SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Riley Leonard bounced up the stairs of the Irish Athletics Center to meet with local Notre Dame football reporters for the time Friday afternoon as if he was looking to prove exactly how wrong the initial reporting around his January ankle surgery and recovery timeline was.
Three days prior to a previously scheduled media availability for Leonard and other newcomers to the Notre Dame football program, the first report on Leonard’s injury status contained multiple significant errors that were quickly debunked by sources around the program.
Leonard, who transferred to play quarterback Notre Dame after three seasons at Duke, set the record straight himself Friday. Not only has he already returned to doing most of Notre Dame’s winter workout program, he’s expected to be 100% ready to go when Notre Dame starts spring football practice in March.
“I feel great,” Leonard said. “I'm bouncing around. Obviously no boot, nothing. You probably wouldn't even realize I got surgery.
“That story broke a couple days ago. It wasn't really a secret. I tell people all the time, like I was riding around campus in my electric wheelchair thing, just scooting around. I was embracing it, you know, ‘What’s up?’
“But it's been good, like it's been super easy. [Head football athletic trainer] Rob Hunt and the whole athletic training staff have been great with me. I should be back in a couple of weeks. I'm two weeks in right now and feeling great already, so no problem at all.”
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The 6-foot-4, 213-pound Leonard underwent tightrope surgery to complete the repair of a high ankle sprain he suffered against Notre Dame on Sept. 30 of last year. Leonard, who returned to play for Duke three weeks after the initial injury, was eventually sidelined for the rest of the season with a toe injury. Once Leonard arrived at Notre Dame, the medical staff determined he was still at a higher risk of reinjuring his ankle based on the way it healed without surgery.
Leonard has been cleared to do most of Notre Dame’s winter workout activities, but he has yet to resume sprinting. Instead, he’s making quick work of acclimating to new surroundings in South Bend.
Prior to announcing his commitment to transfer to Notre Dame on Dec. 12, Leonard’s previous connections to Notre Dame came through a great grandfather he claims played football at Notre Dame and an affinity for the movie, “Rudy,” as a child.
“Me and my brother would watch it every single day,” Leonard said. “So it's so crazy to be here now. I'm coming in, like, super humble perspective, just so grateful to be here. Every day I walk on campus, and just wearing this logo on my chest just means so much to me. Hopefully I can represent it the right way.”
Leonard opted to hit the transfer portal shortly after Duke’s regular season ended in late November. Duke head coach Mike Elko was hired away to Texas A&M. And Leonard wanted to look into other options for himself, too.
“The portal was never really anything I really thought of until I got hurt,” Leonard said. “I was just like, ‘Dude, I got one year left of this.’ I'm a risk-taker. My whole life, I've just been a risk-taker. So, I was like, ‘I got one shot.’
“Twenty years from now, I want to look back and say, ‘I gave it everything I had.’ And I ended up here, and I think this is the best place to get me to my dream of playing in the NFL.”
Heading into his junior season at Duke, Leonard intended to be preparing for the NFL Draft at the start of 2024. He was coming off a sophomore season in which he completed 63.9% of his passes (250-of-392) for 2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also rushed 124 times for 699 yards and 13 touchdowns.
But Leonard’s development hit a speed bump late in a 21-14 loss to Notre Dame. When Irish nose tackle Howard Cross III sacked and stripped Leonard to secure a Notre Dame victory, he landed on the side of Leonard’s right leg to cause an unfortunate injury. Cross still owes Leonard dinner for that injury, Leonard joked.
“I told him there's a Ruth's Chris, like right down the road,” Leonard said. “That was a lot of weight on my ankle.”
Leonard tried to finish out the season, but he struggled in the two games he played after the Notre Dame game against Florida State and Louisville. Then a toe injury on his left foot forced him to the sideline for the rest of the year. His final stats for the season didn't match the expectations that accompanied him entering the year: 95-of-165 passing (57.6%) for 1,102 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions.
In a weird twist of fate, the injury Leonard suffered against Notre Dame eventually led him to a path to joining the Irish.
“Yeah, it was a really easy decision for me,” Leonard said. “After I entered the transfer portal and Notre Dame reached out, like, you don't really turn it down whenever Notre Dame comes and starts calling you.
“[Head] coach [Marcus] Freeman has been unreal. He was the first one to call me after my surgery that I got a couple of weeks ago. And then all the players as well have been super welcoming. I figured that, coming through an institution like this.”
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Leonard helped recruit some wide receivers — Florida International’s Kris Mitchell, Clemson’s Beaux Collins and Marshall’s Jayden Harrison — to transfer to Notre Dame alongside him. What he knew about the returning Irish defenders played a big role in convincing him that a successful season was ahead for Notre Dame.
“Whenever they were recruiting me," Leonard said, "I was like, ‘Who's coming back on defense?’ Because I played against them. They were the most high-flying. They were flying around all game. Really, really incredible players."
Leonard has consulted with a number of people who have had various experiences with Notre Dame on how to best approach the opportunity that’s been presented to him. He spoke to Elko, who was Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator in 2017, and former Notre Dame associate athletic director Chad Klunder, who was Duke’s chief of staff with Elko.
He spent time with former Duke head coach David Cutcliffe, who was once in line to be offensive coordinator at Notre Dame under Charlie Weis. He also consulted with former Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman, who famously waited for Leonard to leave the injury tent after Notre Dame’s victory over Duke last season, about his experience transferring from Wake Forest to ND.
“We had some long conversations on the phone together, because there obviously is a lot that comes with being a Notre Dame quarterback,” Leonard said. “He's coming from Wake. Duke, we're kind of on the same levels when it comes to like fan bases and media attention and whatnot. But coming here, obviously, is another level.”
Hartman and Leonard can also relate to having an offensive coordinator change at Notre Dame after committing to play for the Irish. The difference is that current Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock called an offense for Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels at LSU last season. Hartman played for offensive coordinator Gerad Parker in his first season as a full-time play caller.
Leonard is happy for Parker, who was hired as the head coach at Troy in Leonard’s home state of Alabama, but he’s excited to see how Denbrock can evolve his game. Leonard has prioritized building relationships with his teammates and learning the playbook.
“I think it's super important to know those things like the back of my hand,” Leonard said. “Like the playbook, I need to get down before I start diving into too much detail about fixing my game, because if you don't have the plays, you can’t fix your game.”
With quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli, Leonard wants to attack this season like an NFL quarterback. One season after throwing only three touchdown passes in seven games, Leonard knows he has plenty to prove beyond the health of his ankle.
“So all the intangible things when it comes to playing the game, like how to handle yourself before the game, how to prepare. And then the tangible things on the field — obviously pocket awareness, arm strength — I know all my weaknesses, and I think those are pretty loud and clear,” Leonard said. “So I'm ready to attack those things and accept that challenge, and get better at all those things I’m not very good at.”
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