Riley Leonard recalls Notre Dame recruiting pitch, how staff honored great-grandfather

In 1940, James E. Curran played his final year of football at Notre Dame. He started his college career in 1938 as a member of the national championship team and later became a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.

Fast-forward more than 83 years after Curran graduated, and another member of his family was getting ready to don the Blue and Gold. His great grandson, Riley Leonard, entered the transfer portal after three years at Duke and will play on the same field when Notre Dame plays Northern Illinois on Sept. 7.

Marcus Freeman knew of Leonard’s family history and wove it into the Fighting Irish’s recruiting pitch after the quarterback entered the portal. That helped sell Leonard on the program that much more.

“My great grandfather played for Notre Dame back in the early 1940s,” Leonard told Kevin Negandhi on SportsCenter Thursday night. “Freeman and his crew went into the Notre Dame library and picked up every single piece, every single document his name was ever mentioned in Notre Dame history, and put together this pamphlet.

“He didn’t play too much, but he certainly did some cool things there. That one won my mom over, and after that point, it’s pretty much wraps.”

Riley Leonard: ‘I only took one visit’ in the portal

Leonard grew up in Alabama – he took his new teammates to his hometown over the offseason – but grew up a big Notre Dame fan, and his favorite movie is Rudy. He’ll now get to suit up for the Fighting Irish this fall after three seasons at Duke, where he cemented himself as a dual threat quarterback and generated some NFL Draft buzz before an injury in a game last year, ironically, against Notre Dame.

After he made his decision to transfer, Leonard and his family took a trip to South Bend to learn more about the program. It turns out that was the only such visit he took because Freeman and the staff sold him on their vision.

“First and foremost, Coach Freeman played a big part of it. … I think everybody at Notre Dame feels the culture that we have there is something special,” Leonard said. “I think the fan base and the tradition we carry around with us everywhere we go is unlike any other.

“I only took one visit to a school when I was in the portal, and it was to Notre Dame. And I knew from there, it was the place for me.”