What was Lincoln Riley going to face in the Big Ten in terms of coaching and personnel? That was a key question one year ago, when USC’s move to the Big Ten was announced. Now that we’re a year closer to the Trojans playing in the Big Ten, with a 2024 Big Ten schedule announced, the question is a little more urgent, and it has a little more meat on the bone.
It is notable that one Big Ten defensive coordinator who was employed in 2022 is not employed by that same school in 2023. Jim Leonhard chose not to work on Luke Fickell’s staff at Wisconsin after Paul Chryst was fired and Leonhard was passed over for the permanent head coaching job.
Leonhard would have been a real problem for Lincoln Riley when USC played Wisconsin. On our Riley Files podcast series from last summer, Oklahoma expert Kegan Reneau elaborated on this particular point:
“Jim Leonard’s defense at Wisconsin would be a problem with that style of defense, right? You can be very multiple. You have two down defensive linemen, you have two edge players, or you have three down defensive linemen, and you’ve got six DBs essentially on the field. Those styles of defenses kept Oklahoma in front of them, and really limited Oklahoma’s capability of being vertical in the passing game.”
Luke Fickell is a quality defensive coach, but Leonhard had a proven formula in Madison. It will be fascinating to see if Wisconsin’s defenses are better or worse than the Leonhard standard.
[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696092289]