Former Bill Jim Leonhard leaving Wisconsin Coaching Squad

[Spiderweb]

  On 12/8/2022 at 1:58 AM, NORWOODS FOOT said:

 

As a long time Ohio State fan, I agree.

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Ohio State is the poster child (along with Alabama) for everything wrong with College Football. 

[machine gun kelly]

  On 12/7/2022 at 10:25 PM, BisonMan said:

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/35200158/jim-leonhard-leave-wisconsin-staff-bowl-game

 

Took over as interim HC this year after the team fired the incumbent after leading the team to a poor record. Leonhard turned the team around to make a Bowl game. Players lobbied for him to get the gig permanently but the school went another direction. They wanted him to return in his previous roll as DC and he told them to pound sand. The starting QB wanted him as well. We Leonhard didn't get the HC job, the QB entered the transfer portal.

 

Sound like Leonhard is potentially a sought after commodity for a HC job in Division I football. 

 

Good for him. Smart player and looks like a good coach. 

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Hey, let’s bring him in for a workout! 😜

 

Oh, this isn’t that thread.  Dang.  
 

Guys, I’m kidding.  I know the OP wasn’t making this kind of reference.  Just poking a little fun at some of the people that think every old has been has another year in them.  Don’t take it seriously.

[Freddie's Dead]

  On 12/8/2022 at 1:01 PM, Mr. WEO said:

 

Why would they take him over a guy with Fickell's history/pedigree?

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I'm big on loyalty, and Jim Leonhard is UW.

[gusbuf]

  On 12/8/2022 at 2:31 PM, Freddie's Dead said:

 

I'm big on loyalty, and Jim Leonhard is UW.

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Loyalty is great, but not to a fault.  And JL leaving has led to Graham Mertz leaving, which is a major addition by subtraction.  Most overhyped "5-star" QB recruit ever.  Had one good game his whole career, and it was his first game.  Good riddance.

[Flip Johnson]

If you ever read Collision Low Crossers by Nicholas Dawidoff (Rex Ryan era Jets, 2011 season), you will get a great sense of Leonhard's knowledge as a player. It is obvious in that book that he would be a great coach.

 

Leonhard had season-ending injuries in 2010 and 2011 and in both years that team fell apart without him. He was the most essential player for understanding and implementing Rex & Pettine's defense - during the time it was actually effective.

[Mr. WEO]

  On 12/8/2022 at 2:31 PM, Freddie's Dead said:

 

I'm big on loyalty, and Jim Leonhard is UW.

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this isn't how you run a major NCAA football program.  He was offered the DC position.  He would have been wise to take it.  

[Freddie's Dead]

  On 12/8/2022 at 4:20 PM, Mr. WEO said:

 

this isn't how you run a major NCAA football program.  He was offered the DC position.  He would have been wise to take it. 

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I disagree.  Leonhard proved he was a good HC.  So he only needs to be a good recruiter to complete the job.  Who's a better recruiter than a UW alum who played in the NFL?  UW missed an opportunity to promote one of its own.  That exactly how NCAA programs run.

[Mr. WEO]

  On 12/8/2022 at 5:27 PM, Freddie's Dead said:

 

I disagree.  Leonhard proved he was a good HC.  So he only needs to be a good recruiter to complete the job.  Who's a better recruiter than a UW alum who played in the NFL?  UW missed an opportunity to promote one of its own.  That exactly how NCAA programs run.

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A guy who brought a team to the college playoffs (after cornpone Tuberville ran it in to the ground) and 53 games in his 5 years there, that's who.

 

 

 

And no, that's not how they typically run.  As of 2019, alumni were coaching in 13.8% of the NCAAF Div 1 jobs.    Leonhard isn't exactly Jim Harbaugh.  Kirby Smart coached (to various degrees) at Florida State, LSU, Miami Dolphins, Bama before he went back to Goergia.  How many played in the NFL? Why would a top recruit care either way?   Leonhard has been at.....Wisconsin.

 

Leonhard won 4 of 7 games and finished 6th in the crappy half of the Big 10. That's nice.  But no program trying to rebuild is hiring a guy like that----when a guy like Fickell is available.  That makes zero sense at all.

 

[RobbRiddicksTDLeap]

Get it done, OBD!!

[Ethan in Cleveland]

  On 12/8/2022 at 3:44 AM, NORWOODS FOOT said:

 

The team just doesn't play with the edge that they had with Tressel and Meyer. Team feels like it did when John Cooper was the coach: tons of talent but wilted under pressure.

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Buckeyes are soft under Day even though they keep putting high level defenders into the NFL.  No way they would come back to win with Day at coach against Miami or beat Alabama with 4th string QB like they did with Tressel and Meyer.  Day can prove everyone wrong with an upset of Georgia though. My guess is OSU gets hammered 52-10 in a rout. But OSU has the firepower to put 50 on Georgia if Stroud and Harrison are on.  Missing Smith-Njaba hurts them though.

  On 12/8/2022 at 8:24 PM, Mr. WEO said:

 

A guy who brought a team to the college playoffs (after cornpone Tuberville ran it in to the ground) and 53 games in his 5 years there, that's who.

 

 

 

And no, that's not how they typically run.  As of 2019, alumni were coaching in 13.8% of the NCAAF Div 1 jobs.    Leonhard isn't exactly Jim Harbaugh.  Kirby Smart coached (to various degrees) at Florida State, LSU, Miami Dolphins, Bama before he went back to Goergia.  How many played in the NFL? Why would a top recruit care either way?   Leonhard has been at.....Wisconsin.

 

Leonhard won 4 of 7 games and finished 6th in the crappy half of the Big 10. That's nice.  But no program trying to rebuild is hiring a guy like that----when a guy like Fickell is available.  That makes zero sense at all.

 

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Agreed. Honestly Wisconsin is a step below where Fickell should have landed. With his track record at Cinci he should be at Auburn instead of the cheater Hugh Freeze.

[NORWOODS FOOT]

  On 12/8/2022 at 2:20 PM, Spiderweb said:

Ohio State is the poster child (along with Alabama) for everything wrong with College Football. 

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Actually they're a pretty good example with what's wrong with every human being, I mean, like deep down in each of our eternal souls.

 

I mean, college football has just become such a spiderweb of iniquity.

 

Prayers up.

 

  On 12/8/2022 at 10:28 PM, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Buckeyes are soft under Day even though they keep putting high level defenders into the NFL.  No way they would come back to win with Day at coach against Miami or beat Alabama with 4th string QB like they did with Tressel and Meyer.  Day can prove everyone wrong with an upset of Georgia though. My guess is OSU gets hammered 52-10 in a rout. But OSU has the firepower to put 50 on Georgia if Stroud and Harrison are on.  Missing Smith-Njaba hurts them though.

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This. I just don't see them having the toughness and guts to get teeth knocked out by Georgia and keep fighting. Hope I'm wrong. And yes, I too sense that they COULD go wild on Georgia. But I wouldn't bet on it.

Edited December 8, 2022 by NORWOODS FOOT

[gusbuf]

  On 12/8/2022 at 5:27 PM, Freddie's Dead said:

 

I disagree.  Leonhard proved he was a good HC.  So he only needs to be a good recruiter to complete the job.  Who's a better recruiter than a UW alum who played in the NFL?  UW missed an opportunity to promote one of its own.  That exactly how NCAA programs run.

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Leonhard di not prove he was a good HC. Granted, he didn't really get a real opportunity to do that in just a handful of games. But AD Chris McIntosh thankfully was looking at the big picture and where he and every Badger alum want this program to go. That meant starting over with the McIntosh/Fickell Era, rather than continuing with the Barry Alvarez tree. Barry is a living legend at UW, but it was time for a new direction. Leonhard was offered the DC job by Fickell, but I don't blame him for rejecting the offer. He would have had to swallow some major pride there. Leonhard will land on his feet with a great opportunity. He loves the college game, but if he takes a DC position in the NFL, and has a lot of success early, he will get both college and NFL coaching offers. 

 

Fickell may only be at UW until he Lans a true blue-blood position like OSU or similar. So be it. As long as he is at UW, I know the Badgers are in great hands. 

[Bill from NYC]

  On 12/8/2022 at 1:16 AM, BADOLBILZ said:

 

He was the only guy who could make Rex Ryan's complicated defense work.

 

Would be most interesting to see what he could do as a DC in the NFL.

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Am I wrong or was Rex's defense one of the worst, dumbest defenses in NFL history?

[dave mcbride]

  On 12/8/2022 at 3:57 PM, Flip Johnson said:

If you ever read Collision Low Crossers by Nicholas Dawidoff (Rex Ryan era Jets, 2011 season), you will get a great sense of Leonhard's knowledge as a player. It is obvious in that book that he would be a great coach.

 

Leonhard had season-ending injuries in 2010 and 2011 and in both years that team fell apart without him. He was the most essential player for understanding and implementing Rex & Pettine's defense - during the time it was actually effective.

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He is the reason the Pettine defense in 2013 was able to effectively run the rex scheme. Rex comes in two seasons later with great defensive talent, but without Leonhard. He had no one to run the D and it showed; the defense was bad.

  On 12/12/2022 at 12:18 PM, Bill from NYC said:

Am I wrong or was Rex's defense one of the worst, dumbest defenses in NFL history?

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No, it works if it has Jim Leonhard. He followed rex and pettine everywhere because he was crucial for getting his teammates into the right fits. For players of average football intelligence, though, it’s a deeply flawed scheme because so many mental mistakes happen within it. A great D shouldn’t be reliant on a unicorn like Leonhard.

[BADOLBILZ]

  On 12/12/2022 at 12:18 PM, Bill from NYC said:

Am I wrong or was Rex's defense one of the worst, dumbest defenses in NFL history?

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It was almost too complicated to execute.........except when Leonhard was on the field.   And it took a big hit in effectiveness when Goodell changed the rules of the game to greatly reduce the amount of punishment a defense could exact on QB's and WR's in 2010.   The rules changes were almost a direct result of what the Jets and Steelers were doing, in particular, at the time.

[Luka]

How does he feel about being the defensive co-ordinator in Buffalo after Fraizer finds a new gig in the offseason?

[DrDawkinstein]

  On 12/12/2022 at 3:27 PM, Luka said:

How does he feel about being the defensive co-ordinator in Buffalo after Fraizer finds a new gig in the offseason?

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Came in to post exactly this. I like the idea.

[thenorthremembers]

  On 12/8/2022 at 3:57 PM, Flip Johnson said:

If you ever read Collision Low Crossers by Nicholas Dawidoff (Rex Ryan era Jets, 2011 season), you will get a great sense of Leonhard's knowledge as a player. It is obvious in that book that he would be a great coach.

 

Leonhard had season-ending injuries in 2010 and 2011 and in both years that team fell apart without him. He was the most essential player for understanding and implementing Rex & Pettine's defense - during the time it was actually effective.

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What a fantastic read that book that was.  Wish there were more football books that went to that level of detail.

[Bill from NYC]

  On 12/12/2022 at 3:16 PM, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

It was almost too complicated to execute.........except when Leonhard was on the field.   And it took a big hit in effectiveness when Goodell changed the rules of the game to greatly reduce the amount of punishment a defense could exact on QB's and WR's in 2010.   The rules changes were almost a direct result of what the Jets and Steelers were doing, in particular, at the time.

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OK.....I just have ugly memories of Schobel being our only pass rusher and lining up a mile wide. This, and Dareus standing there waving his arms like a trained seal instead of penetrating. 

 

It was rather sickening, no? 

Edited December 13, 2022 by Bill from NYC

[BillsVet]

  On 12/13/2022 at 1:50 AM, Bill from NYC said:

OK.....I just have ugly memories of Schobel being our only pass rusher and lining up a mile wide. This, and Dareus standing their waving his arms like a trained seal instead of penetrating. 

 

It was rather sickening, no? 

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Remember when they were forced to play DT Spencer Johnson at OLB in 2010? Or Wrecks dropping Mario Williams into coverage?    

 

The current staff isn't perfect, but the embarrassment that this franchise was in those late RW years is hard to forget.