Candidate profile: Jim Leonhard
Three weeks after signing a second extension to remain Missouri's defensive coordinator, Blake Baker has agreed to do the same job for LSU. Now, Missouri is searching for its fourth defensive coordinator in five years.
You can find out full hot board here. In the meantime, we will also bring you a more in-depth look at each candidate by profiling one every day during the search.
Current position: Illinois defensive analyst
Coaching experience: 8 years (six as defensive coordinator or head coach)
Age: 41
Salary: $112,500
Buyout: Unknown
Leonhard played at Wisconsin from 2001-04 and was a three-time All-American (2002-04) during his stint. He played in the NFL for 10 seasons (2005-14) on seven teams.
He started coaching at his alma mater as the defensive backs coach under Paul Chryst in 2016.
That year, Justin Wilcox was the defensive coordinator for the Badgers.
In his lone season as the coordinator, the Badgers ranked seventh in the FBS in defense, allowing 301.4 total yards per game, 15.6 points per game (fourth), 202.6 passing yards per game (30th) and 98.8 rushing yards per game (third) en route to an 11-3 record featuring a Cotton Bowl win.
In 2017, Wilcox would take the head coaching job at Cal, and Leonhard would be promoted to defensive coordinator, a position he'd hold through the 2022 season.
| Years (record) | PPG allowed (FBS Rank) | Total yards per game allowed (rank) | Passing yards allowed per game (rank) | Rushing yards allowed per game (rank) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2017 (13-1) |
13.0 (3) |
262.1 (2) |
136.6 (5) |
98.4 (3) |
|
2018 (8-5) |
22.6 (35) |
344.2 (29) |
189.1 (22) |
155.1 (53) |
|
2019 (10-4) |
16.9 (10) |
288.6 (6) |
187.4 (12) |
101.3 (7) |
|
2020 (4-3) |
17.4 (10) |
299.9 (5) |
203.7 (32) |
96.1 (5) |
|
2021 (9-4) |
16.2 (4) |
239.7 (1) |
174.3 (4) |
65.4 (1) |
|
2022 (7-6) |
20.2 (17) |
303.5 (11) |
204.3 (29) |
99.2 (9) |
|
Average |
17.71 |
289.67 |
182.56 |
102.58 |
During Leonhard's tenure as defensive coordinator Wisconsin was one of college football's most consistent and dominant defenses.
In his first year as defensive coordinator, Leonhard took a top-10 defense and made it the second-best defense in the country.
In his second year, he had his worst year as a coordinator and that was still a top 30 defense.
He had his best year in 2021 with the nation's top defense and run defense to go with top 5 scoring and pass defenses.
Leonhard served as the team's interim head coach for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl at the end of the 2022 campaign. He decided to leave the program after Luke Fickell succeeded Chryst.
In those six seasons, the Badgers had five top 15 defenses including four in the top 10, five top 20 scoring defenses including four in the top 10, three top 15 passing defenses and five top 10 run defenses.
Leonhard spent the 2023 season as a senior analyst for the Fighting Illini.
Overall, Leonhard is young and has a decade's worth of NFL experience. That bodes well for recruiting and coaching. Plus, his coaching experience is great. He coached in what is believed to be the second-best conference in the country and he had elite defenses for winning teams.
The biggest thing is does he want to jump to the NFL coaching ranks any time soon?
Missouri would be able to pay him like he's one of the best coordinators in the country, which he has proven he is, and whatever his buyout at Illinois is would be almost nothing for Missouri.
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