Riley Leonard
 Leonard talking to press ahead of the 2025 CFP National Championship. | |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish – No. 13 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class | Senior |
| Major | Film, Television, and Theatre |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | September 13, 2002 Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games |
|
| High school | Fairhope (Fairhope, Alabama) |
Riley James Leonard (born September 13, 2002) is an American college football quarterback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He previously played for the Duke Blue Devils.
High school career
Leonard was born in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and moved to Fairhope, Alabama when he was in kindergarten.[1][2] Leonard attended Fairhope High School where he played football and basketball.[3] As a senior, he passed for 1,900 yards and 25 touchdowns and had 500 rushing yards. He committed to Duke University to play college football.[4] Leonard received offers to play college football from programs like Nebraska, Syracuse, and Tulane.[5] Leonard also played basketball in high school, receiving offers to play college basketball from programs like St. Mary's, North Alabama, Samford and Missouri State.[6][7]
College career
Leonard played in seven games and made one start as a true freshman at Duke in 2021. For the season, he completed 37 of 62 passes for 381 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Leonard was named the starting quarterback entering his sophomore season in 2022.[8][9][10] On November 29, 2023, Leonard announced he would be entering the transfer portal.[11] On December 12, 2023, Leonard announced he would be transferring to Notre Dame.[12]
Statistics
| Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2021 | Duke | 7 | 1 | 0–1 | 37 | 62 | 59.7 | 381 | 6.1 | 1 | 1 | 113.4 | 47 | 173 | 3.7 | 2 |
| 2022 | Duke | 13 | 13 | 9–4 | 250 | 392 | 63.8 | 2,967 | 7.6 | 20 | 6 | 141.1 | 124 | 699 | 5.6 | 13 |
| 2023 | Duke | 7 | 7 | 4–3 | 95 | 165 | 57.6 | 1,102 | 6.7 | 3 | 3 | 116.0 | 58 | 352 | 6.1 | 4 |
| 2024 | Notre Dame | 16 | 16 | 14–2 | 269 | 403 | 66.7 | 2,861 | 7.1 | 21 | 8 | 139.6 | 184 | 906 | 4.9 | 17 |
| Career | 43 | 37 | 27–10 | 651 | 1,022 | 63.7 | 7,311 | 7.2 | 45 | 18 | 134.8 | 413 | 2,130 | 5.2 | 36 | |
Personal life
Leonard is Christian. After a victory in the 2025 Orange Bowl,[2] he expressed his faith many times through the phrase, “Jesus bless.”
References
- ^ Miller, Andrew (September 3, 2023). "Duke's Riley Leonard, son of ex-Citadel basketball player, blazes own trail". Post and Courier. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
- ^ a b Sampson, Pete. "Notre Dame's Riley Leonard, the small-town QB with big-time ambitions". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
- ^ Ben Thomas (June 16, 2020). "Duke football commit Riley Leonard is top Coastal Athlete". AL.
- ^ Ben Thomas (May 18, 2020). "Fairhope 2021 QB Riley Leonard commits to ACC school". AL.
- ^ Mink, Nate (September 21, 2023). "After coveted QB recruit chose Duke, SU mined portal and landed its own star". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
- ^ Krest, Shawn (May 23, 2020). "Riley Leonard: If Coach K Wants to Give Me a Shot, Who Knows?". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
- ^ Ben Thomas (May 4, 2020). "Fairhope 2-sport star 'leaning' toward football future". AL.
- ^ Adelson, Andrea (August 28, 2022). "Duke names Leonard as starting QB vs. Temple". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- ^ Ben Thomas (August 31, 2022). "No surprise that Fairhope's Riley Leonard is QB1 at Duke". AL.
- ^ Cole McNanna (October 26, 2022). "Air Leonard: Former Fairhope Pirate quarterback leading resurgence of confidence, swagger in Duke football: Blue Devils on verge of bowl eligibility for first time since 2018". Gulf Coast Media.
- ^ VanHaaren, Tom (November 29, 2023). "Duke quarterback Leonard enters transfer portal". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- ^ Thamel, Pete (December 12, 2023). "Duke QB Leonard transferring to Notre Dame". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
Further reading
- Sampson, Pete (August 16, 2024). "Notre Dame's Riley Leonard, the small-town QB with championship ambitions". The Athletic. Retrieved August 20, 2024.