The Mike Pettine era has come to an end as the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator. Head coach Matt LaFleur and the Packers chose not to renew Pettine’s contract. Pettine spent three seasons with the Packers, one of them on Mike McCarthy’s staff and the last two with LaFleur. The decision to part ways with Pettine didn’t come as a surprise. With the talent that the Packers have on defense, the defensive unit underperformed under Pettine. The time to move on from Pettine was upon LaFleur and he made the correct decision. Now it will be up to LaFleur to find the right person to fill that position. At the top of that list, is a coach that is very well known to Wisconsin sports fans. Jim Leonhard could be exactly what LaFleur and the Packers defense needs.
[pickup_prop id=”4629″]
Making the Case for Jim Leonhard to be the Next Green Bay Packers Defensive Coordinator
Jim Leonhard isn’t a stranger to Wisconsin sports fans. He played his high school football at Flambeau High School in Tony, WI. As a starting quarterback and safety, he earned first-team All-State honors his junior and senior season. After high school, he went to play collegiately at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That is where Jim Leonhard earned the respect and love of Wisconsin fans.
Leonhard walked on at Wisconsin and eventually was awarded a scholarship his senior season. While playing for the Badgers, he flourished as a safety as well as a punt returner. As a safety, Leonhard posted 21 career interceptions. As a punter returner, he finished his Badgers career with 1,347 punt return yards. Those numbers, as well as his intelligence and determination, led him to a 10 year NFL career. But more on that later.
While being a Wisconsin sports icon is impressive, it doesn’t mean that Jim Leonhard should be the next Packers, defensive coordinator. But what Leonhard has done as Division One defensive coordinator puts him in the conversation.
Helped Put Badgers Defense on the Map
After his ten-year NFL career came to an end in 2014, he took some time off. Leonhard was known as a “coach on the field” as a player and most thought he would get into coaching. Still, it didn’t happen immediately, with him waiting for the right opportunity. That came in 2016 when his alma mater came calling.
In 2016, Jim Leonhard was named the Badgers defensive backs coach, his first coaching position. Leonhard had the benefit of working under one of the best defensive coordinators at that time in Dave Aranda. That season, the Badgers finished fourth in the nation in total defense.
After that season, Aranda took the defensive coordinator position for LSU. That left Badgers head coach Paul Chryst in search of a new defensive coordinator. While only one season as a coach, Jim Leonhard showed enough that Chryst entrusted him as the new Badgers defensive coordinator. A decision that Chryst, as well as Badgers fans, are happy he made.
Under Leonhard, the Badgers defense has finished the season with impressive total defensive rankings. In 2017 they finished third, in 2018 they finished 35th, in 2019 10th, and in 2020 finished 10th once again. It isn’t just the impressive rankings that have grabbed the attention of the NFL. Leonhard runs an NFL style defense, one that Leonhard learned under former NFL head coach Rex Ryan. That style of defense and how Leonhard runs it is one of the reasons he has gotten the attention of LaFleur and the Packers.
A lot of Packers podcasters and fans have been grumbling this week in regards to Leonhard getting an interview with the Packers. Many believe that the only reason Leonhard received an interview is because of his connection to the state. One podcaster even compared the hype of Leonhard to the Packers to when the Packers had Jeff Janis on their roster. Obviously, he and the rest of them haven’t watched a Badgers football game. They also don’t understand the experience, as a 10 year NFL veteran, that Leonhard would bring to the job.
Learned From One of the Best
Rex Ryan might not have been one of the most successful NFL head coaches, but he knew how to coordinate a defense. Ryan made a name for himself as a defensive coach. That is what earned him head coaching jobs with the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills. Ryan is the same person that Jim Leonhard learned from during his NFL playing days. Those playing days that saw Leonhard register four and a half sacks, deflect 36 passes and pick off 14 passes.
Out of his ten seasons in the NFL, Leonhard played four of them with Ryan. In 2008, he played under Ryan while Ryan was the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. From 2009-2011, he was a safety for the Jets whose head coach was Ryan. When news broke that Leonhard would be interviewing for the defensive coordinator, many started to lump him in with Pettine. They did so because Pettine served as the Jets defensive coordinator the same time Leonhard was there. Most believe that it was Pettine who Leonhard learned under. Meaning that because of that, he would bring the same ideas that Pettine brought to the Packers defense.
However, if you look back to Pettine’s time with Ryan, he wasn’t the one that called the defenses. In fact, it was Ryan who coordinated the Jets defenses that had success, not Pettine. In fact, before being hired as the Packers defensive coordinator, he had only called the defensive calls just once. The whole “he is Pettine’s protege” argument just isn’t the case. Truth be told, he is a Ryan protege, something that should excite fans who like to see good defense.
On to the Second Round
Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal tweeted out that Leonhard is among a group of two other candidates that will be receiving a second interview. Joining Leonhard in that group is Joe Barry and Ejiro Evero.
Barry was recently hired as the Los Angeles Chargers linebackers/defensive pass game coordinator. He has been a defensive coordinator twice, once with the Detroit Lions and the other with the Washington football team. With the Lions, he was given that position by his father in law, then Lions head coach Rod Marinelli. While with the Lions and Washington, the defenses struggled under Barry.
Evero is currently the Los Angeles Rams safeties coach. He has held that position since 2017. He has never been a defensive coordinator in his career.
If this is truly the final three, which hasn’t been confirmed, it would seem that Jim Leonhard is the best choice. While he hasn’t been a coach in the NFL, he has 10 years of experience as a player. He has coordinated one of the best defenses in college football the past four seasons. To go along with that, he has learned under one of the better NFL defensive minds in Rex Ryan.
No, this isn’t about his connections to the state of Wisconsin. Jim Leonhard being the next Packers defensive coordinator is about the best person to get the most out of the talent the Packers defense possesses. Out of this group, he seems like the most logical choice.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
