Andy Staples: 'The hope' is Riley Leonard leads Notre Dame to the College Football Playoff

Shortly after Riley Leonard entered the transfer portal, the sense was he would make his way to Notre Dame. On3’s Pete Nakos initially reported the Fighting Irish as a top destination for Leonard, who entered the portal with a “do not contact” tag next to his name.

That came to fruition Tuesday as Leonard, the former Duke quarterback, committed to Notre Dame. It’s the second straight year Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish landed a talented ACC quarterback after bringing in Sam Hartman last offseason.

There are some parallels, according to On3’s Andy Staples, who said the goal for Leonard now will be taking Notre Dame back to the College Football Playoff.

“This is following in the footsteps of Sam Hartman, who did the same thing. Starter for an ACC program, played very, very well at that program, now going to Notre Dame as a one-year rental, and the hope is that he leads Notre Dame to the College Football Playoff,” Staples said on Andy Staples On3. “Now, it’ll be a very different College Football Playoff than the one Sam Hartman was trying to lead the Fighting Irish to. That was a four-teamer, this is a 12-teamer, and it is more set up for an independent Notre Dame to get in. … So this is Notre Dame running it back one more time.

“The results from Sam Hartman were pretty good, but not exactly what they wanted. They wanted a little bigger pop. They wanted to double digit win season, which perhaps they can get with a win in the Sun Bowl against Oregon State. But that’s not going to be with Sam Hartman. So Notre Dame will try again with another ACC quarterback.”

The transfer portal’s ‘sense of humor’ gives Riley Leonard’s Notre Dame debut another storyline

Leonard had an impressive three years at Duke, although his 2023 season got derailed a bit due to an injury — ironically suffered against Notre Dame. In 2022, he threw for 2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns while adding 699 yards and 13 touchdowns as part of a breakout campaign with the Blue Devils.

But, as Staples noted, there’s a little more irony in Leonard’s decision to join Notre Dame. He will make his Fighting Irish debut against Texas A&M at Kyle Field. That means he’ll see a familiar face on the sidelines in now-former Duke coach Mike Elko, who replaced Jimbo Fisher.

In fact, at one point, rumors swirled about whether Texas A&M could make a run at Leonard because of that connection. That was short-lived, though, and Staples pointed out Elko was on the Aggies’ staff as defensive coordinator during Conner Weigman’s recruitment.

“But, because the transfer portal is a cruel mistress and because it has a sense of humor, Riley Leonard’s first game at Notre Dame will be against his former Duke coach, Mike Elko, who is now Texas A&M’s coach, in College Station,” Staples said. “So Riley Leonard vs. Mike Elko, mark it down. Gonna be a fun one.

This is one of those, when Elko took the job, people were thinking, ‘Oh, would Riley Leonard go?’ Well, remember, Elko was at Texas A&M when they were recruiting Conner Weigman. He’s a fan. He likes Conner Weigman. And the Leonard to Notre Dame thing, it felt like, was already kind of in motion at that point.”