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Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was about to take on the same job with Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers, but his love for the Badgers football program and his desire to stay in Madison ultimately got it. led to refuse the offer on Friday.
Leonhard spoke with Tom Oates and Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal about the process and why he ultimately decided to make a statement in Wisconsin.
“I picked UW,” Leonhard told Oates and Wilde. “I want to stay at UW. I want to be at this level now. Extremely flattered. Superb opportunity. But now was not the right time for me to return to the NFL.
Leonhard, 38, was a defensive back in Wisconsin in 2001. He was then a three-time All-American and three-time All-Big Ten before carving out a 10-year career in the NFL. In 2016, he joined the Wisconsin coaching staff as a defensive backs coach and was promoted a year later to defensive coordinator.
His ties to Madison are strong, but Leonhard said he was ‘about to come out’ signaling how close he was to taking the Packers job, and he even spoke about contract numbers with LaFleur this week. . The two have met twice, once virtually and once in person, through Oates and Wilde.
Leonhard described himself as a “feature film” to let Madison into the process, but he was intrigued by the opportunity to coordinate an NFL defense for a Super Bowl candidate and went through the full interview process. with LaFleur.
Ultimately, staying with Wisconsin – and continuing to build and guide the Badgers football program while keeping his young family in Madison – kept Leonhard from making the leap to the NFL.
“I know the NFL. I know the good, I know the bad, being there for 10 years. I understand what the NFL is. It’s exciting. Right now I just feel like UW is the right place. I’m not saying it will always be. But right now that’s where I want to be, at this level, with this group of kids, ”Leonhard said.
Under Leonhard’s leadership over the past five years, the Wisconsin defense ranks in the top five nationally in points, total yards, passing yards, rushing yards, completion percentage and the third conversions, by Zach Heilprin.
Wisconsin finished just 4-3 in a pandemic-riddled 2020 season, but finished with wins over Minnesota and Wake Forest.
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