Report: Jim Leonhard likely returning to Wisconsin as defensive coordinator under Luke Fickell

In 2011, Luke Fickell served as the interim head coach at Ohio State before the program opted to hire Urban Meyer for the full-time role instead of him. After that decision, Fickell stayed on staff with the Buckeyes in his previous role as defensive coordinator until 2017.

History appears to be repeating itself.

Fickell was named the head coach at Wisconsin last week, getting the job over Jim Leonhard, who served as the interim head coach following the firing of Paul Chryst. Now, Leonhard is preparing to return as the program’s defensive coordinator — the position he held since 2017, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Jeff Potrykus. Leonhard met with Fickell Wednesday and he is expected to meet with the team Saturday to inform them of the decision.

Leonhard, who starred at Wisconsin as a player before returning as a coach in 2016, went 4-3 during his time as interim head coach after Chryst’s firing. His future with the program became murky after Fickell’s hiring from Cincinnati, but it sounds like he’s going to stay on the staff at his alma mater.

Fickell was candid about the looming decision on Leonhard’s future at Wisconsin. After all, his name came up in potential head coaching circles throughout the year. But during his introductory press conference, Fickell shared the advice he had for Leonhard considering he was in the same position 11 years ago.

“I think a lot of soul-searching,” Fickell said. “When I left Jim the other night, I said, ‘Hey, you’ve got a lot of things to think about. You’ve got to really, in your mind, figure out where you want to be in five years, where you want to be in 10 years. If you can figure out and say where you want to be in five years and where you want to be in 10 years, it’s going to help you a lot better to figure out where you want to be next year.’ That’s not easy. There’s a lot of things that we all have to be able to get over and get through. We didn’t dive into it as much. If he does pick my brain on some of those things, obviously, I would get deeper.

“But I know that it’s not an easy situation. It takes a special person, in some ways, to get over a lot of those things. I had a hard time with it. But I do believe it was the right thing for me in the way that I did it and went about it, and it helped me be who I am. My way is not always the right way. It’s not the way for everybody else. But I think that’s where it really comes down to what’s in your heart, what’s in your mind. He’ll know what’s best for him, he’ll know what’s best for this program and this team. I’m excited to just find out what he thinks.”