Very humbled to be in the conversation for that position,” Leonhard said.
The Los Angeles Rams reportedly wanted to poach him in the 2019 offseason after the Badgers narrowly lost the Rose Bowl to Oregon.īut Green Bay did have a particular appeal to the Tony native, and he said it was a hard decision to turn down the offer to join Matt LaFleur’s staff. The Packers weren’t the first NFL team to come calling for Leonhard. I feel like we have a group that can accomplish that.”īadgers’ body changes outnumber position changes on spring football roster We haven’t done that since I’ve been back, so the goals haven’t changed. “I came here wanting to win a national championship, right? I came here wanting to win the Big Ten as a player, nothing’s changed as a coach. “I think all coaches, the players, the staff, we have the highest goals here,” he said. Since he came back to the program as a coach in 2016, the Badgers haven’t won the league title despite three trips to the title game.įor all the successes Leonhard has had as the program’s coordinator - including nine defensive players drafted to the NFL and statistical rankings in the top-10 nationally - it’s the fact UW hasn’t yet reached the heights of the college football world that drives him. Leonhard earned All-America honors three times (2002-04) as a player at UW but never won a Big Ten Conference championship. But I am excited about being in Madison and I think we got a great opportunity this coming season.” And with COVID being the way it was last year, I’d have felt a specific way about myself having left after that season. I love this group of kids and I want to continue to develop them. “To me, there’s some unfinished business with the University of Wisconsin. “I’ve said it a lot of times: I love Madison,” Leonhard said. Leonhard turned down an offer to become the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator in February, a decision he told reporters Wednesday was difficult. It’s also what drove him to become a coach, one who’s entering his fifth season as the defensive coordinator as the Badgers started spring practices this week. That trait led the former walk-on to become an All-American safety at the University of Wisconsin and a 10-year NFL player. For Jim Leonhard, finding motivation to keep working has never been an issue.