Riley Leonard has recently expressed his decision to enter the transfer portal, meaning that his time with Duke Blue Devils is over. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are believed to be a likely landing spot for the former Blue Devils quarterback, and rumors about his looming arrival in South Bend should only get louder amid his plans to visit the school this week, per Pete Nakos of On3 (h/t Griffin McVeigh).
“According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Riley Leonard will take an official visit to Notre Dame on Wednesday and Thursday. The former Duke quarterback is considered one of the top players available in the NCAA transfer portal and would be a huge haul for Marcus Freeman.”
Riley spent the first three years of his career in college with the Blue Devils. He had his breakout campaign in 2022 when he amassed a total of 2,967 passing yards and 20 touchdowns against six interceptions while completing 63.8 percent of his throws.
Article Continues BelowThat same season, the Blue Devils made their first bowl game appearance since 2018, with Riley and company winning the Military Bowl versus the UCF Knights. In 2023, Riley experienced regression, largely because of missed games due to injury, as he threw for 1,102 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions across seven contests.
Riley's transfer portal decision also came on the heels of Mike Elko's hiring as the next head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies.
The Fighting Irish have a good reason to go after Riley, as he could be the next man for the job that's about to be left behind by graduate transfer Sam Hartman.