Matt Leinart will not allow USC to unretire his jersey number. Only three people on the planet are allowed to wear No. 11 as a Trojan and they all share the same last name.
Leinart… Their last name is Leinart.
One of the greatest players in college football history refuses to give his number to an unproven recruit in the transfer portal era. He does not trust the younger generation to
Matt Leinart is a Heisman Trophy winner.
Leinart initially committed to USC out of Mater Dei High School under head coach Paul Hackett. The highly-touted quarterback considered other programs when Hackett was fired, like Georgia Tech and Oklahoma, but he ultimately stuck with the Trojans when they hired Pete Carroll.
It was a great decision!
Matt Leinart took a redshirt in 2001. He served as the understudy to Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Carson Palmer in 2011. The 6-foot-5 lefty was named the starter in 2003.
USC went 37-2 in Leinart’s three seasons as the starting quarterback with back-to-back national championships in 2003 and 2004. The Trojans came just three points short of the three-peat with a loss to Texas in the greatest college football game of all-time that next season.
Leinart completed 64.8% of his passes for 10,693 yards and 99 touchdowns with 23 interceptions during his three years as the starter. He lost only two games, total.
Not only did Leinart win two national titles, he won the Heisman Trophy as a redshirt junior.
USC retires the jersey numbers of all of its Heisman winners. That list now includes Palmer, Reggie Bush, Charles White, Caleb Williams, Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Marcus Allen and Leinart.
They are proudly displayed at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Nos. 3, 5, 11, 12, 13, 20, 32 and 33 will never be worn again… without permission.
USC tried to unretire the jersey number 11.
It is not uncommon for a highly-ranked college football to ask for certain concessions from his suitors during the recruiting process. It would be more surprising if he didn’t.
Those kinds of requests look a lot different today, in the era of NIL. Recruits want cash. The programs that offer the most amount of money often have the best chance of landing the best athletes.
However, there are still a few things that carried over from the past to the present.
That includes jersey numbers. Many of these top recruits have worn the same number their entire careers and they want to wear that number in college.
It is a completely fair ask but those kinds of requests present a challenge when the number is already retired, like No. 11 at USC. The university must get clearance from the player who wore the jersey to gift his number to a recruit before it can promise that specific number to the aforementioned recruit.
Matt Leinart refuses to grant permission.
The 42-year-old revealed his reasons for saying no (more than once) on an episode of the Throwbacks podcast. He will not unretire his jersey number for a kid who he does not know who could transfer after one season.
Only members of his family will be allowed to wear No. 11 at USC. Nobody else.