Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2024 17 "Every single person I came into con- tact with affected me in my faith," Leon- ard said. As he grew into the best athlete in Fairhope, Leonard kept his faith with him. He believed — and still believes — not just in a higher power, but in doing good works and giving back to his com- munity. Leonard got involved with his grandfa- ther, Gib Leonard, and his charitable or- ganization, the Buy a Brick Foundation. It's a "faith-based group" that works on various projects for impoverished people in Zimbabwe, from building schools and water towers to bottling bees' honey and selling it to raise funds for the mission. Through his church, Leonard has been involved with numerous outreach proj- ects to help underprivileged kids in his community. He ran a football camp last year and made sure the proceeds went to the Boys and Girls Club of South Ala- bama. Talk is cheap, Carter explained. Leonard has walked his faith through his actions. "It's been really cool to watch him treat the younger kids in the community really well," Chad Leonard said. "He's done a lot of donating time to charity." Fairhope reciprocated the attention Leonard gave it, and then some. There were watch parties all over town whenever Leonard played at Duke. Carter led a caravan, as he described it, when the Blue Devils traveled to Florida State this past season. Leonard once at- tended an awards day ceremony at a local middle school along with his girlfriend, Molly Walding, and gave a speech. Most of the kids knew who he was. "He's the champion of our town," Carter said. Once Leonard went off to college, his dad said, his faith grew stronger. He found a church in, ironically, Chapel Hill, N.C., home of North Carolina, the Blue Devils' biggest rival. Anyone can speak in platitudes and devote their time to hate instead of help- ing people. Leonard backed it up. "He is the most genuine, authen- tic guy I have ever coached, without a doubt, in his faith because of the way he conducts himself," said Carter. UNWAVERING As important as Leonard's Christian beliefs are to him, they're not the pri- mary reason he's at Notre Dame. Neither is the fact that he grew up an Irish sup- porter — he may have exaggerated a bit when he said he watched Rudy every day growing up, although he became a huge fan at 10 years old — or that his maternal great-grandfather, James Curran, played for Notre Dame in the early 1940s. Those were all factors, but Leonard's dream, like most college football players, is to go to the next level. Declaring for the draft after his junior season was realistic. Carter was told by an NFL team repre- sentative early last fall that his club had Leonard ranked in the top-three draft- eligible quarterbacks. That all changed when Leonard suf- fered an ankle injury against Notre Dame that knocked him out for multiple weeks, then a toe injury against Louisville that ended his season. His production took a dip during the two games he played after the first injury, too. It would have been a mistake to turn pro after a down year. That could've shaken Leonard's confidence, but it didn't. "He didn't get too down," Chad Leonard said. "He didn't beat himself up over it." As Leonard sat out the home stretch of 2023, he realized he only had one year of eligibility remaining. One shot. He determined Notre Dame was the best place to fulfill his NFL aspirations, and he'll go through his lone season in South Bend with that in mind. "I would have liked to have been able to enter the NFL Draft after last season," Leonard said. He wasn't complaining; he was merely stating a fact. "But I'm here, and I need to approach this season like an NFL quarterback. All the intangible things when it comes to playing the game, like how to handle yourself before the game, how to pre- pare." This wasn't the first time Leonard faced adversity throughout his football career. As a junior in high school, his of- fensive line and receiving corps were in- experienced, and Fairhope started 1-3. But then he rattled off five straight wins. "I remember the conversations," said Carter. "I'd call him on Saturday morn- ings and just say, 'Hey, it's gonna get better now, just keep the faith.' And dur- ing those difficulties, I never saw him waver." Leonard kept the faith through that season, though a more successful senior season and through the next calendar year, which included a few more trials. He was not invited to the Mississippi/ Alabama All-Star Game, despite Carter serving as Alabama's offensive coor- dinator (he stumped for his player, but the Duke commit was turned down). He wasn't chosen for the Alabama North- South All-Star game, either. Leonard survived a coaching change after his freshman year at Duke and won the starting quarterback job. The man he was competing with — Jordan Moore — became his No. 1 wide receiver and one of his best friends. Leonard never lost faith, which is why he's in a position to give it a shot with Notre Dame in 2024. "Fate is the reason he's there," Chad Leonard said. "He's a kid who's done ev- erything right in life with academics and sports and community. I think it takes that to end up in a position like he's in at Notre Dame." ✦ "One thing Notre Dame is about to know about Riley Leonard is how spiritual he is, how religious, how much of a man of God he is." FELLOW DUKE TRANSFER RJ OBEN Leonard loves to have fun and has demonstrated his contagious enthusiasm and smile during his initial appearances in front of the Irish media, but he is a tenacious competitor on the gridiron. PHOTO BY KYLE KELLY