I am a proud native of Fairhope, Alabama and part of a big, sports-loving family. I grew up playing every sport possible with my brothers, Cole and Devin. I also spent plenty of time fishing and enjoying the outdoors around Mobile Bay. My parents, Chad and Heather, have been there for us every step of the way and I’ll always be grateful for the sacrifices they've made for me over the years.
Up until the end of high school, I thought basketball would be my main sport. Even now, I sneak my way into any gym I can find (in the off-season of course). My dad played basketball at The Citadel, my uncle played at Georgetown, and it was the sport I initially wanted to play in college. I had a number of D1 basketball scholarship offers before I received my first football offer. When Covid hit during my junior year of high school, I didn’t have a chance to get out and play on the EYBL circuit and ended up staying home and getting more work in as a quarterback.
Fortunately, my quarterback coach, David Morris, and my high school coach, Tim Carter, sent my film to Coach David Cutcliffe at Duke. Coach Cut offered me a scholarship not long after. It meant a lot to have a program like Duke and a legendary coach like Coach Cut believe in me. I had the chance to play for Coach Cut for a year, and then for Coach Mike Elko for two years.
During my three years at Duke, my teammates and I were able to help Duke win two bowl games and have numerous winning seasons. Some memories I’ll never forget at Duke were beating Clemson at home, hosting ESPN College GameDay for the first time in program history, and all the fans getting behind us and making Wallace Wade a special place to play.
After junior year, I made the difficult but exciting decision to transfer to Notre Dame to continue my college career. Playing for the Fighting Irish has always been a dream. My favorite movie growing up was “Rudy” and my great-grandad, James Curran, played for Notre Dame back in the 40’s. Notre Dame’s culture, academics, and winning tradition made for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’m proud to be back in my high school colors of blue and gold.
With all of this being said, these accomplishments sum up about 1% of my day-to-day life. I’m hoping to use my website to help show you the real 99%: the parts that highlight who I am as a person, not as an athlete. I hope this becomes a tool to inspire someone to do something greater than themselves.
– Riley
