday in the Santa Margarita football building. “I want to be that coach when kids say, ‘Mom, remember when I played for Coach Palmer … ‘ I want to be part of that. I want to feel that.”

Anthony Rouzier had been the Eagles’ head coach since the 2020 season. Rouzier was placed on administrative leave in late October when the school began an investigation into an alleged hazing incident in the school locker room. Defensive coordinator Steve Fifita was promoted to head coach for the remainder of the season.

This is not, Palmer said, a temporary job, a three-year gig that will end when Fletcher’s senior season ends. He plans on coaching Santa Margarita long after his son graduates.

A wall in the Eagles football office has a list of the team’s CIF-SS championships, including the years 1996 and 1997 when Palmer quarterbacked the Eagles to CIF Southern Section titles. He threw for 413 yards and five touchdowns in the 1997 CIF-SS Division V final, a 55-42 win over Tustin in what remains one of the more memorable games in Orange County high school football history.

The Santa Margarita football office has a featured spot for Carson Palmer and some of his career highlights at USC and the NFL. (Photo by Steve Fryer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

“I want to get this thing rockin’ and rollin’,” said Palmer who turns 45 later this month. “I told the team when I met them that I want to make an impact and I want to teach football, but I also want to put another year on the wall.”

There is work to be done. While Santa Margarita consistently is a team in the upper portion of the Orange County Top 10, the Eagles have not been top contenders for a CIF championship since their most recent CIF-SS title in 2011 when Harry Welch coached the team. The Eagles also won a CIF State championship that season. There have been a smattering of wins in the playoffs, but since the 2018 season Santa Margarita is 31-41.

This past season Santa Margarita tied JSerra and Servite for fourth place in the six-team Trinity League and finished 5-7 overall, although three of the losses were by three or fewer points. The Eagles beat previously undefeated Inglewood in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs before losing to St. John Bosco 31-29 in the quarterfinals.

Where does Palmer start his Santa Margarita coaching venture?

“My focus right now is on putting together a coaching staff,” he said. “And to make sure we have a freshman team, a junior varsity team and a varsity team. The numbers (players in the football program) have been funky around here for a while so they weren’t able to field a whole JV team because of numbers. I want to improve the numbers here so that there’ll be a JV team and JV coach, so our guys can work on and develop that chemistry and bond that was created in the freshman year.”

Palmer said he has reached out to many coaching prospects, and many have reached out to him.

“I’m casting a wide net,” he said “I’m not going to just slap together a staff by a certain date. I’m very intentional in this process. I want everybody to be stellar in their ability to teach the game, but I also want them to have a good vibe and have the right kind of energy around these kids.”

The roster has a high-quality nucleus.

Junior linebacker Dash Fifita was named a co-defensive most valuable player in the Trinity League this season. Junior receiver Trent Mosley, the league’s MVP as a sophomore in 2023, missed a few games this season because of injury but still was selected all-league first team. Freshman running back Jaion Smith made all-league first team as did junior linebacker Leki Holani and junior cornerback Jayden Crowder.

Palmer said his coaching style and methods will borrow from many of the coaches he played for, including Pete Carroll, Norm Chow and Steve Sarkissian at USC and Hue Jackson at USC and with the Raiders and Bruce Arians with the Arizona Cardinals.

“I’ve got tons of stuff, tons of one-liners,” Palmer said. “I would just write stuff down they would say because they were funny, or I’d think, ‘Man, that’s such a good point.’

“I’ve been given so much by so many great minds and so many great teachers that I’m just recycling it all and using those points and maybe putting a spin on it. Some of that was so perfect I don’t need to put a spin on it.”

Palmer said he will bring in an offensive coordinator to run the offensive show, to make the calls on game nights. But, of course, Palmer will be in on the design.

“I’m going to have my handprints all over it,” he said. “I want to hire someone to call the plays so I don’t miss anything, so I can do a good job of managing it all so I don’t have distractions. But as we build out the playbook I’m going to be all over it.”

There will be some facets of coaching a high-level, Trinity League football program that might require more attention than Palmer anticipated.

Such as …

“Fundraising,” he said. “I had no idea how much of my time that’s going to take. There are always things coming up, and I’m just on Day 3 here, right?

“I just thought ‘OK, there’s a pool of money and you just figure it out and you just spread it out.’ There are all these little things that need to be accounted for, and I’m just now wrapping my head around it. In business it’s cash in and cash out, but here it’s just way more layered than that and I’ve got to figure it out.”

Palmer spent all four of his high school years at Santa Margarita and all four of his college years at USC. Today there is much more movement of athletes jumping from school to school, even in high school football.

“If someone here wants to leave then they’re going to leave,” Palmer said. “If they want to come then they’re going to come. If they make the decision to come, that’s awesome, if they want to leave there’s no hard feelings.

“That’s the landscape now and I’m not going to fight it.”

Carson Palmer came back to Santa Margarita to fight on for the school that meant much to him 30 years ago and still does today.

Carson Palmer returns to Santa Margarita looking to make an impact, lift up football program Orange County Register

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Carson Palmer returns to Santa Margarita looking to make an impact, lift up football program

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