BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was sitting alone in his understated Camp Randall Stadium office, four different screens vying for his attention, when he took a moment to talk about one of his favorite topics.
When it comes to senior defensive end Matt Henningsen, Leonhard is more than just an overseer, evaluator and motivator. He's a connoisseur.
Leonhard sees Henningsen as a rare talent whose on-field athleticism is as massive as his real-world intellect.
Leonhard also has an appreciation for the walk Henningsen has walked because he once made a similar journey himself.
Leonhard took stock of Henningsen after it was announced that the fifth-year senior and graduate student is a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which annually recognizes the best in the nation for combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.
Henningsen is one of 13 NFF National Scholar-Athletes and finalists for the so-called "Academic Heisman," and he is the only one in the current class with a perfect undergraduate grade-point average (4.0). He graduated summa cum laude last December with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a certificate in mathematics and is vying to become the first Wisconsin player to win the prestigious award sponsored by the National Football Foundation.
All the finalists — the initial pool of nominees from the NCAA and NAIA levels was 176 — receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship.
Wisconsin Scott Nelson (9), Matt Henningsen (92) and Noah Burks (41) tackle Northwestern running back Evan Hull (26) during the Badgers' football game vs. the Wildcats on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, in Madison, Wis. The Badgers won 35-7.
The Campbell Trophy is one of several curiosities that bind Leonhard and Henningsen.
Leonhard, who earned an undergraduate degree in kinesiology, was an NFF National Scholar-Athlete and finalist in 2004. The other five from UW are Dave Fronek in 1966, Tom Stauss in '79, Joe Thomas in 2006, Scott Tolzien in '10 and D'Cota Dixon in '18.
Leonhard grew up Tony, Wisconsin, and famously walked on at UW before becoming a record-setting three-time All-America safety from 2002 to '04. Meanwhile, Henningsen, from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, was the first freshman walk-on since at least 1990 to start a season opener for the Badgers when he did so in 2018.
Leonhard startled observers with his moxie and athleticism in his first preseason camp — winning a team-wide slam dunk contest at 5-foot-8 — and saw action as a true freshman before starting every game the rest of his college career. Henningsen, meanwhile, was celebrated among the athletic freaks of college football by The Athletic thanks in part to a vertical leap of 34 1/2 inches and a measured running speed of 19.34 miles per hour despite carrying 291 pounds on his 6-3 frame.
"He's been impressive since day one," Leonhard said of Henningsen. "He's one of those guys where there wasn't a day in this program where it felt like he carried himself as a walk-on or carried himself like he was below anybody.
"He just came in and worked and did what you asked and continued to grow and develop on and off the field. It's really impressive to see the approach he came in here with, that mindset that he was going to go make things happen."
Leonhard, the UW defensive coordinator since 2017, helped recruit Henningsen, a four-year honor student in high school, and felt strongly that he was a can't-miss prospect. The only question was what position he would play.
"You felt right away that there's no way this kid should be a walk-on," Leonhard said. "We were fortunate to get him in the program that way. You found out right away that we kind of got lucky because he deserves to be on scholarship.
"You knew coming in what he was academically. He's one of those kids that when you start to talk to them you see the maturity. He's so mature for his age. You don't see that very often from guys that walk in the door as freshmen."
After Henningsen was added to the scholarship rolls in 2018, courtesy of UW coach Paul Chryst, he asked Leonhard about the moment in 2002 when he got his full ride from then-coach Barry Alvarez. Leonhard, who intercepted a school-record 21 passes, recounted the motivation he got from those who doubted his abilities and how that mindset carried him through a 10-year NFL career as an undrafted free agent.
"That was a pretty cool conversation," Henningsen said.
"We had a similar path in kind of earning respect from your teammates early and getting on the field and making an impact," Leonhard said.
Wisconsin Badgers defensive lineman Matt Henningsen (92) celebrates a quarterback sack against Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, in Madison, Wis. The Badgers won 34-7.
On the field, Henningsen has 89 total tackles, 13 for losses, and eight quarterback sacks in 41 career games with the Badgers. He also produced three fumble recoveries — two for touchdowns — and four pass breakups on the way to being named to the All-Big Ten third team by both league coaches and media.
Off the field, Henningsen is a four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and is likely to repeat as a first-team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Those numbers and citations barely scratch the surface of what makes Henningsen special to those who have seen him in action. They marvel at his focus, efficiency, humility, selflessness and willingness to lead others while embracing two intensely demanding roles.
It's one thing to be a student-athlete at an elite Division I school like Wisconsin. It's something else entirely to play a demanding sport like football — its practices, meetings, video evaluations, strength and conditioning sessions and travel — all while pursuing a graduate degree that's as all-consuming as electrical engineering.
"One of the most challenging master's degrees you can get on this campus," said Matt Malloy, an assistant teaching professor in the UW College of Engineering who had Henningsen in three classes: Matrix Methods in Machine Learning, Probability and Information Theory in Machine Learning and Capstone Design.
Malloy said the master's degree that Henningsen is pursuing — electrical and computer engineering — is advertised by the school as a 16-month process and that a majority of participants need the full allotment to complete it. Malloy said that one-fourth of the students will finish it in 12 months. Henningsen is one of them.
Malloy said Henningsen made his unique presence felt in all three of their classes together.
"The other students relied on Matt," Malloy said. "They looked to him as a leader. He would always be a step ahead, helping the other students as much as they needed it.
"At the same time, the efficiency was there. A lot of the times he would finish the activity before the allotted time and be one of the first people to be done and submit his work and be on his way.
"Over your career, you're not likely to encounter a student like that," Malloy said.
Matt Henningsen discusses MRI images with Professor Wally Block at the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research.
Last summer, Henningsen worked on a project modeling the brain using electrocorticographic data. He previously was involved in a research project at the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research geared toward developing a convolutional neural network to detect cerebral hemorrhaging on magnetic resonance images (MRI). He also served as a lab assistant for nuclear diffusion bonding research on campus.
Wally Block, a professor of biomedical engineering, medical physics and radiology at UW, worked with Henningsen as part of the MRI project. Dr. Azam Ahmed, a UW neurosurgeon, and Tom Lilieholm, a graduate student, were also involved. Block said their work has life-or-death consequences given that brain bleeds can be devastating if not properly assessed and treated. Their findings have been submitted to the Journal of Neurosurgery.
Block said Henningsen goes about his business in a no-nonsense fashion.
"He walks with a really quiet footprint," Block said. "He naturally figures out ways to be productive and get his part of the project done. It's leadership by example."
Malloy and Block said they found out about the Campbell Trophy honor from sources other than Henningsen. Malloy said that when he congratulated Henningsen his response was understated.
"He was like, 'How could this happen to me?' as if he had nothing to do with the phenomenal academic performance and athletic performance," Malloy said.
It may surprise you to know that Henningsen believes his academic success and football prowess go hand-in-hand. He's not alone in that regard.
"At the end of the day, a lot of stuff that I do is just a math problem," Henningsen said. "What's a math problem? It's essentially a puzzle and that's how I think about the Wisconsin playbook. Pieces fit together in certain ways. You can kind of figure out your assignment based on what other people are doing. If I know what 10 people on the field are doing, I can extrapolate what the 11th person is going to be doing."
Leonhard said Henningsen has the awareness and technical acumen of a seasoned NFL veteran.
"There's an awareness, a thinking aspect of the game, of how offenses try to manipulate space and how they try and create angles," Leonhard explained. "That's huge with offensive line-defensive line play because everything happens so fast, so any bits of information that you can get — it might be the running back's location or how the offensive line sets or their communication and what you hear — there's a lot of information that teams give play in and play out. But not many guys take it in, especially at the level he can.
"He has a knack for it and I think it does come from that engineering background of understanding those little things, those little differences, that make a huge difference in the long run. He's always going to try to get the answer to the test before the ball is snapped. It's not cheating in football. It's actually highly recommended.
"Normally those things come with just a ton of experience, so when you see young guys doing it, it's off of intelligence, it's off of awareness. When you're seeing it at the college level, it doesn't happen very often. It's fun to coach and cool to see."
Wisconsin assistant coach Ross Kolodziej talks to defensive linemen Matt Henningsen (92) and Isaiah Mullens (99) during the Badgers' football game against Army on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, in Madison, Wis. The Badgers won 20-14.
Leonhard said the combination of Henningsen's intellect and physical gifts are rare.
"He doesn't get nearly enough credit for his physical tools," Leonhard said. "He's extremely explosive and strong. You add that on top of the intelligence and it's not a surprise why he consistently has success in this game. It is pretty freaky some of the stuff he can do from an explosion standpoint."
Block said the give-and-take goes both ways. In other words, what Henningsen is able to glean from playing football helps him in the classroom.
"Much of what we do in engineering is based on linear-based problems," Block said. "Football is 11-dimensional space. The mind can only really think in three and visualize in three. So you need to come up with differing schemes to be able to predict what will happen in 11-dimensional space. So the practice he's getting on the football field is allowing him to work in a space with 11 variables."
Leonhard said Henningsen has few peers at UW.
"There's not many people on this campus that have that resume," Leonhard said. "You add that on top of the demands that it takes to be a D-I athlete, it's extremely impressive."
Leonhard said the Campbell Trophy is the essence of dedication. He said "time demands, mental demands and emotional demands" make the award something to covet.
"You talk about the balance on and off the field," he said. "When they can do all that at a high level, walk out of this building and dedicate themselves to their academics and their future and have the same amount of success — maybe even more success — that's what makes this award so special.
"You ask anyone who's competed — especially at the D-I level — you know what it's like. You know those days where you just don't have much left or you are way behind because of travel or some of the other commitments you might have had. To strap it up and go handle business and get it done, that's why all athletes look at this award say, 'This is a big deal. This is the best of the best.'"
Henningsen, said Leonhard, is committed to bringing the best version of himself to every task.
"He rarely has a bad day," Leonhard said. "Always has energy. Always motivating the people around him. Focused in everything he does. He doesn't know how to stop thinking."
