Lucas: Leonhard ready for challenge that awaits

BY MIKE LUCAS

UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. – Jim Leonhard walked out of his first press conference as Wisconsin’s interim head coach Sunday and was immediately confronted by – what else? – a question. Not a tough one. A timely one. What makes a good coach? A good head coach? He has been around a wide variety of them.

“Number one is staying true to who you are and what you believe in,” said Leonhard, who will turn 40 later this month. “When you’re genuine, your team will see that, and they’ll feed off it. You have to be vulnerable with them because you’re going to hit adversity.”

It just naturally comes with the turf. To win over the locker room, to sell the players on team-oriented expectations and objectives, Leonhard said, “They have to feel like you’re approachable and you’re willing to work through the good and bad with them in order to help get their goals.”

Katie Leonhard got the news earlier in the day from her husband about his expanded title. They briefly discussed the ramifications of the position. Twenty-one years ago, they met on campus as freshmen. He was a walk-on. She was with the women’s crew team. They know how this all works here.

Sunday night, after officially being introduced as Paul Chryst’s replacement, Leonhard said of his wife’s reaction, “She’s shocked, she’s excited, she’s nervous – all of those things. She knows how much this place means to me. She wants me to impact a lot of these kids. She’s excited for the opportunity.”

Ever the realist, he added, “There will be challenges ahead that we have to work through.”

Just like in 2014 when Leonhard retired from the NFL after a 10-year career and the couple was in the process of building a home outside of Madison. They had many conversations about the future and what it might hold in terms of coaching. Or any other business opportunity that may arise.

At the time, he said of their heart-to-hearts, “It was almost daily for awhile. We were just trying to decide what life after playing was going to be and we kicked around a lot of things. It was big for me to figure out if there was something that kind of jumped at me outside of football.”

Something that he could get passionate about, he emphasized.

“I really wanted to take the time to evaluate it,” he went on. “I had a lot of meetings and met with a lot of people. And there were some things that were very interesting that maybe one day I’d like to do. But it wasn’t the time. So, I decided to get back into football.

“I took a year (2015) to get away – to kind of get a break from it mentally – I came in and watched some film of Wisconsin’s defense and I talked to coach (Dave) Aranda (then the UW defensive coordinator) a little bit … it was a break (from a decade as a pro safety) and I needed that.”

In 2016, Leonhard got another break. Chryst brought him on staff as a defensive back assistant coach. Plain and simple, he believed in him. On Sunday, Leonhard made mention of that moment, “This man hired me with zero coaching experience and named me his coordinator a year later.”

Before accepting Chryst’s offer to be the defensive coordinator in 2017, replacing Justin Wilcox, he again ran it past Katie. “Family is extremely important to me,” he said back then. “Coaching is a lot of time, a lot of commitment and she knows that being around the game for so long.”

He wanted reassurances the move “was going to be good for all of us as a family.” It was.

On Sunday, he also reassured his mom and dad, Debbie and Don. And his brothers, Brian and Tyler. Not that they needed any reassurance. “I just wanted to give them a heads-up,” he said. “They’ve supported me for a long time, and they’re very invested in this place and my career.”

Debbie coached volleyball. Don coached basketball and baseball. Jim is definitely a gym rat and coach’s kid. His father, in particular, has been a mentor. “I learned a lot about competing – how to play and how to compete from him,” he has recounted in the past. “He gets it. He understands the game.”

So does Jim Leonhard. UW athletic director Chris McIntosh said as much. He listed “the fit that Jim brings to this program.” He extolled his competitiveness and work ethic and his ability to lead and teach. And he confirmed the trust in bestowing so much responsibility on him as interim coach.

“I’m confident there’s nobody who could do it better at this moment in time than Jim,” he said.

Noting he would be doing a “full search when the time is right” for a head coach, McIntosh underlined how “today’s priority was to take care of the kids …” The players. In releasing Chryst, he said, “I’m tasked with making difficult decisions about the future and the direction of this program.”

McIntosh, a former All-American tackle for the Badgers, repeatedly acknowledged, “It’s a tough day for us all given how much we all care for and how much we love coach Chryst.” That was echoed several times by Leonhard. Emotional was the operative word used by both. You can understand why.

Chryst grew up in the Vilas neighborhood not far from Camp Randall. He and his brothers, Rick and Geep, used to sneak into the stadium to play pickup football. As a kid, he was part of the Sunday clean-up crew following games. He played for the Badgers. So did his dad, who also coached at the UW.

Leonhard, of course, has his own well-documented connection to the program and school. He was a walk-on from the tiny community of Tony (population: 103) and Flambeau High School. He went on to become a three-time All-American safety. He was an elite punt returner and accomplished ball-hawk.

“This place means a lot to me,” he stressed. “I really felt like I grew up here. I’ve talked about this many times, I really became who I am at the University of Wisconsin and in this football program. To have an opportunity to be in this position is not one that I take lightly. I’m very excited for it.

“Very mixed emotions at this point,” he would concede in the next breath. “But I feel like I can take this opportunity to help this place grow. And that’s why I came back a number of years ago and that’s why I haven’t left. That’s the mission I want to continue with our guys.

“We understand that our five game resume this year is not what we wanted. We have not been playing up to our capabilities. Even before this news, there were some hard conversations that were had today between coaches, players, among the staff, on how do we get it corrected.”

Said McIntosh, “The expectations of our program at Wisconsin are to win championships and I thought it was the right time to make a change to pursue those.” Said Leonhard, “We will get this thing going in the right direction and it’s going to happen sooner than later.” They said what they believed.

When Chryst was looking to replace Wilcox – who took over his own program at the University of California – he huddled with Leonhard and posed the logical question about becoming a Big Ten defensive coordinator at his alma mater, “Is this something you’d want to do?” And like to do?

The more Leonhard thought about it, the more he wanted to do it. Chryst felt he was ready. “He’s just a really good coach,” Chryst said after promoting Leonhard to DC. “You think that. You believe that. And you know why after seeing him coach and seeing how the kids respond to his coaching.”

McIntosh has seen the same things. And it may have helped shape his decision.