SOUTH BEND — Riley Leonard has revealed himself to be many things in his first (and only) offseason with his new teammates at Notre Dame football.

Among those descriptions that safely apply to the senior transfer quarterback from Duke University: Naturally curious, insanely talented, relentlessly competitive, deeply religious.

Just as significant, however, at least from an authenticity standpoint, is this: The young man can laugh at himself.

“He’s definitely a goofball,” fourth-year wide receiver Jayden Thomas said. “He’s funny. He likes to talk a lot of crap. He doesn’t cuss.”

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Keeping it clean while cleaning the competition’s clock requires another level of concentration, but Leonard has passed test after test while thriving in a variety of ad-hoc displays of skill and will.

“It’s kind of crazy,” Thomas said. “He’s good at every sport I’ve seen him play. We were just kicking the soccer ball over there, and he was able to juggle.”

A partial list: golf, basketball, sportfishing, swimming, cornhole, soccer, running and table tennis.

On that last count, however, the 6-foot-4, 216-pound Leonard might be a tad vulnerable.

“We were playing ping-pong, and I beat him twice,” Thomas said of that best-of-three showdown. “He’s only beat me once. We have a little debate about that.”

The debate rages on.

“It’s kind of cool to be able to have somebody who loves sports and plays sports, but also be able to talk a lot of crap to,” Thomas said. “It’s kind of weird how competitive he is, but also how nice he is as a person.”

'Just Riley being Riley'

In late May, two months before the Summer Olympics landed in Paris, Leonard hosted and organized what might be considered the Fairhope Games.

An Alabama town of 24,000 on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, Fairhope counts the late Jimmy Buffett among its most famous former residents. For five days in Leonard’s hometown, sandwiched between morning workouts and throwing sessions, a series of leisure activities were staged for a distinguished guest list.

“That was a blast,” said Thomas, who made the short trip from Atlanta to stay at the rental home. “Riley’s family came over and cooked us a great meal. Bama cooking. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

In addition to Notre Dame freshman quarterback CJ Carr and 2025 nonbinding pledge Deuce Knight, who drove over from Lucedale, Miss., Leonard got to hang with a half-dozen members of his new Irish receiving corps.

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The Fairhope Six included fellow transfers Beaux Collins (Clemson), Kris Mitchell (Florida International) and Jayden Harrison (Marshall) along with Notre Dame holdovers Deion Colzie, Thomas and sophomore Jaden Greathouse.

“I’d never been to Alabama before,” said Greathouse of Austin, Texas. “Just seeing where Riley is from and the people in his life, getting to meet his family, it definitely just all makes sense with the kind of man that he is and the kind of values that he has.”

And what kind of man is Leonard?

“Very outstanding man,” Greathouse said. “Just likes to have fun, really. Very adventurous, goofy guy. Loves to play games. We had plenty of stuff to do in Alabama.”

The non-football highlight for Greathouse was going fishing for the first time in his life and reeling in his first catch with Leonard as a witness.

“That was a super-cool experience for me, just being out there with the boys,” Greathouse said. “It was just Riley being Riley.”

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Harrison, on his third different college stop after starting out at Vanderbilt, has seen his share of quarterback entitlement over the years. Leonard, he can already tell, is different.

“He jokes around,” Harrison said. “Some quarterbacks I’ve been around, they’re so uptight about their job. He actually is just relaxed and accepts that he’s going to make mistakes. He realizes that: ‘All right, we can fix it,’ instead of saying, ‘I have to be perfect every time.’ “

Late-night requests for playbook clarification are answered directly and without complaint.

“He’s a cat who’s willing to help at any time,” Harrison said. “It doesn’t matter. I could call him at midnight and be like, ‘What do I have on this play?’ He’s going to answer the phone and tell me. … When you get to know him, he’s just a regular person.”

Harrison, by the way, says he caught a snapper on that fishing outing and threw it back. With Leonard around, there’s never a shortage of good food or good times.

“Riley is a fun, caring person,” Harrison said. “He cares about everybody, even people he doesn’t know, first time. You only meet a (small) amount of people like that. He’s just like, I don’t know, a perfect person — dang near like Tim Tebow as a person.”

Former NFL QB Philip Rivers dives right in

As an added benefit, the group got to spend time with a promising high school football coach from Fairhope’s St. Michael Catholic.

Fellow by the name of Philip Rivers, who spent 17 years in the NFL flinging passes for the Chargers and the Colts before retiring three years ago.

“We were at Philip Rivers’ house,” said Collins, who grew up in Los Angeles. “He had a lot of knowledge that he shared with us about how he dissected film, how to be a better teammate. He gave us wisdom every day. That was an amazing trip.”

Still just 42, Rivers joined the group for a few passing drills and showed off the magic right arm that enabled him to throw for more than 63,000 yards and 421 touchdowns.

“He’s still got it,” Thomas said. “He’s very athletic, I would say.”

The father of 10 also showed his competitive streak in the most surprising of ways.

“We did this little challenge in his pool,” Thomas said. “It was like, hold your breath and see how many laps you can do (underwater). It was just us at first and, all of a sudden, Philip just dives in the water and does it too.”

The “guys’ trip,” as Collins called it, included a visit to Mr. Gene’s Beans, a local institution since 1993, home of the Fairhope Float and the favorite ice cream shop of Leonard’s youth.

“It was great just to see the little town of Fairhope,” said Thomas, who is from Atlanta. “Riley, he’s like a king over there, so it was nice to be with him.”

In between bites of cookies and cream, Collins looked around and took a mental snapshot of what was unfolding.

“The only stories I’ve heard like that are guys who are already in the NFL,” Collins said. “The fact that (Leonard) is doing this, he’s serious about his business. He wants us to grow closer off the field, so that when we do come together this year, there’s no kinks in the link.”

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Marcus Freeman on Riley Leonard's obsession

A few days after the Fairhope Games concluded, Irish coach Marcus Freeman fielded a question about Notre Dame’s third transfer quarterback in the past four years.

“If I didn't know Riley Leonard, I would think he was — I don't want to say arrogant — but dang, I wouldn't think he's as humble as he is because he plays with a passion and a demeanor that's like, 'Holy cow, man.' “ Freeman said. “But off the field, he's the most humble and hungry. He's obsessed with improvement, with information, preparation. He's not easily distracted.”

The former defensive coordinator shook his head and smiled. Having heard reports of the way Leonard plowed through his rehab schedule after a pair of offseason surgeries on his right ankle, Freeman marveled at the competitive spirit of his new quarterback.

“Sometimes he’s oblivious to how good he is, which is great,” Freeman said. “He can tune out some of that outside noise. Yeah, he’s a good football player. Yes, he competes on the field. But when you hear (stories) and it’s not in practice, you’re talking about workouts, that tells you a lot about who he is. He’s a leader.”

Quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli has been similarly impressed, even after Leonard had to sit out the bulk of spring practice following a March 22 TightRope procedure on his ankle.

“He’s humble,” Guidugli said. “He doesn’t say much. He doesn’t lead by being a rah-rah guy. … The moment he came in here, he knew everybody’s name and everybody in the locker room knew, ‘OK, this isn’t some grad transfer quarterback who’s coming in here thinking he’s better than everybody.’ “

Had that been the case, Guidugli says half in jest, the reaction might have been something like: “Yeah, here this guy comes. He comes in with a boot on. He ain’t doin’ nothin’.”

Instead, Leonard organized offseason study sessions with the offensive line and asked if informal throwing sessions with the receivers could be videotaped.

“It’s little things like that,” Guidugli said. “You start to pick up, ‘OK, he’s starting to wrap his arms around this group and get these guys together.’ And that allows him to be the voice and put himself in a position of leadership.”

Said incumbent left guard Pat Coogan: “There’s just a certain energy he brings with him, and it’s contagious. He’s a funny guy. I think it just comes natural to him. He’s never tried to fit in, never been a ‘try-hard.’ From the moment he got here, he’s just been himself and that’s been plenty for us.”

Swagger with a smile

Leonard, of course, has yet to throw his first interception or suffer his first loss in a game for Notre Dame.

Then again, based on his public interactions so far, it’s likely he’ll treat those setbacks — should they indeed arrive — with the same equanimity he’s displayed in every other setting.

“That’s how he is all the time: Always has a smile on his face, always just a great overall guy,” Greathouse said. “Him just being him really makes our offense go because it gives energy to our offense. He has that good, positive attitude, but then he also has this swagger about him that lets you know he’s going to get his job done and he’s going to make the defense look silly.”

It doesn’t hurt to have Rivers as a resource as Leonard embarks on his final college season.

“He’s a guy who’s a lot like me,” Leonard said. “An Alabama guy, very competitive, but also a very strong Christian at the same time. It’s great to have him in my back pocket. I can text and just kind of get back down to earth.”

Rivers’ primary advice to his young protégé?

“He always just talks about being grateful every single day and mentally preparing for the worst-case scenario,” Leonard said. “Whatever the worst-case scenario is, you’d better prepare for it. That way, when it happens, you’ll be ready for it.”

Asked what he hopes his new teammates would say about him now and what he hopes they’ll say once this whirlwind ends, Leonard paused a moment to consider the question.

“I would really hope that they would talk about who I am as a person,” he said on Aug. 10. “Number one, my faith. I came in here with a strong faith, and this is an easy place to have a strong faith. I can be open about it.”

The prior night, for instance, he visited the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes on campus, “praying and thanking God for this opportunity.”

The second thing he’d like his teammates to say?

“Just a guy that wants to come in here and help,” he said. “Somebody who doesn’t put himself above the team. If they said anything along those lines, I think I would lay my head at night pretty (comfortably).”

And if they happen to start telling him “You suck,” the way Heather Leonard has reminded her son for years as an ego-check before games?

“They jump in on that, great,” Leonard said with a laugh. “If they don’t, that’s fine, too. It’s always a fun time with that.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and the South Bend Tribune. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football QB Riley Leonard has a 'goofball' side as well