BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — After partnering with Jack Sanborn, per usual, during Tuesday's practice at inside linebacker — where they form one of the most formidable tandems in college football — Leo Chenal morphed into a mentor afterwards for two young prospects, Ross Gengler and Garrison Solliday.

Chenal's primary teaching point for the walk-ons was the strike.

"The better the strike," he preached, "the better the block shedding."

Among the fundamentals to the position is hand placement. Violently so.

"As linebackers," Chenal said, "you can never be perfect, you can never be good enough. You always have to keep getting better in the strike because if you can strike somebody strong enough, you can get off the block easier. I was just repeating the talking points that Coach Bostad gives us."

Bob Bostad, in his fifth season coaching Wisconsin's inside linebackers, demands perfection in the execution of techniques, a carryover from nearly three decades as an offensive line assistant. As a player, Bostad was an all-conference linebacker at UW-Stevens Point.

His critiques are not sugar-coated.

"Which is a huge blessing for us linebackers because we're always going to keep getting better," said Chenal, who in turn has been more than willing to school Gengler and Solliday and show them the ropes. "It feels good to share it and pass it on."

And that's exactly what former UW linebacker Jack Cichy has been doing while spending some time back in Madison. He has been sharing his own expertise and experience with the inside 'backers while training with the hopes of getting another opportunity to extend his NFL career.

"I'm 100 percent physically and just waiting," Cichy said. "I'm not done yet. I'm a grinder."

The 25-year-old Cichy, who was originally a Badger walk-on, has been a study in perseverance. After missing his senior year (2017) due to a torn ACL suffered in training camp, he was a sixth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played in six games with the Bucs before tearing his other ACL.

Undaunted, Cichy returned in 2019 to appear in four games before being sidelined by an elbow injury. Shuttling between Tampa and New England, he was with the Bucs for their Super Bowl run last season. After bouncing back from a hamstring injury, he broke his arm in a divisional playoff win over New Orleans.

Cichy, the owner of a Super Bowl ring, had tryouts this year with the Jets and Seahawks.

"I'm staying ready," said Cichy, "and hopefully we'll get a call here soon."

Until then, he's happy to be a role model for players like Chenal and Sanborn.

"They're both very intelligent, they know what's happening, they have great formation recognition to know what plays are coming," Cichy said. "They're both just football players. They carry themselves well. They know what is expected of them and they just go out and make plays."

Chenal was 15 when Cichy was a redshirt sophomore and Defensive MVP of the Holiday Bowl. After sitting out the first half due to a targeting foul the previous game, Cichy had nine tackles, including sacks on three straight snaps against USC's Cody Kessler, thus the nickname, "Three-Sack Jack."

"He's got great instincts and a love for the game," said Chenal, who has watched film of Cichy. "When you're talking to him, he's got a ton of energy even when he isn't on the practice field. Just hearing what he has to say in the pass-rush game, where I can get infinitely better, is pretty neat."

Critiquing Chenal, who led the UW defense with three sacks in seven games last season, Cichy said, "A lot of his success comes from bull rushes and out-physicaling people. I told him to definitely keep that as weapon number one in his arsenal.

"But I've tried to teach him some finesse counter-moves just so when he sees a running back bracing for a bull rush, he can finesse them and get around them. There's always something that you can do to give yourself a leg up. He's a quick learner. He really absorbs coaching points well."

Cichy likes the way that Chenal attacks with physicality and velocity (his word). He plays hard. He plays fast. He plays with an attitude. All of those characteristics were on display in last season's overtime win against Minnesota. Chenal had 13 tackles, including five tackles for loss (two sacks) and a forced fumble.

For his efforts, he was named the Bednarik Award National Player of the Week. He was also the first UW player with five TFLs in game since outside linebacker Garret Dooley had five against Northwestern in 2017. Chenal, who has only seven career starts, believes he can improve in all areas.

"I can't really say just one thing because we're working on everything," he said. "We're always getting better on the pass drop — we need to get better in our coverage. It's a game of inches really, and if we're four inches closer to the ball we're making that interception (he had one in 2020).

"Obviously, open-field tackling is another big thing that the coaches have been stressing along with the pass-rush game. I had three sacks last year and that's just not good enough. Nobody is satisfied with what we did last year and we're all hungry to keep getting better."

Sanborn and Chenal finished one-two in tackles with 52 and 46, respectively. Nobody else had more than 30 on a defense that led the Big Ten and was No. 5 nationally in total defense (299.9), rushing defense (96.1) and third-down conversions (.287). The Badgers were No. 9 in scoring defense (17.4).

Sanborn and Chenal expect no less this season. Out of the defense. Or themselves.

"We've grown really close — after every play, we're talking, 'Hey, what did you see here?'" Chenal said. "Coach (Jim) Leonhard schemes up defenses where one guy is sacrificing himself sometimes just so the other linebacker can make the plays. It's selflessness and that definitely builds chemistry."

In May of 2020, the 6-foot-2, 255-pound Chenal attracted some attention to himself by posting a workout video on his Twitter account which essentially solidified his freakish status in the weight room. In piston-like fashion, he had 40 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. He made it look easy.

"Honestly, my perception on lifting has changed a lot," he said. "I used to put all of my time and energy into thinking, 'Okay, I need to be the strongest. I need to do this and do that.' Yes, that's all super important and that's going to get you places in the game.

"But you need to learn how to translate it on to the field. When I first came here, I was benching about the same (420), but my strike — which is directly related to a bench press — wasn't good enough. You have to get strong in the weight room, but then you have to take that next step and translate it."

It's why he was emphasizing the "strike" to Gengler and Solliday, who has just happened to inherit Chenal's former jersey number 45. Last spring, he switched to No. 5, which is what he wore at Grantsburg (Wis.) High School in tribute to his older brother, Peter, and "the hardest working guy I knew."

Leo pointed out that he wanted to follow in Peter's footsteps as a prep because he was inspired by his work ethic growing up. In addition, he has since followed the lead of another older brother, John, a UW senior (and former walk-on) and the starting fullback. John is No. 44 and now married.

"I have genuine happiness for him," said Leo, who walked off the field with John after Tuesday's practice. There was a brief exchange. Like there is after most practices. Or, as Leo explained, "We just ask each other, 'How did the offense do? Or how did the defense do? Or how did each other do?'"

Both Chenals are doing well knowing that the season opener is rapidly approaching.

"I'm just loving the game right now," Leo said, "and getting ready for Penn State."

Leo is not actually a Leo. He's a Scorpio (born in October). And he's also a Leopold.

"When I was younger, I didn't like the name," he confided, though he uses it on Twitter.

But he definitely likes relating to the astrological Leo (i.e., strong, brave, ready to dominate).

"You've got to be fierce on the field," he reasoned. "Like a lion." Like a linebacker.