Just a couple of years ago, Jim Leonhard was a Wisconsin Badgers staple as the team’s defensive coordinator, leading multiple top defenses in the country over a five-year period.
Of course, upon Paul Chryst’s
firing, Leonhard was named the interim head coach and then was bypassed for the full-time job in favor of Luke Fickell, prompting him to head elsewhere after the 2022 season.
After one year as a senior analyst at Illinois, Leonhard went to the NFL ranks, becoming the defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator for the Denver Broncos in 2024. He earned a promotion to assistant head coach this past season and now has his first defensive coordinator job since holding that title with the Badgers.
Leonhard is heading to another one of his former teams and will be the next defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, multiple reports shared on Saturday morning. Leonhard is joining new head coach Joe Brady’s staff in Buffalo, replacing former defensive coordinator Bobby Babich, who held that role for the past two years.
Leonhard began his NFL career with the Bills, playing for them from 2005-07, and will now take over the task of reshaping Buffalo’s defensive identity after the team let go of head coach Sean McDermott.
The former Badgers assistant was up for multiple defensive coordinator jobs this offseason, being linked to the Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Chargers, and New York Giants openings in addition to the Bills job. Ultimately, he landed with the Bills and will continue his ascension in the NFL ranks.
