![]() I’ve talked about this many times, I really became who I am at the University of Wisconsin and in this football program. “This place means a lot to me,” he stressed. He was an elite punt returner and accomplished ball-hawk. He went on to become a three-time All-American safety. He was a walk-on from the tiny community of Tony (population: 103) and Flambeau High School. Leonhard, of course, has his own well-documented connection to the program and school. So did his dad, who also coached at the UW. As a kid, he was part of the Sunday clean-up crew following games. He and his brothers, Rick and Geep, used to sneak into the stadium to play pickup football. You can understand why.Ĭhryst grew up in the Vilas neighborhood not far from Camp Randall. Emotional was the operative word used by both. McIntosh, a former All-American tackle for the Badgers, repeatedly acknowledged, “It’s a tough day for us all given how much we all care for and how much we love coach Chryst.” That was echoed several times by Leonhard. In releasing Chryst, he said, “I’m tasked with making difficult decisions about the future and the direction of this program.” Noting he would be doing a “full search when the time is right” for a head coach, McIntosh underlined how “today’s priority was to take care of the kids …” The players. “I’m confident there’s nobody who could do it better at this moment in time than Jim,” he said. And he confirmed the trust in bestowing so much responsibility on him as interim coach. He listed “the fit that Jim brings to this program.” He extolled his competitiveness and work ethic and his ability to lead and teach. ![]() UW athletic director Chris McIntosh said as much. “I learned a lot about competing – how to play and how to compete from him,” he has recounted in the past. His father, in particular, has been a mentor. Jim is definitely a gym rat and coach’s kid. “They’ve supported me for a long time, and they’re very invested in this place and my career.”ĭebbie coached volleyball. ![]() “I just wanted to give them a heads-up,” he said. On Sunday, he also reassured his mom and dad, Debbie and Don. He wanted reassurances the move “was going to be good for all of us as a family.” It was. “Coaching is a lot of time, a lot of commitment and she knows that being around the game for so long.” “Family is extremely important to me,” he said back then. On Sunday, Leonhard made mention of that moment, “This man hired me with zero coaching experience and named me his coordinator a year later.”īefore accepting Chryst’s offer to be the defensive coordinator in 2017, replacing Justin Wilcox, he again ran it past Katie. Chryst brought him on staff as a defensive back assistant coach. “I took a year (2015) to get away – to kind of get a break from it mentally – I came in and watched some film of Wisconsin’s defense and I talked to coach (Dave) Aranda (then the UW defensive coordinator) a little bit … it was a break (from a decade as a pro safety) and I needed that.” And there were some things that were very interesting that maybe one day I’d like to do. “I had a lot of meetings and met with a lot of people. “I really wanted to take the time to evaluate it,” he went on. Something that he could get passionate about, he emphasized. It was big for me to figure out if there was something that kind of jumped at me outside of football.” We were just trying to decide what life after playing was going to be and we kicked around a lot of things. Or any other business opportunity that may arise.Īt the time, he said of their heart-to-hearts, “It was almost daily for awhile. They had many conversations about the future and what it might hold in terms of coaching. Just like in 2014 when Leonhard retired from the NFL after a 10-year career and the couple was in the process of building a home outside of Madison. She’s excited for the opportunity.”Įver the realist, he added, “There will be challenges ahead that we have to work through.” She wants me to impact a lot of these kids. ![]() She knows how much this place means to me. Sunday night, after officially being introduced as Paul Chryst’s replacement, Leonhard said of his wife’s reaction, “She’s shocked, she’s excited, she’s nervous – all of those things. Twenty-one years ago, they met on campus as freshmen. They briefly discussed the ramifications of the position. Katie Leonhard got the news earlier in the day from her husband about his expanded title. ![]()
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