Riley Leonard on why he chose Notre Dame: 'These guys can win a national championship'

Riley Leonard chose Notre Dame for a reason and that was to win a national championship. He knew it when he played the Fighting Irish last season with Duke.

Especially once he found out a majority of the defense was coming back, Leonard was there. Playing for Marcus Freeman and crew was seemingly a dream come true.

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Now one win away, Leonard can come full circle with a title.

“I played against Notre Dame last year, and I understood the type of defense they had when I went on my visit and they said that they were coming back, I was like, bro, I’m there,” Leonard said, via Sirius XM. “Like, these guys can win a national championship. So that’s why I came here, honestly.”

Leonard dealt with injuries and struggles in his career, as evidenced by the rollercoaster ride at Duke. But going through that adversity made him who he is today and he couldn’t be more confident going into the biggest game of his career.

“Yeah, I think more importantly than the game, everything else has slowed down a lot,” Leonard said. “If you put me in this position a couple years ago, even last year, I probably don’t know how to handle it. I’m probably getting overwhelmed. Don’t know how to handle myself, because I didn’t know who I was, like I hadn’t gone through enough adversity. There’s been a lot of adversity … 

“Really just like when I get out there, I realize, like, the worst that could happen and then I shrug my shoulders, like, all right, like let’s yeah go play ball. So I think you know, going through all the adversity has really slowed the game down for me.”

This season, Leonard has 2,606 yards, 19 touchdowns, eight interceptions, a 66.4% completion percentage, 866 rushing yards (career high) and 16 rushing touchdowns (career high).

Leonard alluded to the locker room and camaraderie at Notre Dame. That’s thanks in large part to head coach Marcus Freeman.

Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer noticed that immediately.

“I don’t know that team like I know the Buckeyes, but I know this coach,” Meyer said. “I’m gonna say this because I know he gets a lot of credit, the best thing about him is he deflects it. That locker room must be unbelievable.”