Wisconsin head coach Jim Leonhard talks first win, injuries, and changes

Head coach Jim Leonhard provided further details on his team's win over Northwestern, injury updates, and the Badgers upcoming game at Michigan State.

Last week was somewhat of a whirlwind for interim head coach Jim Leonhard and the Wisconsin Badgers. Despite all of the emotion and change, Leonhard and the Badgers managed to win their first Big Ten game of the season last Saturday.

Following the 35-point win over Northwestern, Leonhard met with media members to discuss the team's performance, while he sat down with reporters on Monday for his weekly press conference. 

Here is an overview of what the interim head coach had to say during each media availability.

Northwestern postgame

Leonhard began with an opening statement saying he was "extremely proud of our group" with the way that the team was able to navigate the emotions and everything that transpired a week ago. "For us to rally and be able to compartmentalize that and get the work done that we needed to get done," Leonhard said, "extremely proud of how we came out."

"We talked on Sunday with the guys. We needed to execute so much better. Offense, defense, special teams weren't playing up to our standard and to see them rally this week and get that done under the circumstances was huge."

When asked about the offense and what worked against Northwestern, Leonhard noted, "No. 1 balance. You can't allow teams to continually attack, right you have to do something to slow them down and keep them on their heels. Obviously, the right thing today was perimeter, getting the ball out on the edge, trust Graham to make great decisions, trust our receivers to beat coverage, and they were aggressive."

"We have to play off our passing game. Teams are going to stop the run. They are going to load the box and dedicate a lot of attention to our running backs and O-line. We have to be able to balance that a little bit." 

"Shock and awe, number one." 🤣@BTNDaveRevsine asks @jimleonhard to relive his winning jam as a freshman in the @BadgerFootball team's dunk contest. #B1Gtoday pic.twitter.com/9rdjFwrHMI

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 10, 2022

Leonhard later noted that the team did a much better job of executing all around against Northwestern. He felt like players were trying to "out-effort" their opponents at times earlier in the year, which led to mistakes and penalties. Leonhard mentioned that his message all week was about the improtance of execution. 

When asked about having Tate Grass and Jake Chaney as the starting inside linebackers versus Northwestern, Leonhard acknowledged that the biggest reason was injuries. Maema Njongmeta broke his hand and recently had surgery to repair it, so while he was available he was on a pitch count. In terms of Jordan Turner, he was also banged up throughout the week. 

Later in the press conference, on the topic of having Bobby Engram on the sidelines for the game instead of up in the press box as he was previously, Leonhard said, "we just felt this week especially, they needed to see his presence and be able to communicate a little bit easier with me and the guys."

"Number one, protection. He [Mertz] was comfortable, he was confident, and he played with great rhythm and timing all day." - Leonhard on the play of Graham Mertz

You can watch the entire postgame press conference below.

Weekly press conference

Looking back at the Northwestern game, Leonhard said, "just seeing how many guys really played their best football of the season, hopefully, we can build off that and gain a lot of confidence."

"He's a fluid mover, I mean he is very explosive and can run. We thought he was going to be able to do some very good things in coverage on top of the physicality that he loves to play with. He's getting more and more comfortable within this defense every week and he's coming off his best games back-to-back. Excited about where he's at, he still needs to continue to grow and learn to communicate certain things within this defense, but he's gaining more confidence every week."  - Jim Leonhard on safety Kamo'i Latu

Leonhard noted that he scaled the physicality in practice back a little bit this past week to help the team remain fresh. He went on to state that it wasn't something where he felt like the staff had previously been doing it wrong, but rather that this time of the year it is a naturally time to make some tweaks to help keep everyone available, especially with the team having "light numbers at certain positions."

"Two things stick out to me with Rico [Hallman]. One, confidence, which you need at that position. Two, is maturity. He knows who he is. Right he understands his skillset and what he's really good at, what he needs to continue to work on, what are his strengths and how can he adjust those things week-to-week to win matchups. I think those are the two things that stand out to me with Rico, and he's been very consistent for us. Continues to grow with every game and just the experience he is learning. He is a young guy, but he hasn't made too many moments too big." - Jim Leonhard on RS freshman cornerback Ricardo Hallman

"It's exciting. These guys have been through a lot this week."@jimleonhard reacts to his first win as @BadgerFootball interim coach. pic.twitter.com/3tdUiCYzGl

— Wisconsin On BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) October 9, 2022

When asked about what criteria he needs to meet to potentially earn the full-time job, Leonhard acknowledged that he is still taking it "day-by-day" at this point, but that "eventually the big picture will get there." Leonhard went on to say, "if we play good football and we win games, I'll have a bigger opportunity to be in this role moving forward."

Leonhard actually provided details on player injuries during his weekly press conference when prompted, a very different stance than Paul Chryst took previously. Leonhard noted that Chez Mellusi will miss the Michigan State game with a wrist injury and that he will likely miss multiple games because of it. Leonhard also added that Hunter Wohler is getting closer to returning. While Wohler has not yet practiced, he is "doing significantly more in his rehab," and is on pace to potentially come back closer to the team's bye week in late October.  

One change that Leonhard has already implemented to the weekly schedule is backing up the Monday walkthrough to the afternoon, thus allowing the staff 10-12 additional hours of preparation for practice, which he felt made everyone (players and coaches) more confident. 

"The transfer portal is only growing. It is going to continue to be a part of the recruiting process and roster building in college football. You need talent, you need experience, but you need to find a balance of how are you going to recruit your players and develop them them, and give them time, and not constantly try to jump over younger players in that process." - Jim Leonhard on recruiting and the transfer portal

You can watch Leonhard's entire Monday press conference below, if interested. 

Related links:

• Wisconsin blasts Northwestern 42-7 in Evanston
• Wisconsin QB Deacon Hill enters the transfer portal
• Kamo'i Latu earns Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors

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