Getty Head coach Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers walks onto the field prior to the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Santa Clara, California.
Matt LaFleur is leaving no stone left unturned in his search for the Green Bay Packers‘ next defensive coordinator.
According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, the Packers are scheduled to interview five potential candidates for the defensive coordinator job between Tuesday and Wednesday, including current Wisconsin Badgers defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.
The remaining four interviewees include Chris Kiffin (Cleveland Browns defensive line coach), Ryan Nielson (New Orleans Saints defensive line coach/assistant head coach), Matt Burke (Philadelphia Eagles defensive line coach/run game coordinator) and Jerry Gray (the Packers’ current defensive backs coach).
The Packers had also previously spoken with four other candidates: Joe Barry (Los Angeles Chargers defensive passing game coordinator), Chris Harris (Washington defensive backs coach), Ejiro Evero (Los Angeles Rams safeties coach) and Bob Sutton (Atlanta Falcons senior assistant).
Big couple days of interviews set in the Packers’ search for a new defensive coordinator: t.co/KgV645RcaG
The Packers decided against renewing the contract of their former defensive coordinator, Mike Pettine, to expire last week after the 2020 playoff run ended with a loss in the NFC championship game, creating the largest opening on LaFleur’s staff in his two years as head coach. He also fired Shawn Mennenga as special teams coordinator and replaced him with Maurice Drayton, who spent the past three years as the special teams’ No. 2 coach.
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Will Leonhard Make Leap From College to NFL?
Leonhard joined the Badgers’ staff as a defensive backs coach in 2016 and earned a promotion to defensive coordinator after a year on the job, helping turn Wisconsin into one of the nation’s better defenses over the past four seasons.
The Badgers finished the 2020 season as the No. 9 scoring defense (17.4 points per game) and gave up both the fifth-fewest total yards (299.9) and rushing yards (96.1) per game, continuing a trend of excellence established over Leonhard’s four years in charge. Over that span, Wisconsin has been the third-best scoring defense (17.2 ppg) in the FBS and has given up the fourth-fewest total yards (297.9 ypg).
Leonhard’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed outside of the Wisconsin program, either. In 2017, he was a finalist for the Broyles Award, which goes to the top assistant in college football each season. It wasn’t long after that when he started receiving interest from other national powerhouses, including Alabama, Florida State and Texas A&M, but Leonhard turned down offers from all three programs to stay with the Badgers and has since remained a part of head coach Paul Chryst’s staff.
Now, there’s a big difference between getting attention from a college football contender and an NFL contender, and Leonhard’s scheduled interview with the Packers at least implies some interest on his part to move to the next level. But will the 38-year-old coach make the leap to the NFL or choose to remain at the college level and pursue a head coaching job?
Leonhard did play for nearly a decade as an NFL safety, starting 73 of his 142 career games and tallying 14 interceptions, 35 pass breakups and 431 tackles. He was also a walk-on legend for the Badgers in the early 2000s, going from receiving no Division I offers out of high school to becoming a three-time All-American.
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