Notre Dame football: Final Riley Leonard domino about to fall

The Notre Dame football team appears poised to make the final move to make Riley Leonard part of the Fighting Irish program this week.

Now that the transfer portal is heating up, things are moving quickly for Notre Dame football on the quarterback front. Riley Leonard, who has been a dream target for the Irish well before he was in the portal, moved one step closer to being a Golden Domer on Monday.

Leonard is reportedly preparing for a visit to South Bend starting Wednesday, December 6. He’ll be spending two days in town taking in the sights, presumably getting the hard sales pitch from head coach Marcus Freeman, quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli and offensive coordinator Gerad Parker.

The visit is the culmination of the row of dominos first starting to fall when Leonard’s former head coach Mike Elko took the Texas A&M head job, one day after rumors swirled that Kentucky’s Mark Stoops was the Aggies’ pick.

That was just a week ago, but feels like its been an age since that domino fell. That’s how fast the transfer portal season moves. It’s hard for everyone, including players to stay ahead of the day’s news.

Late last week, Leonard announced his intention to enter the portal and almost immediately most recruiting experts marked the Duke star as a near lock for the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame football gets its shot at Riley Leonard

Among the things that stand out about the visit from the former Blue Devil is that at least for now, Freeman are putting all their eggs in the Leonard basket.

While there have been some whispers here and there around other QBs, none have had the consistent buzz that Leonard to South Bend has had. Now the dual-threat quarterback is set to be in town and it’s safe to say Notre Dame football coaches would love to make sure he gives his commitment before he leaves.