Notre Dame Football Dreaming: Riley Leonard to follow in Sam Hartman’s shoes?

Notre Dame football fans are going to need to find another quarterback after Sam Hartman. Could Riley Leonard be the next transfer QB?

Sam Hartman’s move from Wake Forest to Notre Dame football was one of the biggest recruiting wins the Fighting Irish have had recently. Instead of having to hope that a talented high school quarterback could immediately take his game to the next level, the Golden Domers had a proven Power 5 quarterback under center immediately.

The downside of Hartman taking over Notre Dame football’s starting quarterback this year is that Marcus Freeman and company will need to find a replacement next year. On Wednesday afternoon, a Notre Dame analyst and fans started tossing around an interesting idea. What if Duke’s Riley Leonard was next up?

The conversation started with one Twitter user suggesting to Irish Illustrated’s Tim Prister that Leonard could be a potential target for Notre Dame football.

The idea was that Bluedevils head coach Mike Elko might be on his way out. With the success he’s had with Duke, it might be time for Elko to move to a bigger program that can give him the kind of support he wants.

Even with the recent success of the ACC school, Duke is still a basketball school. Elko might want to go somewhere – Michigan State? – where football is more of a focus. If Elko goes, there’s an expectation that Leonard might go too.

"“Am I crazy for wondering if there’s a chance Mike Elko takes a high profile coaching position and Riley Leonard decides to come back for his senior year and transfers to… ND? Who says no!?”"

Notre Dame football getting a star?

Prister said that the thought of Leonard heading to the Fighting Irish is an idea that occurred to him. On the other hand, he thought it was possible that Leonard might just follow Elko wherever he goes.

At the moment, there aren’t any obvious ties for Leonard to come to the Notre Dame football program. At least not that would 100 percent mean he’d pick the Irish.

On the other, the school has become more attractive to ACC players in the last few years. While Notre Dame isn’t a member of the conference in football, they play a ton of ACC teams. There’s plenty of opportunity for family and friends to watch them play.

There is also, of course to play for Notre Dame football. One of the most prestigious and storied programs in history. Obviously, we’re just dreaming at the moment. There’s no movement in that direction. But it’s not a crazy idea. I wouldn’t be shocked if it came to pass.