Jim Leonhard will remain at Wisconsin, likely as the team's defensive coordinator, according to a report Saturday from Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Leonhard had the option to return as a member of Luke Fickell's staff but, as Fickell explained in his introductory press conference on Monday, the two would have to meet to see if the role Fickell envisioned for Leonhard aligned with Leonhard's plan for his own career.
The Sentinel reports Leonhard will return to his role as defensive coordinator, where he was one of the nation's best before ascending to interim head coach following the midseason firing of Paul Chryst.
A walk-on turned 3-time All-American as a Wisconsin safety, Leonhard joined his alma mater's coaching staff in 2016 and was promoted to defensive coordinator a year later. The Badgers finished in the top 20 in yards per play four times from 2017-21, including a national best 4.10 mark just last season.
The new-look Badger staff will have plenty of brainpower on the defensive side of the ball. Fickell is expected to bring defensive coordinator Mike Tressel and co-defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler with him from Cincinnati, according to multiple reports. Hitschler and Leonhard have both coached safeties. Fickell himself is a former co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State.
Leonhard's dilemma mirrored the choice Fickell once had to make. A former Buckeye, Fickell was elevated to interim head coach for the 2011 season following the offseason firing of Jim Tressel. When the program hired Urban Meyer, Fickell returned to his role as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
Five seasons later, Fickell was the head coach at Cincinnati, and six seasons and 57 wins later, Fickell is now a Big Ten head coach himself.
“That’s not easy. There’s a lot of things we all have to be able to get over. It takes a special person in some ways to get over a lot of those things," Fickell told the paper on Monday.
“I had a hard time with it. But I do believe it was the right thing for me and the way that I did it and went out about it and it helped me become who I am."
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