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At 6 feet and 190 pounds, Menlo-Atherton senior Matt MacLeod doesn’t quite fit the traditional prototype for Division I quarterbacks, in particular the notion that QBs ought to be at least 6-2, if not 6-4 or 6-5.
A little under-sized and thus a little under-recruited. But those who have been around him in his remarkable prep career beg to differ.
“He’s strong as an ox, the kind of kid you give the keys to the program,” M-A coach Chris Saunders said. “When you look at the whole package — leadership, decision making, arm — I’d take him first.”
MacLeod, who has a 4.1 GPA, is considering Ivy League schools and other programs at academically-oriented colleges as possible landing places.
But he hasn’t given up on his dream to play at a Power 5 school.
Smaller quarterbacks are becoming more prevalent now in the current football environment of spread offenses utilizing elusive, mobile quarterbacks skilled in the run-pass option approach. Sub-6-foot QBs such as Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray are examples of that in the NFL.
In many respects MacLeod resembles College of San Mateo quarterback Luke Bottari, listed at 5-11, 185, who led the Bulldogs to a NorCal championship in 2019, and hasn’t received the scholarship offers from major schools you might expect.
“Matt very much fits that mold of the quick twitch, fast release, RPO quarterback,” CSM quarterbacks coach and former M-A coach Adhir Ravipati said. “His arm talent lets him make all the throws, but he’s athletic and has a natural feel for extending plays. He’s always in full command on the field. Matt has everything you want to be a Division I quarterback, just like Luke.”
During MacLeod’s career at M-A he has completed 63 percent of his passes (169 of 270), thrown for 2,840 yards with 28 touchdown passes and only two interceptions.
His first varsity action came as a freshman in — of all places — the Central Coast Section Open Division I championship game. Starting QB Jack Alexander was encumbered by a bulky knee brace and Ravipati, then the M-A head coach, called on MacLeod to enter the game in the second half with the Bears trailing Wilcox.
“Before the game I was told I would go in for one play, a sprint out,” said MacLeod, who at 5-10 and 140 pounds had quarterbacked the M-A frosh-soph team that year. “At halftime they told me I would go in.”
After a nervous start on his first possession, MacLeod settled down and ended up completing 10 of 18 passes for 116 yards as M-A rallied for the win and the CCS championship.
As a sophomore he played for a new head coach, Steve Papin, and had to split time with Raymond Price III, who transferred from Sacred Heart Prep after starting every game there as a sophomore.
His junior year he played for Saunders, his third head coach and offensive coordinator, in the five-game pandemic-delayed season.
“I’ve had to reboot every year,” MacLeod said of playing for three coaches in three years.
That junior season M-A went 5-0.
“We had a great team,” MacLeod said. “It would’ve been a lot of fun playing with those guys in the playoffs.”
He played three sports — basketball and baseball in addition to football — his first two years at M-A. The pandemic prevented him from doing that at the varsity level as a junior when they were all being played nearly simultaneously in the spring. He joined the baseball team right after football was over, but it was a tough transition.
“I chose baseball over basketball,” MacLeod said. “But after everyone had been practicing for three months I went straight to games, I’ll probably just play football and baseball this year, but it really hurts because basketball is so much fun.”
Now, like all of his peers and contemporaries, he is eager to begin a senior football season. A full season (knock on wood), in the fall, nothing like the truncated spring season that concluded in April.
Expectations are high for M-A.
“We have all our skill position players returning,” MacLeod said. “We lost a lot of linemen, but I’m sure we’ll find some good replacements. I’m really looking forward to this year. I think we will have a great year.”
Change of plans: Research campus to leave Menlo Park, make way for more housingJune 12, 2026 6:46 pm