A football legend from Southern California is returning to his roots.

Carson Palmer, a well-known former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, has been named the new head coach of the Santa Margarita High School football team.

During his high school years in the 1990s, Palmer set numerous records at Santa Margarita before continuing his football career at USC. Currently, his son Fletch is a freshman quarterback at the same high school. Last season, Palmer volunteered as a coach for Fletch’s freshman team.

Palmer takes over the coaching role from Anthony Rouzier, who led the team for five years before being placed on administrative leave in October. The team completed the season under the guidance of Steve Fifita, the defensive coordinator.

This fall, Santa Margarita High School made it to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division I playoffs, securing a first-round victory against Inglewood with a 59-26 win. However, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by St. John Bosco, who were Division I runners-up, with a close score of 31-29.

During his time as head coach, Rouzier recorded a 23-21 record. Following his leave, Santa Margarita’s president Andy Sulik clarified that Rouzier’s situation stemmed from reporting an alleged incident of student misconduct in the locker room, which resulted in his administrative leave.

Sulik emphasized that the leave had “nothing to do with any concerns that Coach Rouzier himself posed a threat to his players’ safety or well-being.”

In his high school days, Palmer led Santa Margarita to back-to-back Division V state championships in 1996 and 1997 before transferring to USC, where he achieved remarkable stats including leading the Pac-10 in completion percentages for three consecutive years (2000-2002) and winning the Heisman Trophy in 2002. After his college career, the school retired his No. 3 jersey.

Palmer was the top pick in the 2003 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he played for eight seasons and made two Pro Bowl appearances in 2005 and 2006. Following the 2010 season, he requested a trade and was later transferred to the Oakland Raiders during the 2011 season after considering retirement.

After two years with the Raiders, Palmer spent the last five years of his NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals, achieving a career-high season in 2015 when he led the team to the NFC championship game and secured his only playoff victory.

He announced his retirement in 2017, having spent most of the season on injured reserve.

Since hanging up his cleats, Palmer has not been deeply involved with football until this past fall when he volunteered to coach the Eagles’ freshman squad. Now, he is stepping up to lead a high school team competing in one of the toughest leagues in the nation. Santa Margarita is part of the Trinity League, which includes powerhouse teams like St. John Bosco and Mater Dei, both of whom frequently contend for state championships.