Buffalo Bills hire Jim Leonhard as defensive coordinator
Wisconsin Badgers legend Jim Leonhard has landed an NFL defensive coordinator role with the Buffalo Bills.
Since getting passed over for the University of Wisconsin football program’s head coaching position in favor of Luke Fickell, Jim Leonhard has done nothing but continue to climb the coaching ladder.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Leonhard is expected to be hired as the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills — a full-circle moment for a coach whose NFL playing career included two separate stints in Buffalo.
After interviewing with the Chargers and Ravens, Leonhard now steps into one of the NFL’s most notable defensive coordinator roles as a playcaller, joining new Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady as part of a reshaped coaching staff that also includes offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael.
“Jim’s vision for what he wants from our defense and the personality they play with is the exact style of what I was looking for from a defensive coordinator,” Brady said. “You could tell how smart and versatile his secondary was when we watched them on tape. He is super intelligent, a great communicator, and highly regarded in this league.
“He started out as a rookie free agent with the Bills and ended up playing 10 years in the NFL. That same perseverance and mindset have carried over into his coaching career. We couldn’t be happier to get him back to Buffalo.”
From a Wisconsin perspective, the through line here matters.
Leonhard isn’t just another former assistant who moved on. He’s one of the most important figures in Badgers history, first as a player and later as a coach, and his path to this moment has never followed a straight line.
His story at Wisconsin still reads like something out of a storybook. A walk-on safety from Tony, Wisconsin, Leonhard arrived in Madison in 2001, both undersized and largely overlooked. All he did from there was become a three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection and a two-time All-American. He finished his career with 21 interceptions, tying the program record, while setting the Big Ten’s all-time mark for punt return yardage.
That résumé still wasn’t enough to get him drafted.
Leonhard entered the NFL in 2005 as an undrafted free agent and carved out an impressive 10-year career built on instincts, preparation, football IQ, and toughness. He played in 142 games across five teams, recorded 14 interceptions, and earned a reputation as one of those players coaches trusted to get everyone lined up correctly on defense. Buffalo was part of that journey, making this latest move more than just a new job title.
When Leonhard returned to Madison in 2016 as defensive backs coach under Paul Chryst, it didn’t take long for him to make a name for himself.
He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2017, and Wisconsin’s defense became one of the best in the country. His units finished first nationally in total defense in both 2017 and 2021, consistently ranking among the nation’s best in yards allowed and scoring defense. Over five full seasons as defensive coordinator, the Badgers ranked first among Power Five teams in total defense and third nationally in scoring defense.
That body of work set the stage for the most complicated chapter of his Wisconsin tenure.
After Chryst was fired midway through the 2022 season, Leonhard was named the Badgers’ interim head coach. He stabilized the program, guided Wisconsin to a 5–3 finish, including the bowl game, and earned real support within the building and among the fan base. Ultimately, though, athletic director Chris McIntosh chose to go outside the program, hiring Fickell to lead what he viewed as the next era of Wisconsin football.
“He [Leonhard] has made us proud at every turn, as a player, as a coach, as an ambassador for our program,” McIntosh said. “As interim head coach, he navigated extremely difficult circumstances over the last two months of this season, always putting our players first and helping them through a trying time in their lives. For that, we owe him our gratitude.”
Leonhard handled the decision the way he’s handled most things in his career — professionally and without noise. He stepped away, spent the 2023 season as a senior analyst at Illinois, then made the jump to the NFL in 2024 with the Denver Broncos as defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator. By 2025, he was promoted to assistant head coach.
Now, at 43, Leonhard is running an NFL defense.
From the Badgers’ vantage point, this isn’t about what might have been as much as it’s about what continues to be. Leonhard’s trajectory never stalled after Wisconsin. If anything, it accelerated. He took the long road as a college football and NFL player, climbed quickly as a coach, absorbed disappointment without burning bridges, and positioned himself for one of the most coveted coordinator jobs in professional football.
For Wisconsin fans, the hire is a reminder of the standard Leonhard helped build and sustain while in Madison — and of the kind of football mind that still carries Badgers roots into the highest levels of the sport.
There’s no way to know what might have been had Wisconsin turned the keys to the program over to Leonhard, and maybe we’ll never know the answer. What’s certain is that he will always have the state behind him.
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A very stupid move Hiring Fickell instead of Leonard
I have always loved Leonhard. I must say, he should be our current coach. I wish him the very best.