Coordinator Candidate Jim Leonhard Has Dominated at Wisconsin

A longtime NFL safety before entering coaching, Jim Leonhard spent most of his playing career in Mike Pettine's defenses.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – University of Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard is on Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s list of defensive coordinator interviews, a source confirmed.

According to ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky, the Packers have five interviews set for Tuesday and Wednesday: Packers defensive backs coach Jerry Gray, Cleveland Browns defensive line coach Chris Kiffin, New Orleans Saints defensive line coach/assistant head coach Ryan Nielsen, Philadelphia Eagles defensive line coach/run game coordinator Matt Burke and Leonhard.

Additionally, Demovsky reported, four others have interviewed: Los Angeles Chargers defensive passing game coordinator Joe Barry, Washington Football Team defensive backs coach Chris Harris, Atlanta Falcons senior assistant Bob Sutton and Rams safeties coach Ejiro Evero, who was on the Rams’ staff with LaFleur in 2017 and was a Packers quality control coach in 2016.

Sutton, the former Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator, took himself out of the running on Tuesday by agreeing to become a senior defensive assistant under new coach Robert Saleh with the New York Jets.

Not on the candidates list, according to a source: venerable defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who was on the Rams’ staff with LaFleur in 2017 and is the king of the Year 1 turnaround.

Leonhard has continued the Badgers’ run of defensive excellence, having replaced Dave Aranda (now the coach at Baylor) and Justin Wilcox (now the coach at Cal). Having turned only 38 in October, which makes him about six months younger than Tramon Williams, he is one of the elite defensive minds in the college game.

Over his four seasons, the Badgers rank third nationally in scoring defense (17.2 points per game), fourth in yards allowed (297.9 yards per game), fifth in rushing defense (112.3 yards per game) and fifth in pass efficiency defense (109.0). Wisconsin forced the second-most turnovers (104) and intercepted the second-most passes (68) during that span.

In 2020, Wisconsin finished ninth in scoring defense, fifth in rushing defense, fifth in total defense and fifth on third down. In 2019, Leonhard’s unit posted four shutouts — the first Big Ten team to do so since 1962 — and set a school record by allowing opponents to convert just 27.2 percent of their third-down attempts. It finished second in sacks per game with a school-record 51.

Leonhard will be hard to pry loose from Wisconsin, so the interview might be as much about his interest as defensive philosophies and ties to the man he would be replacing, Mike Pettine.

First and foremost, he is well paid. According to USA Today, Leonhard ranks 22nd among all college assistant football coaches with an annual salary of almost $1.13 million. That’s almost double his starting pay of $600,000 in 2017.

A former standout safety at Wisconsin before a lengthy NFL career, he’s laid roots in Madison. According to The Athletic, he’s turned down overtures from Alabama, Florida State and Texas A&M to run their defenses.

“I understand what UW is all about,” Leonhard said late in the season. “It’s home for myself. I grew up here. This was kind of the dream job to come back and coach. Also being on a lot of different teams, you just realize the culture is different every single place. Not bad. Doesn’t mean it’s bad or good. Just understand it’s different. There is a comfort level here, understanding what this place is about and how I’m allowed to coach and act and recruit. Kind of the whole big picture of what college football is.

“There’s other places that do it the right way, and you’d like to take that culture wherever you go. But I definitely understand what Wisconsin is. And a big part of me coaching is wanting to come back here and make this place better. I had a great experience as a player and want to give that back to the next generation.”

The 5-foot-8 walk-on wound up having a 10-year NFL career. He broke into the NFL with Buffalo in 2005, when Packers defensive backs coach and fellow coordinator candidate Jerry Gray was running the defense. In 2008, Leonhard was in Baltimore, where Pettine was outside linebackers coach. Leonhard spent the 2009 through 2011 seasons with the Jets, the 2013 season back with Buffalo and the 2014 season with Cleveland. Pettine ran all of those defenses.

Of his 73 career starts, Pettine was the defensive coordinator or head coach for 52.

As with Pettine, Leonhard has operated a 3-4 defense while with the Badgers. If hired, he would bring at least bring a similar defensive foundation. Considering the uncertainty over offseason practices amid a pandemic, that might have some appeal for LaFleur. However, just because Leonhard counts Pettine as a mentor doesn’t mean he’d coach or think like Pettine, especially after running his own show the last four years.

Appearing on ESPN Wisconsin’s Wilde and Tausch when Pettine was hired in 2018, Leonhard said he learned “a lot” from Pettine during their times together.

“Creativity, I don’t think that always necessarily means doing a thousand things,” Leonhard said via Madison.com. “The creativity (in Buffalo) was, ‘How do you get (your pass rushers) 1-on-1s?’ The thought process was, ‘If we get two of those guys 1-on-1s, one of them is going to win. Every time.’ Sometimes that was all the creativity that was needed. Not necessarily, ‘We’re going to run 1,000 pressure packages and this and that.’ It’s being smart in how you’re creative.”