Leonhard signs up with Illinois as senior defensive expert

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN

• Elder WriterJul 25, 2023, 05:07 PM ET Close College football press reporter.
• Joined ESPN.com in 2008.
• Graduate of Northwestern University.Illinois has hired previous Wisconsin defensive planner and interim coach Jim Leonhard as a senior protective analyst.Leonhard, a three-time All-America choice at Wisconsin who had actually invested his whole training profession at his alma mater, will sign up with the personnel of former Badgers coach Bret Bielema. He functioned as Wisconsin’s interim head coach for the final seven games in 2022 after the school fired Paul Chryst on Oct. 2 and was thought about for the irreversible task. Wisconsin ultimately hired Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell, and Leonhard left the program after the Las Vegas Bowl. He talked to the Philadelphia Eagles about their defensive organizer task however eventually withdrew from consideration.Leonhard, 40, signed up with Wisconsin’s training staff in 2016 after a 10-year NFL career. Despite no formal training experience, he quickly became one of the nation’s

  leading protective planners and received interest for other college and NFL coordinator roles, including the Green Bay Packers. Leonhard stayed at his university, where he was deemed a leading prospect to change Chryst. In five years as Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator, the group ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense four times Editor’s Picks

  Leonhard and Bielema

  overlapped for Leonhard’s senior season at Wisconsin in 2004, when Bielema served as the group’s defensive planner. Bielema succeeded Barry Alvarez as Wisconsin’s coach in 2006 and went 68-24 with three Huge 10 titles.Bielema is set to enter his 3rd season at Illinois, which had the nation’s No.

  1 scoring defense in 2022. Leonhard joins a defensive staff that consists of previous Wisconsin players Aaron Henry, the group’s protective coordinator, and protective backs coach Antonio Fenelus.