ANAHEIM, Calif. – Longtime NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer is the new head coach at Santa Margarita High School, his alma mater.
Santa Margarita announced the hiring of Palmer on social media Friday. The Catholic prep school is located in Rancho Santa Margarita, a well-to-do suburb in southern Orange County.
Palmer went 32-2-1 as a starter at the school in the late 1990s, winning back-to-back CIF Southern Section titles. He returned last year to help out informally at the school where his son, Fletch, is a quarterback in the 2028 class.
Palmer played four seasons at Santa Margarita before moving to USC, where he won the Heisman in 2002 under coach Pete Carroll.
He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft by Cincinnati, and he went on to play 15 seasons for the Bengals, the Oakland Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals, who reached the NFC championship game in January 2016.
Palmer, who turns 45 later this month, retired in January 2018.
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