That would be a near metaphysical improbability, wouldn't it Matt? That would require the other Matt to actually find a DC that failed 5 years as a DC.

There will be no poopy flavored lollipops served here, sir.

He may have been referring to roster dogs, pulling in a paycheck and not bringing the intensity. We have been discussing some of these guys all season.

I can't fault LaFleur for not hiring Leonhard in 2023. I think it would be extremely weird to bring a guy on staff for a lower position after he had been in consideration for DC just a couple years before. I understand why a head coach would not make that offer and why the other coach would not consider it.

"Matt got Jim's attention and almost got him to Green Bay to discuss contract."

By all accounts, Leonhard had a full interview(s), and was in fact.... offered a contract.
*****
If Leonhard had too much love and loyalty to the Badgers, why would he bother to interview for the Packers position, in the first place.
******
I'm not sure why people talk about a subject, as if they were there (and know it for fact).

I do not believe Leonard is a big fan of the NIL bribe schemes. Now being corrupted by private equity cons and
billionaire influencers. It may end up going the way of college boxing. Gambling, booze and football, as Orwell stated.

College sports--especially revenue sports--as we knew them are dead. When a college softball pitcher is literally getting $1M in a non-revenue sport things are wholly fried.

He was the passing coordinator of a team that gave up more explosive plays than anyone in the NFL.

If you watched Leonhard’s defenses at WI, he did exactly what you described. I agree with you, even Hafley didn’t play aggressive enough for my liking.

The Bears would be more than ecstatic if we took Eberflus

Coldworld,
Campanile is interviewing for HC jobs and is already a DC, that would make it a lateral move to come to GB, and the Jags could block or ask for compensation to let him go.
He might be worth it, but how long would he be there before "here we go again"?

Please let it be Eberflus.

Campanile is under contract not going to be granted permission by the Jags to interview for a lateral move with the Pack.

Yes, there are some very good candidates this cycle and I hope LaFleur does not take the easy path and hire Covington or Ansley.

I am biased for Jim having watched his work for so many years. The young man knows how to deploy his players to their strengths and the next opponent's weaknesses. He not only gets the right starting 11 on the bus, but also in the right seats.

Example...TJ Watt recruited as a TE and Jim turned into a pass rushing beast.

He'd very similar to Hafley in many ways and an easy orientation to the Packers D locker room.

Blar
Blar
Blar

Insert name of logical fallacy argument here.

But we know his name so we should all want him.

Golf,
"I wish we could hire one of these immediately available coaches, and put this search to bed".
To some degree, so do I, but be careful what you wish for!
If the next guy is as good or better than Hafley and MLF doesn't get things turned upright, the DC they hire now might wind up being be our next HC. They need to get this right!

My understanding is if Denver wins, he can have a video conference with any team that bye week.

"The thing I worry about is that if we wait on Leonard our available pool of top guys keeps getting smaller."

About half of the HC positions have been filled, and most of the DC positions are still open, so I don't think the Packers are at a disadvantage yet. All their confirmed interviews (Harris, Gannon, Jones, Parker (hired by Dallas)) are done, and I'm guessing they've assessed their presumed in-house candidates (Covington, Ansley). I agree that they need to be aggressive--if their preferred guy is one of three remaining, they should move.

"On a side note, because I am laughing as a Iowa Hawkeye fan, do you think the Badgers are regretting hiring the Cincinnati coach over Leonard?"

I thought Luke Fickell was worth the shot having just elevated Cincinnati out of nowhere to the playoffs. He seemed like a really good get vs. Leonhard who was much more speculative. Oof. I don't think Fick was ready for the shift in power conferences from recruiting HS kids to mining the portal, and he made terrible choices in assessing what he could do at UW with scheme and personnel. The only reason he's still around is his monumental buyout. Those coach buyouts are terrible for college sports.

I think what people lose track of was the fact that the Badgers' locker room seemed to be a mess at the time of Chryst's firing, and I'm not so sure that Leonhard didn't have a role in that--intentional or not. It's hard to assess, and I think bypassing Leonhard and bringing in Fick and all his players from outside the program made things worse, not better.

Good to see you back on here, golf. It's been awhile, although I see that you've been posting for at least the last couple days.

Yeah, this is tough. My biggest worry about Leonhard is that if Broncos DC Vance Joseph gets hired as a head coach, Leonhard would be in position to become DC in Denver--one of the best defenses in the league. I wonder if maybe LaFleur knows Leonhard well enough to know that he would rather take the Packers DC job. I want the Packers to get a special DC, and if Leonhard is that guy, he may be worth the risk they take by waiting.

When it comes to recruiting, a great mentor taught me "if you are in doubt, delay. Hiring the wrong person is very costly." (See Barry)

I did not follow this adage a few times out of impatience to get the position filled. Bad moves by me.

Fickell was the no-brainer at the time. Jim had never been a coach and Fickell brought a team to the playoff. He was familiar with the B1G and was an experienced head coach. I don't see Jim getting a lot of interviews or being considered for big jobs. Just cause Fickell hasn't done well means that Leonard would have.

Leonhard already has interviewed during Denver's bye week with a few teams but, yeah, is now limited. Given LaF's familiarity with Leonhard, it might not take much more than a Zoom call. I think he'll get a deluge of interview requests when Denver's done. Even if Denver wins this week, and they just might, I think that next week has space for some assistants to interview prior to SB week.

Lare,
Coaches on Super Bowl teams can interview for other jobs during the bye period between the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl, except during the week immediately preceding the Super Bowl, through the day after the game.
With Denver having had the bye, he could have interviewed during that week too.

And oh, BTW, does Policy have a dog? :)

Not to mention Denver has some solid interior DL ( something the Packers desperately need )

"That means the opposing QB usually has less time or is forced to look for quicker passes on a regular basis, making the job of the DB's that much easier."

Virtually every successful coach is benefitting from good players. Has the coach helped to elevate those players rather than holding them back? In this case Leonhard has a track record as a coordinator (on the college level) that helps to assess who he is rather than being a pure projection as a DC.

Jim was made Associate HC after one year working for the Broncos...so I think he quickly left a good impression of how the DBs played with his coaching.

Eric, I think what it came down to is they had a chance to get one of the most sought-after HC in the country at the time in Fickell.

McIntosh made a knee jerk hire with very little background research into Fickell...now's he's in a pickle. Overpaid for the gristle and precious little steak, not realizing the value of Cincy's DC Freeman and OC Denbrock for the Bearcats' success.

Yeah, at the time it felt like a reach on the popular local kid. Barry never seemed like a good hire, though, and even Hafley received a pretty lukewarm reception when he was announced, too.

Hawk, you still holding a grudge against Jim for how he treated your Hawkeye offenses? :-)

He was Rex Ryan's coach on the field. Talent over resume.

You have to present a variety of fronts and shape shift strategically to stymie the fast burst offenses.
I will be pushing Lee Hunter for the #52 as we enter the Draft speculation phase of our stages of grief.

I read Bronco's DC Joseph moved to a 3-4 to better deploy to his players' strengths. It was a very productive change.

Actually, with this current DL group, it may be the best alignment for the Packers at this time too with Wyatt, Wooden, and NT to be named later, as the 3. Parsons, Van Ness, Sorrell, Enagbare (if he is re-signed), maybe Gary if Jim could relight his pilot light and get some fire.

Jim's 3-4 at WI could bring the QB heat in creative ways.

I agree in that he's a local darling but I think his qualifications are at least as good as Parker's and Harris's, and he has run a whole defense--very successfully--which neither of those guys has done. There are plenty of Jim Leonhard DC products--many of which weren't highly regarded recruits--playing at a high level in the NFL. That helps. Jones has run a D at LSU, but that run was brief and with a flagging HC. If Leonhard enters the conversation, I'd be happy with any of the remaining candidates.

It is strange you use BuckyBadger as your handle because it seems like you don't watch the Badgers, certainly not while Jim was coaching defenses that were routinely among the best in college football.

Jim was appointed Associate HC after one year because Denver obviously liked his NFL work and wanted to dissuade other teams from hiring him in 2025.

Now the word is out and the AHC designation would quickly be matched by many teams.

Leonhard has been identified as a top DC candidate by many who have followed his work more closely than you apparently have.

That was the problem I had with this article as well. It says almost nothing about Leonhard's qualifications for the job. It's all human interest stuff. An emotional argument. But that's Cory.

Look at his success as a DC at Wisconsin. His defenses were nearly always in the top 10 in the country despite having primarily 3* recruits. His creativity with his scheme and his ability to get the most out of his players are what led to that consistent success. There was a reason he nearly got the job back in "21" Since that time he has been working under a highly respected DC in Denver, which has furthered his knowledge and provided exposure to the NFL and what it takes to be successful in this league. In my opinion, he is a slam dunk to be successful as a DC and I expect he will one day be interviewing for HC oportunities. Anybody who is lukewarm on Jim Leonard as a candidate for this position hasn't done their homework on his qualifications.

The Packers should be a top contender for the Super Bowl. Do you really want to hire a guy with 2 years of NFL coaching experience and 10 overall. They have a blue chip pass rusher and a lot of talent. Go get an experienced NFL coach who has proven track record. This is no time to give the home kid a shot.

Sounds like you have an axe to grind with him. How come?

All respect to the players, but they are working, moving around, that equals warmth.

I respect the fans, just sitting on a bench, trying not to get frostbite, just to watch a game...lol
That is hardcore.

Yes. Local boy. Local hero. Kinda Bart-like, don'cha think. Let's not think about that though. Some of us are old enough to remember our quarterback savior and Green Bay west native Jerry Tagge who brought us right to the promised land.

I agree.."Jimmy" as the locals call him, is no guarantee to be a good DC....who knows if he even wants to come to GB? Why, because he's a "Wisconsin guy" ??? Go ahead and interview him but to say he'd be a perfect fit and a really good DC just because its Green Bay and he's a Wisconsin guy is dreaming.....

You are looking at the wrong part of his response 75 ... I WANT TO BE AT THIS LEVEL RIGHT NOW, if Leonhard is honest to us with the comment and more importantly to himself he was not ready for the NFL yet. He might be now

I don't think the Packers where really that interested and gave him the interview because he was the local guy. Like I have stated above it wasn't like he was a hot name after he didn't come to Green Bay.