Double trouble: Notre Dame coordinator Mike Denbrock has another dual-threat QB in Riley Leonard

SOUTH BEND — Three words came immediately to Mike Denbrock’s mind when the new offensive coordinator for Notre Dame football was asked recently about Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard.

Competitive. Energetic. Curious.

Their highly anticipated collaboration is still in the conceptual stages, but with March 7 and the start of spring practice right around the corner, their fertile football brains are already dancing with possibilities.

“With Coach Denbrock coming in, he’s been incredible,” Leonard said at the start of February. “Obviously, you see what he did with Jayden Daniels, so I’m excited to see how he can evolve my game.”

In two seasons at LSU, Denbrock helped Daniels, the Arizona State transfer, blossom into a devastating dual threat with the 2023 Heisman Trophy on his mantel. Before that, Denbrock and current Irish quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli helped Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder parlay his mobility and accuracy into a 44-7 record over a four-year run as the Bearcats’ starter.

That included a 24-13 win at Notre Dame Stadium in 2021, Ridder’s senior year.

Even with Leonard coming off season-ending toe surgery and a mid-January TightRope procedure to repair a high ankle sprain, the 6-foot-4, 213-pounder is itching to learn Denbrock’s system.

“He wants specifics, he wants details, he wants absolutes,” Denbrock said. “Which, at this point, I can’t really give him 100% of the time, nor can I any of the other players on offense. He’s somebody that loves the game, and you can tell by talking to him that it’s important to him to know everything he needs to know about what he’s going to be out there doing.”

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The physical similarities between Leonard and Denbrock’s past two starting quarterbacks are impossible to miss.

Ridder, who went in the third round to the Atlanta Falcons in the 2022 NFL Draft, is listed at 6-4 and 215 pounds. Daniels, projected as a top-five overall pick, heads to the NFL Scouting Combine this week in Indianapolis with college measurements of 6-4 and 210 pounds.

Asked specifically about the more subtle similarities between Daniels and Leonard, Denbrock paused before answering.

“I don’t know that I’ve had enough time with Riley to really answer that question correctly, to be honest with you,” he said. “What I do see between the two of them that’s very similar is their competitiveness and their want to be really good at what they do. That’s a characteristic that I think goes beyond.”

With Leonard joining a quarterback room that includes holdovers Steve Angeli, coming off a Sun Bowl win in his first career start; redshirt freshman Kenny Minchey and four-star signee CJ Carr, there’s no shortage of talent or competitive fire at Denbrock’s disposal.

“Riley has it, but I think the other quarterbacks on the roster have it as well,” Denbrock said. “I wouldn’t discount their wanting to be really good at what they do either. … … I’ve been overwhelmed by the eagerness of this group to get the details of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. They want it and they want it now, which is awesome.”

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And yet, barring any setbacks, Leonard is the overwhelming favorite to start when the season opens in six months at Texas A&M.

Leonard, a former basketball standout from Fairhope, Ala., produced a 13-8 mark as the Blue Devils’ starter. Leonard has 19 rushing touchdowns in his career, more than 1,200 rushing yards and, according to Pro Football Focus, he forced 45 missed tackles as a rusher over his past 20 games.

Eighty-eight of those rushing yards came on 18 carries last September in Duke’s 21-14 home loss to Notre Dame. LSU, kicking off 90 minutes earlier in Oxford, Miss., lost 55-49 that same night to Ole Miss.

Daniels personally accounted for 513 yards and five touchdowns in a crushing defeat. As the Tigers headed home, Denbrock found a way to catch the end of the Notre Dame-Duke game in real time.

“Listen, any time I had an opportunity, I was watching Notre Dame football,” Denbrock said as he starts his third career stint in South Bend. “I watched the Duke game, obviously, live. I’ve watched it since a couple times on tape. I’ve had to catch myself up a little bit.”

Long-distance fascination with Riley Leonard

Before Sam Hartman could lead Notre Dame on a 97-yard drive for the winning touchdown, Leonard delivered a perfect pooch punt out of the pistol.

Had Duke chosen instead to trust Leonard and the offense on fourth-and-6 from the plus-33 with 2:35 remaining, who knows how the rest of the season might have gone?

Even before their unexpected pairing, Denbrock found himself admiring Leonard’s skills from afar.

“As many of the Duke games that I could catch with our schedule or who we were playing or when we were playing,” Denbrock said, “I’ve watched him because I was fascinated by some of the things he was doing, especially early in the season, and wanted to see more of him.”

In that regard, Denbrock has plenty of company, whether it’s Irish players, coaches or a fanbase daydreaming about mega-outputs from Leonard and a run at a national championship.

Emphasis on the word “run,” something Daniels and Ridder did as effectively as any dual-threat quarterbacks in the modern college game.

“Today’s college football, it’s important when you get against elite defenses to be able to have some element of that in what you do,” Denbrock said. “It doesn’t have to be the major factor. It doesn’t have to necessarily be the deciding factor, but there are going to be instances, almost in every football game, and I think that happened here last year with Sam.”

Most notably on the 17-yard miracle scramble on fourth-and-16 at Duke.

“There were times where (Hartman) had to get out of the pocket and make a play with his feet and it led to some pretty positive results,” Denbrock said. “Those things will be an element of what we do for sure.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football pairs QB Riley Leonard with coordinator Mike Denbrock