Former Wisconsin Badgers coach Jim Leonhard hired as defensive coordinator for NFL team he played for

He received interest from a wide range of teams with defensive coordinator vacancies, and it seemed to be only a matter of time before one of them locked him down.

Leonhard has been a fast-rising coach ever since he left Wisconsin and jumped into the NFL coaching ranks.

His Badgers defenses produced a ton of NFL talent and were consistently praised as one of the better coached groups in the country.

When he took over as interim head coach in 2022, many Wisconsin fans wanted to see him get the permanent job.

Instead, Luke Fickell came in, and Leonhard made his way to the Denver Broncos as a defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator.

His two years coaching that secondary was enough to prove to NFL head coaches that he was ready to be a play-caller in the pros.

Other teams that had interest in him this winter included the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens.

Now, he head to Buffalo where he inherits a Sean McDermott defense that was a Top 5 pass defense but struggled to stop the run in 2025.

It's a return to the defense that Leonhard used to roam around as a player. After he went undrafted in 2005, he spent his first three seasons with the Bills, taking over as a started in 2007.

He eventually came back to Buffalo late in his career and put up a personal best four interceptions in 2013.

Leonhard is not the only ex-Badgers coach that landed a defensive coordinator job this cycle. Former Wisconsin defensive backs coach Daronte Jones took over the role for the Washington Commanders after spending the last few seasons as an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings.