Bio

One of the most decorated college football players in the sport’s history, Matt Leinart is an analyst on FOX Sports’ BIG NOON KICKOFF college football pregame show. A College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Leinart won the Heisman Trophy, a BCS National Championship and two Associated Press National Championships as a quarterback at Southern California.

Leinart started under center for the Trojans from 2003-05, becoming the first junior, and sixth player overall, in school history to win the Heisman Trophy, earning the award in 2004, a season in which he led the school to its second-consecutive Associated Press national championship. He finished his dominant career with a remarkable 37-2 record as a starter, ranked third in program annals in passing and became just the second player in school history to be voted an All-American three different times.

Additionally, Leinart earned Most Valuable Player honors at the 2004 Rose Bowl and 2005 Orange Bowl and was named the Pac-10’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2003 and Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2004. He was a three-time first-team All-Conference selection (2003-05), two-time Archie Griffin Award winner (2003 and 2004) and won the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, AP Player of the Year, Manning Award and Victor Award College Football Player of the Year in 2004. Selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, Leinart played six seasons in the NFL, spending time as a member of the Cardinals, Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders.

After making a handful of appearances on FS1 studio programming during the 2013 football season, Leinart officially joined the network in August 2014 as a regular on FOX SPORTS LIVE: COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF, FS1’s Friday night college football preview show at the time, and was a regular guest on FS1 signature studio programs. That same fall, he also appeared on the Pac-12 Network as a studio analyst, where he provided pregame, halftime and postgame analysis on Saturdays. In addition to his gameday duties, he appeared on the Network’s series “Pac-12 Football Weekly” and was featured in bowl game and spring football coverage. Leinart made the full-time move to the FOX Sports college football studio desk in 2015, where he continues to offer analysis during pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of college football games on FOX and FS1.

A native of Santa Ana, Calif., Leinart attended noted football powerhouse Mater Dei High School, where he led the Monarchs to the California Interscholastic Federation Division I co-championship in 2000 and was named the state’s Gatorade High School Football Player of the Year in 2001. Leinart maintains a strong interest in charitable endeavors and operates the Matt Leinart Foundation, an organization that aims to create athletic opportunities for underprivileged youth. Leinart currently resides in Los Angeles and has three children. He married actress Josie Loren in the summer of 2018. In his free time, Leinart enjoys coaching his son, Cole’s youth teams, playing golf and basketball, boating and spending time with family and friends.