SOUTH BEND, Ind. — When the older players on Notre Dame football’s roster with off-campus housing were allowed to move out of the team hotel on Thursday night, senior quarterback Riley Leonard opted to stay.
As Notre Dame’s preseason training camp starts to become more focused on the season opener at Texas A&M on Aug. 31, Leonard doesn’t want to change his routine.
“I’m really loving camp,” Leonard said Saturday, three weeks out from his debut in a Notre Dame uniform. “We moved out of the hotel the other day, but I just wanted to stay in there. So, I’m staying in the hotel, because I’ve been so locked in. I’ve been having such a good time.
“I really want to play against A&M, but I also just want more time in camp, because I just love camp. No school, obviously, is like the best part of it. Just straight football at Notre Dame. What more can you ask for?”
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Leonard won’t have to worry about classes — the semester starts Aug. 27 for undergrads — until game week. But Leonard and his fellow quarterbacks are being students of the game whenever the opportunity presents itself. Even at lunch.
“Sleep,” Leonard said of what he does outside of football-related activities during camp. “That’s about it. Sleep and lunch. But even in lunch, the QBs grab lunch and go eat in the QB room and watch film. There’s not much. I call my girlfriend every night. I’m good for 3-5 minutes. It’s been good.”
Leonard, an offseason transfer from Duke who’s expected to be Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, is making up for lost practice time after missing most of spring football due to a second surgery related to an ankle injury suffered against Notre Dame last September. Leonard made good use of his time in the winter/spring by acclimating himself with his new teammates. He arranged time to spend with the offensive line, the wide receivers and others off the field.
Then at Notre Dame’s spring practices, Leonard mimicked and walked through reps as best he could behind junior Steve Angeli, sophomore Kenny Minchey and freshman CJ Carr. Leonard returned to full strength in the summer and organized a trip for workouts with wide receivers and quarterbacks in his hometown of Fairhope, Ala., in May. He also participated in the Manning Pass Academy in June. That was all in addition to his work with his teammates in summer workouts.
“Being able to get on the field and compete and get your confidence back is a big deal for me,” Leonard said. “Whenever you’re sitting out for so long, you start to maybe have doubt every once in a while. Like, am I the right guy for this system? Did they intend to have a transfer quarterback that just got hurt? He hasn’t played. What’s he like? How’s he going to do this? How’s he going to do that?
“But being able to come out here and prove myself this fall camp has just been the best feeling in the world. I did a great job of relating to everybody on this team off the field, but at some point you gotta get in there. You gotta start throwing these guys touchdowns, giving them the ball and really getting after the game with them. Finally, we were able to get that piece of on-the-field chemistry.”
In order to show the chemistry he’s gained with Notre Dame’s pass catchers, Leonard has to have a grasp of what offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock wants him to do. Denbrock clearly showed how he could maximize the talents of a quarterback while Jayden Daniels finished his LSU career with a Heisman Trophy under Denbrock last season. There’s only so many mental reps Leonard could take before needing to get his feet in the offense.
“Coach Denbrock asks a lot of the quarterback in this offense,” said ND quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli. “There’s a lot of demands placed on that guy and a lot of checks at the line of scrimmage. Lot of freedom to be able to get in and out of plays and the only way you can get good at doing stuff like that is being in there and being behind center and see defensive looks and have to make those split-second decisions pre-snap based on what you’re looking at. I think he’s done a great job of just understanding what we’re trying to get accomplished, and then being able to process the defense to get us in the right play.”
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Much like Leonard needed to get to know his new teammates, Denbrock needed to take time to get to know Leonard. What Leonard learned is that Denbrock understands the relationship he needs to have with his quarterback and how to push the right buttons.
“He does a really good job of saying exactly what he needs to say,” Leonard said of Denbrock. “Not saying too much and not saying too little. He does a great job giving me advice when he needs to, and then letting me play whenever I’m starting to feel it. So many coaches will try to do too much and put too many hands on you. He lets us be free.
“Let’s say we get a coverage and I make a check and the play just blows up. All right, good check. Learn from it. You don’t have to be perfect in his offense. There’s a lot of different options that you can go to. He’s done a good job.”
Leonard put a lot of his talents on display the past two seasons at Duke. His breakout sophomore season (2,967 passing yards and 20 touchdowns with 699 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns) was followed by an injury-riddled 2023 season that clearly tanked his production (1,102 yards and 3 TDs passing and 352 yards and 4 TDs passing). But in working with Leonard, Guidugli has gained a better appreciation for him than he could from a statistical analysis or film study.
“He’s got better arm strength than I had anticipated,” Guidugli said. “When you get him in live play that ball really comes out of his hand. When you see him run and extend plays that aren’t quarterback run, or he’s just scrambling, like he doesn’t look fast, but he’s out there out-running safeties and corners to the edge, so you’re like ‘Man, he’s faster than you think.’ It’s deceiving.”
If anyone’s not going to be deceived by Leonard, it should be Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko, who was Leonard’s head coach at Duke the past two seasons. Leonard doesn’t expect A&M’s defense to be predictable either, even though he’s familiar with Elko’s coaching style.
Leonard’s getting plenty of practice facing a challenging defense due to everything Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden has been throwing at him. Notre Dame finished last season with the No. 1 passing efficiency defense in the FBS. The defense also finished third in passing yards allowed (157.3 per game) and fifth in total yards allowed (276.3 per game).
“It doesn’t get any better than to be able to practice against this defense every day,” Leonard said. “I’m so thankful for it, because hopefully when gametime comes it will be, in theory, a little easier, maybe, to unravel a defense pre-snap and have a presence in the pocket. They’re bringing pressure here and there. They’ve given us every look possible.”
When Notre Dame practiced inside Notre Dame Stadium on Thursday night, it gave Leonard a preview of what it will feel like to play on that field after only being able to watch the Blue-Gold Game in April. Leonard has yet to experience a true game in Notre Dame Stadium.
Thursday’s practice included plenty of scrimmage action, including Leonard rushing around the outside for a short touchdown. He thought about diving for the pylon but decided to jump and land on his feet while wearing his non-contact red jersey. The coaching staff didn’t give him grief for leaving his feet.
“That was awesome,” Leonard said of Thursday’s practice. “To be able to go out there and compete in that stadium, it just hits different. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of.”
Leonard won’t be focusing on Notre Dame’s home opener against Northern Illinois (Sept. 7) for another few weeks. He’s locked in on Texas A&M. That Saturday in College Station, Texas, will be the culmination of a roller coaster offseason for Leonard.
He’s not shy about his expectations. Leonard envisions himself leading an offense that’s prepared for the Aggies. Behind an outward aw-shucks deposition is a confidence that’s building in Leonard whether he’s throwing passes to his teammates or laying in a hotel bed.
“Nerves only come with lack of preparation,” Leonard said. “I say that to myself all the time. I’ve never been more prepared mentally and physically in my life. So there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll be ready. Regardless of outcome or anything, I’ll definitely have put in all the effort in the world to make that a good game.”
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