Sam Leavitt on being named ASU's starting quarterback (08/20/2024)

reaction to be play in St yeah you know all sorts of emotions uh mostly Joy but um you know I kind of had that uh idea coming along and that was my goal this whole time but you know I definitely took a moment to you know just thank God for the opportunity and uh just feel appreciative of it yeah actually texted me the night before so it it wasn't in person I was by myself got a text um you know we had kind of like sprinkled around this the subject and kind of got a hint of it before so uh you know it wasn't a complete shock or anything but uh you know being by myself it just made me really be able to embrace a moment and uh you know like I said Thank God s you transferred here how much did you believe that you be the start of this yeah you know I mean that's your that's uh coming out the portal that's your main intention you know finding a school where you know you feel like you're going to develop the best but also get a shot to you know play as a you know as your first year in the program so coming in here you know I thought I thought I was going to start 100% you know obviously uh got to beat out Jaden and uh then we brought Jeff in and you know tren's been here for a while so it's been a process for sure but uh you know I don't know if you really like put a percentage on it it's kind of always come into the situation thinking you're going to get started marus said when you came here for your recruitment meeting he met with you for six hours what do you remember about that day yeah yeah we sat in the office and you know just talked schematics and uh you know everything about quarterback play you know off the- field mental you know how you car yourself as a leader uh mechanics um you know footwork you know philosophies guys you train with and we actually talked as well when I first met him in person at uh at the dinner for like two hours about mechanics as well so you know he's a ball junkie just like me what do you think you learned the most of the camp so far KN that it's coming to an end what do you think was your biggest moment of growth uh I mean just seeing the defense um constantly growing and you know footwork timing timing's massive uh understanding where your Outlets are and just seeing different looks and understanding you know in every single play when you get a certain look where you're going to go with the ball uh so just things along those lines ky's mentioned how you changed your leadership style from kind of spring to now what was part of that process for you did you have think about that a lot and how did that how did that mindset go yeah you know we talked about it during spring uh it's hard to make such of a big adjustment in the moment uh coming in Spring you know I just wanted it so bad that you know I was just approaching people and myself you know I was treating myself uh you know too harshly and I was you know beat myself up and then I was taken out on the team as well uh you know so I realized um Kenny had a lot of talks with me and just you know he really he really emphasized that and said that was one of the biggest uh transitions that Bo made coming from Auburn to Oregon so you know I took that as a is a big role and I feel like I've done a way better job obv still room for improvement but how much hear about Bo and just his Evolution over a 5e college period how you study him yeah you know me and me and Coach Dam talk about B Bunch you know he says I resemble him which know which is amazing to hear um you know so I try to watch him play and uh just see how he uh how he operates you know the the different type of um checks and reads he makes in terms of protections is what really separates him and you know that's the level I'm trying to get to so uh just understand you know starting off the game and uh you know taking what the defense gives you and letting the big plays open up at the end how important how important was that what the qu that you making the decision to come to ASU and where you believe you can go yeah you know when you make your decision to come to ASU um you know you look at past history you know with quarterback success offensively and you know everything with that so him being with Jordan Travis and B Knicks and elevating their game and being able to sit down with him and um understand what he did exactly to make him get there uh you know it's really appealing he had a couple nice long completions to receivers today how was that process though seems like it's been pretty seamless uh like getting on the same page with your receivers oh yeah I mean it's just reps like I always say uh you know I missed a couple earlier earlier in Camp and I really want to hit the Deep once that has kind of been one of my bigger emphasis um you know cuz I've missed a few so coming out today and being able to hit two for two today you know I felt really good so I was happy about that how has it been for you to have both Jeff and considering all the experience they have now competing against them kind of learning yeah you know Trenton's great and Jeff's great you know they've both been and played in a lot of games and situations and you know they both have a lot of wise words to tell me so just taking bits and pieces and uh you know understanding what it takes to be a quarterback at this level um you know I'm just constantly competing that's one of my favorite things to do in life you know so in every aspect you know I'm always trying to beat them and whatever it is I mean you could you know conditioning if we're shooting Hoops uh for playing a board game you know I always want to win so uh just constantly competing with them and uh trying to one up them talk about how you put in the early hours late hours Dark Hours what drives you so much to put in that yeah what drives me um I don't know I guess my why is just this all I've known my family is a football family and it's kind of just what I've done since a young age my brother instilled it in me and so did my dad uh so it's just you know taking it day by day and every single day me and my brother uh live by a MTO just you know how great do you want to be that's the question so I have that on my mirror when I wake up um you know I ask myself that question and you know coming out to practice in this weather and uh you know you're hot out and got to get the juices going and you're tired so uh you know every single day just pushing yourself to the Max and you know asking yourself how great do you want to be cuz you know it's as great as you're going to make yourself so Sam since the spring you got really two major additions and tit make here wide receiver clim looks like those guys really hit the ground running in full Camp um how much of they really elevated this offense just from the spring yeah you know it's uh it's a really good addition to have them both you I've connect connected with them on a bunch of balls and you know they're they're really smart players and have a good feel for the game so they picked it up really quick you know it's been a huge addition and you know we're going to see a lot of it this season so how do you answer that question can you ask yourself in the morning how do I answer it uh well it's just it's not like you haven't answer how great do you want to be you know so I guess my actions are my answer um throughout the entire day you know what I eat you know uh how much I sleep you know do I do everything I need to do the night before in the film meetings you know and then uh how I carry myself to my teammates so that you know they can uh do the same thing as well and make the team the best you get that text from Kenny is there a side of relief to take a breath is it time to take a breath now oh yeah I mean you know you get to you get to enjoy the moment for sure um you know I I probably sat there for you know a few minutes and just really soaked it in and you know just put my put my phone down and sat there on the on the ground just looking at the ceiling and really you know indulging the moment um but you know going forward that was the ultimate plan so if anything gives me you know more juice you know now I'm the guy now I got to hold myself to that standard now I got to keep that because you know you only stay at this is if you perform so um just got to keep going and you know keep getting better on that mirror where did that come from that idea to have great can you be on your miror uh well me and my brother have just kind of Liv lived by that our whole lives he he always said it for Me growing up every single time you know before before work hard when I was tired if I didn't want to stretch and stuff like that you know I didn't want to eat that extra meal to gain the way I needed to gain um so I don't know if it was an idea by anybody I just had a I have a whiteboard and I had another note on my fridge um you know just saying people counted you out prove them wrong um so I just I just saw the marker and wanted to write it on my rear on my mirror so nobody gave me the idea I just kind of thought of it yeah I mean you know means a whole lot uh just just proves you know the work that I put in has um has really meant something and you know you sit in the office late at night and while you're stretching you really ask yourself why why are you doing what you do you know because you want to see results so when results are given and you know it's been a long time since um I mean maybe not a long time but one year since I've been named a starter since my Senior High School uh so I've just been so hungry for it and uh yeah it's just why do you do it being red freshman and now being the starter how prepared do you feel to take the field and Lead this team uh I mean just compared to last year I feel 10 times better it's it's night and day you know throwing the football um you know seeing the defense you know protections I'm always going to keep working that's something that you know I feel like is going to separate me um this season and I'm just going to constantly keep drilling it uh but in terms of preparedness you know I I don't know if I could ask for much more other than another year into my belt which you know I can't make uh I don't have a time machine so can't do that but uh you know I'm really ready to go and feel like we have a good team this year takes a lot of work to become a to for sun quarterback what are some the things that you really love about playing quarterback position is being in control um since a young age I feel like I've always wanted to have the ball in my hands whether that's in football or basketball you know I always want to take the last shot um and Hoops for the game winner so um you know I just kind of carried over and you know I'm a pretty controlling person in general personality wise so uh just that aspect of it and then uh you know you live and die by the sword so you know you're you're all the success or you're all the failure um and I love that you that's what I play it for um you know I don't I don't do this for any of the fame or anything like that so I just I love being out on the field and having the ball in my hands and being able to make a play and you know here the crowd Roar and you know have our team go crazy and everything like that so it's pretty special when you're able to make those plays