BATON ROUGE - LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt spoke with the media for the first time since coming to Baton Rouge back in January.

Leavitt shared his recovery from foot surgery over the off-season and why LSU felt like the right place for his next step as he departed Arizona State.

"Yeah, the portal process was pretty crazy. I didn't expect it to go in that direction," Leavitt said of his whirlwind visits around college football before landing on the Tigers.

"When I came out here, took my visit, just kind of fell in love with the place, fell in love with the vision, and just the whole situation, you know. And then when I came to historic place, and just been so many great players come out of here, and then you view you know the players that you're going to play against every every day in practice, going up against guys like Whit Weeks and TJ Dottery, you know, and Ty Benefield, it's a special situation for me to be in, just to be able to grind every single day and get better. That's ultimately the end goal, and you know to come here and be with this staff. You know it's a situation where I don't really see how anyone can pass it up."

More importantly for this season Leavitt talked about his recovery from foot surgery, one that kept him off the field for most of Spring football and why this build-up to the 2026 season is so important for his future.

"I'm 100% right now, and I've been 100% for the past few months," Leavitt said of his rehabilitation and practice efforts.

"You know, my health is one thing that I take very seriously. Whether it's the food I eat, the way I sleep, the way I recover, so it's really never a question for me. You know, you can ask everyone from everywhere I've been. That's kind of something that I prioritize in my life. I think on kind of an extreme level. So yeah, I'm, you know, ready to go."