Riley Leonard, Jordan Clark reveal what drew them to transfer to Notre Dame

Quarterback Riley Leonard and defensive back Jordan Clark both joined Notre Dame this offseason, and are ready for the heightened expectations that being a part of the Fighting Irish will bring.

During Friday’s edition of Get Up on ESPN, the freshly-minted Notre Dame players joined the desk, where they explained what went into their decision to join the Fighting Irish. For Leonard, it’s evident that there was a myriad of factors, and the quarterback is primed for success in 2024.

“So it’s a couple things,” Leonard said, regarding what went into his decision. “No. 1, the players. On my official visit, we took a dinner downtown, and that’s kind of what ended up convincing me, that I wanted to go there. You walk into the locker room every day, you want to be around guys that just have your back, and are great people, on and off the field, and Notre Dame’s got it. The coaching staff, as well. You’ve got to throw that I there. The coaching staff plays a big part.

“Obviously, you have a coordinator like Mike Denbrock, coming from LSU, where Jayden Daniels obviously had a great year, so I’m exciting to get into that offense. He always say we’ve got the keys to the car, so to be able to operate an offense like that, that’ll be a lot of fun for me.”

Meanwhile, Clark is the son of NFL defensive back turned ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, so he knows what it takes to be great in the football world. Part of that is having amazing teammates, and he knows that’ll be the case in South Bend.

“Yeah, I think for me in my last year, what I wanted to do is progress and grow, and I think that there’s no better place to do that than Notre Dame,” Clark added. “You’re talking about a place where it’s listed as like, a new Ivy school on the Forbes’ list, you know, and then you’re in the locker room with guys like Riley Leonard. You’re in the locker room with guys like Benjamin Morrison.

“So, in the classroom, on the field, you’re with the best of the best, and when you’re with the best of the best, you can do nothing but grow.”

As you can tell, Riley Leonard and Jordan Clark are more than excited to be a part of the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame won’t go easy on them in the expectations department, but the two young men wouldn’t rather have it any other way. It’ll be fascinating to see how they perform.