Riley Leonard & Mike Elko Acknowledging Rare Game, but Focused On Winning
There’s an elephant in the room this week as No. 7 Notre Dame will travel to No. 20 Texas A&M for a Saturday night clash.
Mike Elko will roam the Aggie sidelines for the first time as the head coach while quarterback Riley Leonard plays his first game in blue and gold.
Coaches get new jobs. Players come and go. It’s rare for a head coach to face off against his former quarterback and opening the season against each other is likely almost impossible.
It will happen on Saturday night at Kyle Field, and neither Elko nor Leonard appears overly thrilled about the situation.
“I think it’s interesting and weird,” stated Elko. “Not really something I want to do, but at the end of the day, it’s part of the game.”
Coming out of Fairhope High School (Ala.), Leonard signed with Duke as part of the 2021 recruiting class without ever taking an official visit as COVID prevented prospects from doing too much other than self-guided tours.
The 6-foot-4, 216-pounder chose to play for Elko over offers from Nebraska, Ole Miss, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Syracuse, Tulane and Vanderbilt.
Leonard went on to play 27 games for Duke, including making his first start as a true freshman against Virginia Tech. The duo led Duke to relevancy, which paved the way for both to end up in better football situations in 2024.
“I know it’s the political answer, but it’s a genuine answer,” Leonard explained. “I don’t want it to be about me vs. him. Obviously, it’s going to be that way, but I’d rather it be Notre Dame vs. A&M.
If you speak to folks who know both, it won’t take long to realize both are in an elite tier of competitors. In fact, if there was a top tier in sports, both would be in it and that’s what has Leonard’s attention as it’s much more than facing his former coach.
“To be able to play against him, it’s awesome,” stated Leonard. “It’s not just him. It’s a lot of the coaching staff from Duke and it’s a lot of people I’m close with. We’re all extremely competitive. This game means a lot to me. People say every game is the same, but this means a lot to me. I don’t want to make it about me vs. Elko.”
On the surface, it would seem like the defensive-minded Elko might have a few tricks up his sleeve facing a quarterback he knows better than anyone.
Elko showed the competitor inside his heart on Monday as he delivered some classic Lane Kiffin rat poison to Leonard by stating the Notre Dame signal-caller holds an advantage on Saturday night.
“I would argue that he has more of an upper hand than we do,” Elko said. “He’s probably a little bit more familiar with this defense than most quarterbacks we play. Not that it’s the exact defense we ran at Duke. It’s obviously blended together with what we’ve done and what Coach (Jay) Bateman brings to the table.
“We don’t have a ton of comfort as a program going against this offense. We haven’t defended it for a single snap. Two years going against some version of this defense that’s similar to what he’ll see Saturday night probably gives him a little bit more of an advantage than it does us.”
Leonard is undoubtedly familiar with the defense and could pick the brain of his former Duke and current Notre Dame teammate RJ Oben, but he’s not.
“With Coach Elko, he’s going to mix something up regardless of what I know and what I know from him,” Leonard said earlier this month. “I’ll go in there with an open mind.”
There is no doubt Saturday will be a battle between a former coach and player who have great respect for each other and will honor the other by competing as hard as they can for 60 minutes.
And after the game, both will look forward to their relationship returning to normalcy.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for who he is, not just as a player, but as a young man and his family and all of that,” said Elko. It’ll be three hours competing against each other and the rest of the year, I’m rooting for him.”
Looking to join a Fighting Irish community and get the latest scoop? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Under Armour Navy Notre Dame Fighting Irish Gameday Performance Polo
