Atlanta When Riley Leonard, a devout 6-foot-4 quarterback, started his senior year of high school football in Fairhope, Alabama, four years ago, he received so little interest from recruiters that he started to turn to a higher power in his quest for a college scholarship.
I recall praying at night while I was sitting in my room, asking Jesus to simply give me something or make me an offer. “Well,” Leonard said.
when a few years, Leonard attended a renowned summer quarterback program in Louisiana sponsored by former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, the father of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli, when Duke University finally answered his petition. Leonard shared a room at the school with Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, who had a similar background to Leonard’s. Each was a three-star high school talent out of five who had established himself as a starter at a middle-tier program after being passed over by the nation’s most traditional colleges.
Leonard and Howard talked late into the night at the camp.
Leonard recalled life, as well as our identities as individuals, families, and future aspirations, among other things. Thus, it was merely an honest discussion. At the time, we were both somewhat underdogs.
No more. When the College Football Playoff concludes Monday night, one of the quarterbacks will depart Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium as a national champion, one year after Howard left Kansas State for Ohio State and Leonard switched from Duke to Notre Dame.
Howard remarked, “Looking back, it’s kind of crazy from when we first met to where we are now. It’s cool.”
In the past, quarterbacks who made it to the national championship game either waited their turn as backups, learned a school’s system for a season or two before taking over, or occasionally both. The exceptions were one-season players like Cam Newton, who in his lone season at Auburn led the school to the 2010 national championship.
However, Leonard and Howard represent a new age of college football, one in which a greater variety of quarterbacks may now win a national title.
With the help of loosened regulations that now permit athletes to play right away after transferring schools and the historic change in 2021 that permitted athletes to make money off of their name, image, and likeness, quarterbacks who demonstrate their skills at smaller programs are now swiftly recruited by major powerhouses who prefer to find their new quarterback through the transfer market rather than risk their success on an inexperienced, young starter.
When it came time to select a new starter at their most crucial position last winter, both Notre Dame and Ohio State chose a transfer who neither school would have probably recruited out of high school. Despite this, the coaches of both schools stated that the foundation of their rosters still consists of recruiting top high school students.
According to Marcus Freeman, coach of Notre Dame, “we will minor in the transfer portal for specific needs, but the core of our football program will be from high school recruiting.”
Two months after sustaining a season-ending injury against the Irish, Leonard arrived at Notre Dame.
After that game, Leonard declared, “I didn’t want anything to do with Notre Dame.” Look, we’re here. It’s an absurd tale.
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Leonard and Howard are not anomalies. Dillon Gabriel, a former three-star prospect from Hawaii whose success at Central Florida in the pre-NIL era led to a transfer to Oklahoma in 2023 and then to Oregon this season, was quarterbacked by the #1 seed, Oregon, in this year’s 12-team College Football Playoff.
Such transfers to prestigious programs can anticipate receiving a sizable NIL package. According to Nebraska coach Matt Rhule’s 2023 projection, a competent transfer quarterback might fetch anywhere from $1 million to $2 million in NIL. The nation’s top quarterback in the 2025 recruiting class reportedly accepted an eight-figure commitment to Michigan this autumn, so those numbers are probably conservative.
“Yes,” Howard remarked, “the NIL is nice.” Although it’s a wonderful addition, I didn’t come here for it.
But there is a learning curve associated with the transfer as well. Although they provide talent, transfers lack trust.
Leonard remarked, “I detested being in the transfer portal.” To be honest, I felt really uneasy in such circumstance. Although I like to think of myself as loyal, I was aware of the consequences anytime I had to decide to quit Duke.
However, because I arrived on crutches on my first day, these guys simply greeted me when I arrived. In reality, I was using crutches and a scooter, but these men embraced me wholeheartedly. Because it’s difficult to trust a big-time transfer quarterback who has had three operations since arriving, it wasn’t really me who trusted them; rather, it was them who trusted me.
Howard said: Entering a new system where you have to sort of— I didn’t know anyone’s name—after four years of being there, where you’re extremely comfortable and know everyone. When I first arrived, I was still learning everyone’s names.
After high school, few college football fans were familiar with either quarterback’s name. On Monday, however, one will be recognized as a national champion as the era of player mobility in collegiate athletics continues.