Not currently rated by ESPN, Cole Leinart held several Power 4 offers and picked SMU over Colorado, Arizona and Utah to become the second member of coach Rhett Lashlee's 2026 class.
Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.
"The culture they're building at SMU -- I just want to be a part of it," Leinart told ESPN."I love the coaching staff. They're literally like family now. I just want to be part of what they have there."Matt Leinart was a three-time All-American with the Trojans from 2001 to 2005, carrying a record of 37-2 across three seasons as a starter during which USC won back-to-back national titles .
SMU was the first program to seriously pursue Leinart when the Mustangs offered him a scholarship under former coach Sonny Dykes prior to Leinart's freshman year of high school. Dykes moved onto TCU shortly thereafter, but Leinart remained in touch with the Mustangs and soon developed a close relationship with Lashlee, SMU's third-year coach.
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