Riley Leonard is going to Notre Dame next year.
Two weeks after entering the transfer portal, the Duke quarterback revealed his new home Tuesday morning. Leonard posted a video of him walking onto the Notre Dame Stadium field and greeting new teammates.
“A dream come true,” Leonard wrote on Instagram. “Go Irish.”
Upon taking over as Duke’s starting quarterback, Leonard led the Blue Devils to a 9-4 season in 2022. He accounted for 20 passing and 13 rushing touchdowns and ended the campaign with a Military Bowl triumph over UCF.
Leonard started his junior year by tallying 98 rushing yards and a touchdown in a 28-7 upset over Clemson. Duke stormed to No. 17 in the national ranks following a 4-0 start.
However, Duke fell short to Notre Dame at Durham in Week 5. Leonard injured his leg at the end of the game, and Sam Hartman waited for the fellow quarterback to come out of the medical tent before going back to the locker room.
Leonard returned to action three weeks later, but he suffered a season-ending toe injury in Duke’s ensuing game. He finished with three passing and four rushing touchdowns in seven games.
The 6-foot-4 quarterback will now go to South Bend to replace Hartman, who threw 24 touchdowns as a sixth-year senior. He played five seasons at Wake Forest before transferring to Notre Dame.
Head coach Marcus Freeman appears to have found his next starting quarterback on the portal. Leonard will take over a team that’s gone 9-3 ahead of a Sun Bowl matchup with Oregon State.