Why Steve Angeli has not entered transfer portal despite adding Riley Leonard

For the second offseason in a row, Notre Dame has brought a new starting quarterback into the program via the NCAA transfer portal. Sam Hartman excelled last year and now, Riley Leonard is hoping to have similar success. Usually, this would cause for some outward portal activity but the Fighting Irish have held on.

Specifically with Steve Angeli, who is entering his third season of college football. Most guys who find somewhere they would have the opportunity to start. But Angeli has stuck around and Tyler Horka of On3’s BGI believes it’s because of his Sun Bowl performance vs. Oregon State.

“I think the Sun Bowl was huge for Angeli,” Horka said via Tuesday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “He went 15 of 19, I believe it was, for maybe 230 yards, three touchdowns, and no picks. He showed that he can start and he can win at Notre Dame. So, I think, maybe if he didn’t have that, we would see Steve Angeli enter the transfer portal.”

Angeli competed in eight games last season but outside of the Sun Bowl, he threw just 25 pass attempts on the season. Most of his appearances were when Notre Dame was just trying to run out the clock in garbage time.

Not usually a recipe for keeping a quarterback after two seasons but Angeli and his family are a little different. Horka points out how much they love Notre Dame and are willing to wait out the clock. His chance will come eventually and until then, there are benefits to sticking around in South Bend.

“I also know that his family, through and through, loves the University, he loves the University. You get a little bit more of that at Notre Dame than you do at other schools. You have quarterbacks that are the No. 2 or No. 3 and say ‘Hey, I love this place but I can go down the road and start there.’

“At Notre Dame, you’re like ‘Okay, let me drag this out as long as I can.’ The degree is something all these student-athletes are working toward and it’s a little different than getting a different than getting a degree from fill in the blank.'”

Pending Leonard’s health, Angeli will likely spend most of the 2024 season on the sidelines. You never know when a backup quarterback will be thrown into action though, with his patience having to pay off at some point.