Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard Reveals Why He Chose School

Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard revealed why he chose to transfer to the school.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13) at Notre Dame spring football practice Thursday, March 7, 2024, at the Irish Athletics Center in South Bend. / GREG SWIERCZ / USA TODAY NETWORK

Coming into the college football offseason, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish knew that they needed a new quarterback. Sam Hartman departed and was drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Thankfully, Notre Dame was able to find a new quarterback. They were able to secure the transfer of former Duke Blue Devils starting quarterback Riley Leonard.

Leonard has shown flashes of being a potential star throughout his career. However, he has been unable to stay healthy. Just last season, he suffered a brutal ankle injury that he has struggled to come back from since.

That being said, Leonard is ready to get back on the field and seems close to full health. He should be just fine by Week 1 of the season.

In a recent quote, Leonard opened up about his decision to transfer to the Fighting Irish. He detailed why he made that choice.

“So it’s a couple things. No. 1, the players. On my official visit, we took a dinner downtown, and that’s kind of what ended up convincing me, that I wanted to go there. You walk into the locker room every day, you want to be around guys that just have your back, and are great people, on and off the field, and Notre Dame’s got it. The coaching staff, as well. You’ve got to throw that I there. The coaching staff plays a big part."

He continued forward, going more in-depth about the coaching staff.

“Obviously, you have a coordinator like Mike Denbrock, coming from LSU, where Jayden Daniels obviously had a great year, so I’m exciting to get into that offense. He always say we’ve got the keys to the car, so to be able to operate an offense like that, that’ll be a lot of fun for me.”

During the 2023 season with Duke, Leonard ended up completing 57.6 percent of his pass attempts for 1,102 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. He also picked up 352 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

Back in 2022, however, Leonard provided a much bigger sample size of his ability. He threw for 2,967 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions in addition to 699 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.

Not only has Leonard displayed incredible potential on the field, he has found major success off of it as well. On3 has ranked Leonard as the No. 18 overall college NIL athlete in the nation. He has been given an NIL valuation of $896,000.

A lot is at stake for the young quarterback entering the 2024 season. He is playing for a potential chance at working his way into the 2025 NFL Draft picture.

Leonard has the talent and potential to lead Notre Dame to a very successful season this year. Hopefully, he'll be able to stay healthy and play up to his full potential.