In the first part of our exclusive interview with 2021 Duke quarterback commit Riley Leonard, the Fairhope, Alabama three-star discusses his college choice and coach David Cutcliffe
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00:00Yeah, no problem. I'm excited. I'm excited to do this for you. It's an honor to be on a page like this.
00:06Thanks a lot. So, congratulations on the commitment. What has this past week or so been like for you?
00:15Yeah, so it's been super exciting for me. One, you know, the recruiting process is, you know, it's hard on the recruit.
00:25I mean, it's a blessing to be recruited, but I'm glad to be able to settle in with one school.
00:31And, yeah, it's a tight-knit community down here, so literally the entire city knows about it.
00:37Everywhere I go, you know, walking to restaurants, you know, it's like Chant and Duke and everything.
00:43And, you know, I don't have any regrets with my decision, and I'm extremely excited to get rolling.
00:50That's SEC country down there. They don't hold it against you that you're leaving for the ACC?
00:55No, no. They're the nicest people. They have no worries. They know the type of school Duke is, so they're excited for me.
01:03And what are the reasons that you decided to choose Duke?
01:06Yeah, well, obviously, the Coach Pat reason. You know, he didn't have to give me a pitch or anything.
01:14I knew what he's capable of. And then what even made it better was what he talks about off the field
01:20and how he can develop his players, you know, for the rest of their lives.
01:24Duke's a 40-year school, not a four-year school to me. For the rest of my life, I'll be able to walk around
01:32with pride on my chest saying I went there. Those were some key factors.
01:38And then, you know, I matched it up against other schools and looked at the pros and cons,
01:44and I realized that there aren't any at Duke. So, yeah, I ended up making that decision.
01:50And, I mean, I'm sure you're aware that, you know, Coach Cutton knows a little bit about quarterbacking.
01:56So what did that have to do with your decision?
02:00Yeah, so, actually, my quarterback coach out of Mobile, David Morris, he played for Coach Cutt at Ole Miss.
02:08And so, yeah, he played for Coach Cutt. And then my new offensive coordinator that just came in at Fairhope,
02:17he knows Coach Cutt a little bit. So, you know, not that they influenced my decision at all,
02:23but, you know, they definitely told me things about him. And, yeah, I got the most respect for him out of anybody.
02:32And I'm excited to, you know, pick his brain this offseason and then get rolling with him, you know, whenever I can get up there.