Illinois Hires Former Wisconsin Coach Jim Leonhard
Jim Leonhard has a new home, and it's south of the border from his old job with the Wisconsin Badgers.
The former Wisconsin star DC and interim head coach has joined Bret Bielema's staff at Illinois as a senior football analyst.
The move from Leonhard comes after he was passed over by the Badgers to become the team's head coach in favor of Luke Fickell.
Leonhard, who also played for the Badgers, left the program after the team's bowl game with a 5-3 record as the interim leader of the team.
Jim Leonhard joins Illinois.
This is a home run hire for Illinois. Granted, it will likely only be for a single season. Leonhard will almost certainly be a DC in the NFL, a DC at a powerhouse college team or a head coach at a smaller D1 program by this time next year.
He would have been the Badgers head coach if Luke Fickell hadn't agreed to come. Leonhard is one of the smartest defensive minds in football.
Leonhard was elevated to Wisconsin's DC role in 2017, and he never had anything less than very solid defenses his entire tenure. At times, Wisconsin had one of the best defenses in the country.
Jim Leonhard joins Bret Bielema at Illinois. He is a senior football analyst. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
The only reason the 2020-23 seasons weren't worse than what fans experienced was because the defenses Leonhard built kept the Badgers in games.
Unfortunately for Leonhard and some Wisconsin faithful, he wasn't good enough to get the job over Luke Fickell. Now, he's in Champagne with his old Badgers coach.
Even if he's only able to serve as a voice in the coaches room for a year, Illinois fans should be incredibly excited about the hire.
Jim Leonhard immediately brings incredible defensive knowledge to the program.
Illinois hires Jim Leonhard. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
Enjoy him while you can, Illinois fans. He likely won't be around for long, but this is definitely something to be excited about. As a Wisconsin man, it's great to see Leonhard isn't taking the year off. He's going to be a great head coach someday. Hopefully, that day is sooner than later.