Tag: Jim Leonhard

Sean Payton says Jim Leonhard has a bright future as a coach in the NFL

“This guy has got a real good future as a coach in this league,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of new DBs coach Jim Leonhard.

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton tried to hire Jim Leonhard to his staff last year, but Leonhard took a break from coaching in 2023 while recovering from hip surgery.

After fully recovering, Leonhard joined Payton’s staff this spring as a defensive backs coach. Leonhard, 41, spent 10 years as a safety and special teams player in the NFL, including a summer with the New Orleans Saints in 2013.

“I had him briefly as a player and he reminds me that I cut him,” Payton said on June 12. “I think he [also] came here. He played for a long time. He’s extremely smart. Even last year in the process, he was going through a hip replacement surgery, so I was trying to hire him, but he was going to have trouble with that. He spent that year — last year — just working kind of as a consultant with Illinois. He was able to do that where it was going to be harder for him to commit.

“When this year came around and the opportunity presented itself — we are getting someone with [playing] experience and we’re getting someone with coaching experience as well. He’s been coaching at the college level now for quite a while and was a candidate to be the head coach at Wisconsin. I’ve kind of known him for a while and he’s one of those guys — not only myself, but I would say a number of people in the league have tracked and said, ‘This guy has got a real good future as a coach in this league.’”

Leonhard spent one season with the Broncos in 2012. Following his final season in 2014, Leonhard transitioned to coaching. He returned to Wisconsin, his alma mater, in 2016 and quickly worked his way up from defensive backs coach to defensive coordinator. Leonhard served as an interim head coach in 2022 before stepping down and taking a senior football analyst role at Illinois while rehabbing in 2023.

Now set to make his NFL coaching debut in 2024, Leonhard brings 10 years of experience as a player and seven years of coaching experience to Denver.

“He did a lot, and he will lean on him in all of those areas,” Payton said. “He really had a good career and was part of a lot of winning teams, too. The Jets — I remember competing against the Jets and [he] had two real good seasons there. He was part of those teams with Rex [Ryan]. He was in Baltimore and here. He was at a few stops, but when you play that long, he is doing something right.”

Broncos fans will get their first look at Leonhard coaching up the team’s defensive backs when training camp practices begin on Friday.

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Wisconsin’s 2021 defense trails only two Big Ten units in best of last decade

Wisconsin’s 2021 defense trails only two Big Ten units in best of last decade

The Wisconsin Badgers’ 2021 defense boasts the third-lowest defensive yards allowed per game total of any single-season college football defense since 2014, per ProFootballFocus.

The Badgers allowed only 239.7 yards per game in 2021, an impressive feat considering the shift towards more offensive-fueled systems in college football over the past decade.

Wisconsin registered a more proficient team defensive yardage mark than the 2023 Michigan Wolverines, 2015 Boston College Eagles, 2019 Ohio State Buckeyes and 2014 Clemson Tigers. The numbers go back to 2014, the first year of the College Football Playoff.

Paul Chryst led the 2021 Badgers to a 9-4 overall mark and a 6-3 conference record. Despite the winning record, the Badgers dropped contests to No. 19 Penn State, No. 112 Notre Dame and No. 14 Michigan in three of their first four contests. None of those losses, however, came due to poor play on the defensive side of the football.

The Badgers countered with seven unanswered victories, including a 27-7 triumph over the No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes and 30-13 win over the No. 25 Purdue Boilermakers.

Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard led the defensive group that season with future Super Bowl champion linebacker Leo Chenal as the team’s MVP. UW would go on to win the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl 20-13 over Arizona State.

Wisconsin’s 2021 defensive unit held its opponents to under 20 points in nine of its 13 bouts.

Starters on the unit included Keeanu Benton, Matt Henningsen, Isaiah Mullens, Jack Sanborn, Chenal, Nick Herbig, Noah Burks, Caesar Williams, Faion Hicks, Eric Burrell and Scott Nelson.

Benton, Henningsen, Sanborn, Chenal, Herbig, Hicks and Nelson all went on to play in the NFL in some capacity.

Jim Leonhard excited to make NFL coaching debut with Broncos

Sean Payton tried to hire Jim Leonhard last year, but he took a year off coaching due to hip surgery. Now recovered, Leonhard is on board.

After spending ten years as a safety and special teams player, Jim Leonhard transitioned from playing in the NFL to coaching at his alma mater, Wisconsin.

Leonhard returned to the Badgers in 2016 initially as a defensive backs coach before later becoming the defensive coordinator and eventually an interim head coach. He turned down DC jobs in the NFL to remain at the college level and then served as a senior football analyst at Illinois in 2023 while recovering from hip surgery.

After failing to land Leonhard on his staff last year, Broncos head coach Sean Payton made a pitch to Leonhard again in 2024. This time, the coach accepted, joining the team as their new defensive backs coach after six years at the college level.

“Definitely excited to be here,” Leonhard said on June 12. “Last year was a great time for me to kind of step away and reset a little bit. We had talked a year ago and decided against it, but it was hard to turn down twice.

“I loved my time here in Denver. It was a great experience as a player, and just knowing really from the top down, the commitment and the passion for the Broncos here in Denver. I’m excited to be back for this to be my first opportunity coaching in the NFL.”

Leonhard spent one season playing for the Broncos in 2012. He started one game on defense that season and played 151 snaps on special teams. Now back in Denver, Leonhard will be tasked with coaching up the Broncos’ defensive backs while undoubtedly helping with special teams as well.

The 41-year-old coach is the latest ex-player to join Payton’s staff, joining a list of peers that includes Chris Banjo, Zach Strief, Davis Webb, Keary Colbert and Logan Kilgore. Judging by his quick ascension, Leonhard seems poised to have a bright future in coaching.

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In the Big Ten and elsewhere, coaches have to be willing to show patience

Coaches have to be patient in how they coach on the field, but also in how they handle industry changes and openings.

One could say that Lincoln Riley is newly embracing patience at USC. What do we mean by that? Riley is talking about defense and toughness more, and he is talking less about offense and playing shootouts. Riley is carrying himself like a coach who, for the first time in his career, is comfortable winning games 17-10 instead of 52-49. Patience is real, and it matters for coaches in the Big Ten or anywhere else in the sport. Jim Leonhard was discussed here at Trojans Wire as a possible defensive coordinator candidate the past few years. He has had to exhibit patience as well, but in a notably different way.

Ben Kenney of Badgers Wire told us that Leonhard — who is now the secondary coach for the Denver Broncos, and who did not get any of the plum head coaching or coordinator jobs which came open in the most recent coaching carousel cycle — did not have the perfect job available for him once he was boxed out at Wisconsin in favor of Luke Fickell. Kenney told us that coaches shouldn’t just get high-profile jobs for the sake of doing so. The fit needs to be there, and Kenney didn’t think other open jobs provided that fit. Here’s more from that podcast we did with Ben:

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Former Wisconsin safety gets NFL minicamp invite with…Jim Leonhard’s new team

Former Wisconsin safety gets NFL minicamp invite with…Jim Leonhard’s defense

Former Wisconsin Badgers safety Reggie Pearson will attend the Denver Broncos rookie minicamp, according to a post on X.

Pearson has a connection to the Broncos: longtime Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard is the team’s new safeties and secondary coach.

Related: Top candidates to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft

The safety played for the Badgers from 2018-2020. His best season came as a starter in 2019 when he recorded 60 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles and 4 pass deflections.

Pearson spent the rest of his college career at Texas Tech (2021-2022) and Oklahoma (2023). He was productive for the Sooners this past season, totaling 30 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sacks, 1 interception and 1 forced fumble.

The veteran safety was not selected in the 2024 NFL draft or signed as an undrafted free agent. He hopes this opportunity with Leonhard’s Broncos is his opportunity to make an NFL roster.

 

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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Sean Payton sees a high ceiling for Broncos’ new DBs coach Jim Leonhard

“I think that he’s extremely bright … he’s got one of these high ceilings,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of Jim Leonhard.

After losing Christian Parker to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Denver Broncos replaced him with new defensive backs coach Jim Leonhard.

Leonhard is a former NFL safety who had brief stops with the Broncos and with the New Orleans Saints during his playing days. He transitioned to coaching in 2016 and he has quickly risen up the coaching ranks.

“Jim was someone that I had spoken with last offseason,” Denver coach Sean Payton said at the NFL combine on Feb. 27. “He actually played for us briefly. I know he [also] played for Denver for a year. He had hip replacement surgery last year, so he was going to be in a position where he couldn’t commit to a full-time job. He helped out Illinois.

“I think that he’s extremely bright and he was as a player. He solved all the problems as a player. He was in Buffalo, with the Jets, Baltimore and Denver. He played for 10 years and I think he’s got one of these high ceilings that we see with some young coaches. I say young, but it’s kind of all relative. I think a lot of him, and we spent a lot of time on that process.”

Leonhard, 41, served as a defensive coordinator at Wisconsin from 2017-2021 before being promoted to interim head coach in 2022. Before joining the Broncos this offseason, he previously interviewed for two defensive coordinator openings in the NFL.

Leonhard might one day be a DC candidate in Denver. For now, though, he’s an overqualified DBs coach set to replace Parker in 2024.

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Broncos might have a future defensive coordinator in Jim Leonhard

Either with the Broncos or another team, Jim Leonhard seems to be on track to eventually get a defensive coordinator job in the NFL.

The Denver Broncos made two additions to their coaching staff on Wednesday, officially hiring Pete Carmichael as senior offensive assistant and Jim Leonhard as defensive pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach.

Leonhard, 41, is a huge hire for a positional coach.

The former NFL safety spent 2016-2022 coaching at his alma mater, Wisconsin. After starting out as a defensive backs coach, he was quickly promoted to defensive coordinator before later becoming the team’s interim head coach.

Leonhard spent last fall as a senior football analyst at Illinois. Before that, he interviewed for two defensive coordinator openings in the NFL (as our friend Joey Richards of “Let’s Talk Broncos” pointed out on Twitter/X).

Leonhard interviewed for — and was offered — the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator job in 2021, but he turned them down, opting to remain with the Badgers. Two years later, Leonhard interviewed for the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator opening, but they hired Sean Desai instead.

The fact that Leonhard has already interviewed for DC jobs in the NFL suggests that he will likely land a DC role at some point in the future, either with the Broncos or another team.

We know that current DC Vance Joseph would like to become a head coach again. Perhaps if Denver’s defense has a standout year in 2024, Joseph might be considered for head coach openings next January. If Joseph does leave the Broncos at some point (by his own choice or otherwise), Leonhard will be an obvious candidate to replace him.

Leonhard is overqualified for a defensive backs coach position (despite “pass game coordinator” being in the name). He will likely get a promotion before long, the only question is if that will happen in Denver or elsewhere.

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Broncos announce Sean Payton’s two additions to coaching staff

The Broncos have hired Pete Carmichael (senior offensive assistant) and Jim Leonhard (defensive pass game coordinator/DBs coach).

The Denver Broncos confirmed two expected hires on Wednesday.

First, the Broncos brought in Pete Carmichael as a senior offensive assistant, a move that was previously reported. After that, the team added Jim Leonhard as defensive pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach, another previously reported hire.

Carmichael, 52, worked with Denver head coach Sean Payton with the New Orleans Saints from 2006-2021. He served as the team’s offensive coordinator from 2009 through last season before being fired.

Leonhard, 41, played safety for 10 seasons in the NFL, including one year with the Broncos (2012) and one summer with Payton’s Saints (2013). He will replace Christian Parker as the team’s new DBs coach. Landing him as a position coach is a big hire for Denver.

Leonhard previously served as a defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, his alma mater, from 2017-2021 before being promoted to interim head coach in 2022. Leonhard then left the Badgers and spent one season as a senior football analyst with Illinois in 2023.

The Green Bay Packers offered Leonhard their defensive coordinator job in 2021 but he turned them down. Leonhard also interviewed for the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator opening in 2023. Leonhard will likely land a DC job at some point down the road. For now, the Broncos will have him coaching their defensive backs.

Those are two good hires for Payton’s staff.

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Sean Payton has brought 22 ex-Saints to the Broncos (view them all)

Broncos coach Sean Payton has brought 22 former Saints to Denver. Here’s the full list of players, coaches and executives.

Just call them the Denver Saints.

Since taking over as the Denver Broncos’ head coach last year, Sean Payton has hired 22 former New Orleans Saints. Payton, who won a Super Bowl with the Saints in 2009, has brought in 12 coaches (including a strength coach), two executives and eight players (but two of those players joined New Orleans after Payton left).

The most recent addition is new defensive backs coach Jim Leonhard, who spent training camp and preseason with the Saints as a safety in 2013. Several other coaches also played under Payton in New Orleans, including special teams assistant Chris Banjo, offensive line coach Zach Strief and offensive quality control coach Logan Kilgore.

The most notable former Saints players who now play for the Broncos are kicker Wil Lutz and tight end Adam Trautman, who are both scheduled to become free agents if they are not re-signed before March 13.

Here’s a quick list of all 22 ex-Saints who have joined Payton’s Broncos.

Broncos expected to hire Jim Leonhard as DBs coach

After losing Christian Parker to the Eagles, the Broncos are expected to hire Jim Leonhard as their new defensive backs coach.

After losing defensive backs coach Christian Parker to the Philadelphia Eagles in a lateral move, the Denver Broncos are poised to replace him with a former NFL safety.

The Broncos are expected to hire Jim Leonhard as their new defensive backs coach, ESPN’s Dan Graziano first reported on Sunday. Leonhard, 41, played in the NFL from 2005-2014. He spent time with six teams, including one season with the Denver Broncos in 2012.

Leonhard hung up his cleats following the 2014 season with 428 career tackles, 14 interceptions and 4.5 sacks in 142 games (73 starts). He transitioned to coaching in 2016 when he returned to Wisconsin — his alma mater — as a defensive backs coach.

Leonhard was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2017 and he later served as the Badgers’ interim head coach in 2022. After leaving Wisconsin in 2023, Leonhard served as a senior football analyst at Illinois last fall. He’s now returning to the NFL as a coach as a member of defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s staff.

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