Earlier today Wisconsin defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield and senior defensive ends Garrett Rand and Isaiahh Loudermilk met with the media and discussed the upcoming season.
Among the topics covered was their thoughts on Defensive Coordinator Jim Leonhard, a guy many Badger fans know well as a former player with the program and now one of the best coordinators in the nation.
“He’s smart,” Breckterfield said. “[He] does a great job finding the matchups and finding who those playmakers are and putting them in a position to win.”
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The Badger position coach continued to note that Leonhard “doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low and the players appreciate that. He gets the most out of the unit as a whole.”
For Loudermilk the answer to the question was clear and concise.
“He’s a genius,” the defensive lineman said.
2020 will be Leonhard’s No. 5 year with the program as a coach and his No. 4 as defensive coordinator after walking on as a player back in 2002.
While there is talent all over the 2020 defense, much of the coordinator’s work this year will be trying to recreate the defensive production that was lost with Chris Orr and Zack Baun going to the NFL. If there’s anybody up for the job, though, it’s Leonhard. “A genius” as Loudermilk said and many would agree.
Whether pursuing a head coaching job in the near future is on the table for Leonhard is anybody’s guess, but it’s clear through his results and the comments of those that work with him that he’s a special coach and a huge reason for the team’s success year after year.