David Shumate Sits Down with Riley Leonard
Sophomore Quarterback from Fairhope, Alabama
David Shumate, GoDuke The Magazine
These interviews originally appeared in the 14.5 Issue of GoDuke The Magazine – December 2022
David Shumate: Generally speaking, and I know you don’t reflect a ton during the season, but have you had a chance to sit back and think about what this year has been like? We’re in December now and a year ago at this time you found out who your new head coach was going to be. It has been a whirlwind of a year I would imagine.
Riley Leonard: Yeah, it’s been a lot for sure. After the season we had last year, with Elko coming in, nobody really expected immediate satisfaction and even those of us in the program, and even as the quarterback you go into the season a little bit unsure. You’re confident, you’re ready to go, and you physically feel great but you never really know what’s going to happen. So, to have the year we had and have all the accomplishments we did throughout the year, it’s really eye-opening to how good we can be and where we can ultimately go. It really just comes down to a couple of games. In reality we should be 10-2 or 11-1, maybe even 12-0 right now — but that does go to show where we can be in the future.
DS: It’s easy to see themes in retrospect, but it certainly feels like having seen the season play out and watching you guys picking up eight wins there was this sense that everyone had something to prove. Mike Elko coming in and being a first-year head coach, a defense that had given up a bunch of points and yards last year, and you didn’t even know going into fall camp that you would be the starting quarterback. You were still trying to win the job. Looking back, how much of an edge did that provide to really everyone on the team this season?
RL: Yeah, every single person in the locker room had a chip on their shoulder going into this season. There was no one that believed in us, but everyone inside the organization did. It was such a good story for me personally. I come in not knowing if I’m going to get the job and, you know, three weeks before the first game I don’t even know if I’m going to get to play this season. That motivation and all of the outside critics really is what brought us to where we are now, and I hope that doesn’t change.
DS: Was there a moment looking back where it clicked, not just that you could win, but that you could win at an elite level?
RL: I would say the eight-minute drive to close out the game against Virginia and solidify that win. That’s when I realized the capabilities we had on offense, and how good we could ultimately be. Defensively, from the very first game, you know when you shut out a team, regardless of who it is, if you shut them out you know you’re going to be alright.
DS: I want to dig into a couple of stats-based things. Obviously you were All-ACC honorable mention and when you look back at this year and the touchdowns you put up, there were 20 through the air, 11 on the ground, setting a new Duke record for combined touchdowns, breaking Brandon Connette’s previous record from 2013 when he had 27. The turnover margin for the team was dramatically different — you guys were +14, second in the country. Duke has been outside the top 100 for the last four years dating back to even before you arrived on campus. When you look at those numbers, what do you see?
RL: I really key in on the turnover margin. Coach Elko preaches about that and I never really understood the impact it has prior to this year, but I’ve learned it is the biggest decider in the game of football. To go from, I think it was dead last last year, to second in the entire nation is proof of its impact. All of the other stats just flow from that. You can’t win the game if you don’t have the ball. The turnover margin will always stand out and it's something that I need to get a little bit better at. I think my receivers bailed me out a couple of times, but if I can clean some stuff up here and there I think we can be really good.
DS: You talk about the receivers and for me one of the cool moments of the season was after the game against Wake Forest. You had a monster day with the four touchdown tosses and your three guys were taking a picture after the game down on the field. Talking about Sahmir Hagans, Jalon Calhoun and Jordan Moore. When you look at those guys this year, 811 yards for Calhoun, Moore had 643, Hagans had 368. Calhoun four touchdowns, Hagans and Moore each with five … and they each had their career-best performances in the last two games of the season — Jordan up at Pittsburgh and the other two against Wake. It’s the first time since 2013 that Duke has had three wide receivers that have four or more touchdowns in the same season. Tell me about those guys; I know Eli Pancol would have been right there as well if he didn’t get hurt, but you had a special group to work with.
RL: Yeah, I didn’t know those exact numbers and before those last two weeks I feel like I could have done a much better job of getting those guys the ball. I mean, wow, those are incredible stats because we didn’t come close to our potential but it’s great to have those guys and share the ball. They’ve made plays for me all year. I’m very fortunate to get to work with them and with Eli coming back along with them, we’ll be really dynamic next year. This past year you had Jordan and I splitting reps throwing to them, let alone Jordan and I throwing to one another two weeks before the season. I think each individual player will be able to build their chemistry with me this offseason and we’ll be able to sling it around the way we did these last two weeks.
DS: With those guys, the variety of things you can do is awfully impressive. How much does that open things up for you since the defense has to respect them so much?
RL: When you think of their different skill sets, it’s really good when you can look at a coverage and know which guy can beat what. If you want a guy that can run past people give it to Sahmir. If you want a guy that can make contested catches give it to Jordan or give it to Eli Pancol. Then if you want a one-on-one route runner who can get open against anybody in the country I’m going to Jalon Calhoun. So as a quarterback it’s incredible, I just sit back there, read the defense, and take advantage of those matchups.
DS: I’m curious about the two guys you were working with on the sideline this year. Coach Elko is certainly a fiery competitor, but Kevin Johns doesn’t show a ton of emotion, he always has that smooth demeanor. Let’s start with your coordinator and position coach — what kind of impact has Coach Johns had on you?
RL: The quarterbacks from what I’ve seen are calm, cool and collected guys who are harder on themselves than a coach can be. Coach Johns knows that yelling at you won’t do too much because I’m already yelling at myself. He came up with this theory of the greenhouse and it illustrates that no matter what is going on outside, the temperature within the greenhouse is always going to remain the same. So, no matter what situation we’re in or what’s going on during the game we’re always going to remain cool, calm and collected. He’s huge for my mentality and I’m incredibly fortunate to have him.
DS: Let’s also touch on your head coach. To my eye there is an authenticity to him that seems to resonate with the entire team. Is that fair?
RL: Absolutely, he gets along with every single player on this team and he knows how to relate to us. He knows who he can say what to. Some coaches treat everyone the same and I don’t say that to mean he treats anyone unequally, but he treats everybody different. He knows how guys respond and he knows what to say to certain people. He does a great job with the offensive line, obviously you can’t talk to the offensive line the same way you talk to receivers, and then with me as a quarterback he treats me differently. Everyone is obviously equal, but it takes a very unique coach to understand each person and understand that he needs to have a unique relationship and way of communicating with each of us.
DS: Alright, before I let you go, just a quick thought on the bowl game. You mentioned maintaining your edge, that those complimenting you now were the same ones who didn’t have many expectations for you in the preseason. Where does this bowl game fit in for you? Is it somewhat of its own thing in terms of celebrating this past season or is it the first step when it comes to what you want to do next fall?
RL: Well, when we talk about celebrating the past season, I really don’t celebrate anything because in my eyes you either won the ACC championship or you didn’t, and we didn’t. I can’t really celebrate eight wins. I feel like we should have had a lot more. But this bowl does mean a lot — yes we can get to nine wins, but individually and for our team I just want to win. Every game I go into we are 0-0. I’m not looking at the past, I’m not looking into the future, I’m just going to focus on this game and getting the win.
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