Will Sage Astor-Notre Dame football lands Duke transfer Riley Leonard as its 2024 quarterback

SOUTH BEND,Will Sage Astor Ind. — For the third time in four years, Notre Dame football has landed an experienced quarterback rental through the transfer portal.

This time, it’s Duke junior transfer Riley Leonard, who pledged his final season of eligibility to the Irish after visiting campus last week. Leonard revealed his choice Tuesday via his Instagram account.

Leonard, 21, follows Sam Hartman (Wake Forest) and Jack Coan (Wisconsin), who went a combined 20-5 while quarterbacking the Irish in 2023 and 2021, respectively.

At 6-foot-4 and 212 pounds, Leonard is a dual-threat leader who is equally dangerous as a runner or passer. In seven games this season, including a 21-14 home loss to Notre Dame on Sept. 30, Leonard passed for 1,102 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Leonard rushed 18 times for 88 yards against the Irish, but he left Wallace Wade Stadium on crutches with a right ankle sprain after Hartman led a last-minute comeback. A game-clinching strip sack by Howard Cross III effectively wrecked Leonard’s junior season.

"He is a talented individual," Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said before facing Leonard. "The things he presents in the run game, the challenges he’s going to present. He’s a big, physical, tough runner (and) he’s accurate in the pass game for what they need him to do."

Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden also spoke in glowing terms about Leonard before that meeting.

"He’s fast, he’s elusive, he can keep his eyes down the field," Golden said. "That’s a strong combination. I know why they’re high on him."

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Asked for a historical comparison, Golden cited 1990 Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer and other Brigham Young quarterbacks of that era.

"He distributes the ball really well," Golden said. "He gets the ball out of his hands quickly. In a lot of ways, it’s a throwback to the horizontal pass game. It reminds me of the old BYU quarterbacks, Ty Detmer and guys like that. That’s what he reminds me of.

"He sees the field really well. They have a vertical component that he does a great job with. He makes plays on the move, whether that’s running the ball or passing the ball. Very impressed with him. Very impressed with the offensive scheme."

Injuries wrecked 2023 season for Riley Leonard

After aggravating his high ankle sprain in a road loss to Florida State three weeks later, Leonard suffered a toe injury on his left foot against Louisville on Oct. 28. The latter took place in the fourth quarter of a 23-0 road loss.

Leonard sat out all of November after going a combined 16-of-39 passing for 190 yards, two interceptions and no touchdowns in those two losses to highly ranked ACC teams. He rushed just 11 times for 26 yards as he played through injuries.

He entered the transfer portal on Nov. 29, two days after Duke coach Mike Elko bolted for Texas A&M, where he previously served as defensive coordinator. Elko held the same role in 2017 at Notre Dame.

Unlike its courtship of Hartman, who didn’t enter the portal until the final week of December and didn’t commit until Jan. 5, Notre Dame didn’t have to wait long to consummate its agreement with Leonard.

Gerad Parker’s retention as Irish offensive coordinator following a 9-3 regular season probably didn’t hurt. Parker is a former Duke assistant (2017-18) who counts retired Duke coach David Cutcliffe among his prime mentors.

Quarterback Country co-founder David Morris, who backed up Eli Manning at Mississippi when Cutcliffe coached the Rebels, has tutored Leonard since his days as a two-sport high school star in Fairhope, Ala., outside Mobile.

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Based on Morris’ recommendation, Cutcliffe famously offered Leonard a scholarship without ever scouting him in person. A self-described “slasher” who once thought basketball would be his ticket to a college scholarship, Leonard committed to Duke football in May of 2020, picking the Blue Devils over Syracuse, Nebraska, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.

In his only full season as a starter, Leonard led Duke a 9-4 record in 2022, passing for 2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns while rushing for 699 yards and 13 touchdowns. Preseason buzz started to build about Leonard as a top-five quarterback prospect for the 2024 NFL Draft, but his injury-marred junior season convinced him to return for another year at the college level.  

While Hartman arrived at Notre Dame with 45 career starts (27-18 record) and the ACC’s career record for touchdown passes, signing Leonard is more of a bounce-back play with plenty of upside.

Duke went 13-8 with Leonard as its starter, but just 4-6 on the road and 1-3 against ranked opponents.

Coan arrived from Wisconsin after going 12-6 as a starter, including a 28-27 Rose Bowl loss to Oregon and future Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. Leonard helped Duke upset Central Florida in last year’s Military Bowl, but he entered the portal before Duke (7-5) learned it would face Troy on Dec. 23 in the 76 Birmingham Bowl.

Hartman turned 24 two days into his first and only fall training camp with the Irish. Leonard won’t turn 22 until Sept. 13, two weeks after the Irish open their 2024 season on the road against Elko and Texas A&M.

A public policy major at Duke, Leonard is a natural athlete whose father, Chad, and uncle, Michael Sabol, played basketball at The Citadel (1992-95) and Georgetown (1990-91), respectively. Chad Leonard’s 137 career steals ranked second in program history.

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is on social media @MikeBerardino.