Jim Leonhard not staying on with Wisconsin after the Bowl Game
December 6th, 2022 at 10:49 PM ^
Allen is. Wisconsin Badger. For now . . .
December 7th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^
right i mean am i the only one who noticed that Braylon said he was a Badger before the Leonhard announcement, even though in the OP it happens last?
December 7th, 2022 at 10:00 AM ^
Has anyone confirmed if that source is reliable? Seems shady to me that he has never broken other news like this but suddenly he has a big scoop?
December 6th, 2022 at 10:49 PM ^
What a weird series of events
December 6th, 2022 at 10:54 PM ^
Yeah.
When they first guillotined Chryst I thought that a major reason for it was that they were worried about losing Leonhard and thought he might be the next guy, didn't want to lose him like they lost Aranda, etc.
But that obviously wasn't the case. Then it looked like Leonhard was going to stay on, which was surprising. But now he's leaving. This time? Again? Who knows.
Some of this is weird because it is playing out publicly, but Wisconsin kind of started this ball rolling by firing a coach midseason.
December 7th, 2022 at 4:51 AM ^
IIRC they even removed the interim tag from Leonhard at one point as well, indicating they intended to move forward with him.
I believe that was their original intent but results down the stretch weren’t enough to solidify that decision so they wanted to make one run at the top guy before settling on Leonhard. Fickell reciprocated interest, and the rest is history.
December 7th, 2022 at 8:32 AM ^
IIRC they even removed the interim tag from Leonhard at one point as well
Was that Instagram official?
December 8th, 2022 at 6:10 AM ^
Well I googled “Wisconsin removes Leonhard’s interim tag” and dozens of outlets reported they were “close” to removing it. So I guess they hadn’t officially done it but that was the prevailing though. Checked on Fickell and went that route.
December 6th, 2022 at 10:56 PM ^
Leonhardy Snicket...
December 7th, 2022 at 7:04 AM ^
What an Unfortunate post.
December 6th, 2022 at 10:56 PM ^
Happy OSU sticks with Knowles and not getting Leonhard.
Hoping Leonhard gets picked up quickly before next year so he doesn't fall into OSU's lap.
December 6th, 2022 at 11:00 PM ^
You think Lincoln Riley even has the idea of making the change to hire him as DC?
Seems like such would be on the forefront of his mind after the UCLA and Utah games..... nah
December 7th, 2022 at 12:16 AM ^
Lincoln Riley does not believe in defense
December 7th, 2022 at 8:46 AM ^
The weird thing is that Alex Grinch had a couple of years at OSU where he ran a pretty good defense. Or maybe that was just another B12 defense facing a far less potent Michigan offense? Yeah, that's probably what it was...
December 7th, 2022 at 9:27 AM ^
Green Bay's also likely to offer him their DC job, given that he was their first choice two years ago.
December 7th, 2022 at 7:39 AM ^
Leonard is most likely off to the NFL, so I don't think we have to worry about OSU getting him
December 6th, 2022 at 11:04 PM ^
Guess Fickell will have to scour the portal to find his next starting qb. Graham Mertz entered the portal Monday looking to transfer. Lots of talented guys available.
December 7th, 2022 at 12:10 AM ^
DJ Ooweeungoolay
December 7th, 2022 at 10:21 AM ^
Graham Mertz entering the portal is addition by subtraction for Wisconsin. They should've gotten a lot more out of him based on his recruiting credentials, and for whatever reason he was completely unable to produce.
I'm sure not all of that was his fault. Wisconsin as a whole clearly regressed in the last few years under Chryst, but it was probably best for both sides to move in different directions.
December 7th, 2022 at 11:24 AM ^
Chryst should have stuck with the usual QB stiffs that were part of the Wisconsin formula for 25+ years. The allure of a high-4 star QB ended up getting him fired.
December 7th, 2022 at 2:37 PM ^
Dating back to Darrell Bevell, Wisky was better off with a game manager type who could occasionally break one free for a 1st down. Brooks Bollinger, etc. They've also had a deep threat WR and always good TEs. Of course, the big OLs too.
Chryst started 35-7 but then went 33-19, with some embarrassing home losses. The slide had started in 2018-19 but really was bad (for UW standards) under Graham.
Mertz seemed be Chryst's way of saying "we're a passing team now" - 38 TDs, 26 INTs - that is a job killer. The QB was 15-10 as starter when Chryst got canned.
Leonard may end up at Purdue, although I think the fans want an offensive minded guy. Better for him to get to NFL. He clearly was given a fair chance for an audition. Losing at MSU wasn't good (Mertz stunk in that game too). But the losses to Iowa and Minny were too much for a program used to beating those two teams a lot over the past 10 years.
Fickell is going to run more RPO so he may end up with Sanders from Okie State or even Pyne from ND.
December 6th, 2022 at 11:05 PM ^
Bad day to be the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Again. Way to blow it repeatedly on the Leonhard reporting. Good grief.
December 6th, 2022 at 11:09 PM ^
Edwards, Corum (unlikely but possible), Stokes, Cabana, Mullings. Allen is good but no thanks, we’re good.
December 6th, 2022 at 11:15 PM ^
Corum coming back could happen. The NFL has been trending away from small RBs. If that NIL money is big enough it could happen.
December 6th, 2022 at 11:23 PM ^
That was my thought. Can’t you theoretically make around as much in NIL deals as you would on a low draft pick deal?
I’ve heard Corum is getting overlooked by NFL scouts because of his size which is insane.
December 7th, 2022 at 10:10 AM ^
The NFL has been trending away from small RBs.
Huh? If anything, the NFL has moving away from the large bellcow RBs in favor of smaller,more multi-faceted RBs. Now granted Corum is significantly shorter than most but Derrick Henry sized RBs are the anomaly, not the other way around
December 6th, 2022 at 11:29 PM ^
7 minutes that might change your mind:
December 7th, 2022 at 12:22 AM ^
I would definitely take Allen, especially if Corum isn't back. A 235 lb bowling ball behind our line? Yes please. I'd rather keep Donovan as a pass catching, flash frying speedster, rather than an every down slow cooker (i.e. Blake's role this year)
December 7th, 2022 at 1:41 AM ^
No kidding. I'll take another big thunderous and explosive back all day.
December 7th, 2022 at 10:25 AM ^
Absolutely!
December 7th, 2022 at 5:37 AM ^
A guy who was a lb 2 weeks ago is now our back up rb. Yes, we will take him.
December 7th, 2022 at 7:56 AM ^
Mullings is not a backup RB, he is the short yardage RB.
December 7th, 2022 at 8:25 AM ^
To be fair, he played lb to help team. He’s better as rb
December 7th, 2022 at 10:58 AM ^
Impressive weight gain!
Ben Herbert at work here?
December 6th, 2022 at 11:16 PM ^
Riley would be a fool to not reach out to Leonhard. I think he's an excellent DC
December 7th, 2022 at 5:58 PM ^
Lincoln Riley just might be that fool.
December 7th, 2022 at 2:49 AM ^
Maybe he reads MGoBlog & secretly vowed vengeance on the university that didn’t promote him. Power of suggestion.
December 7th, 2022 at 6:15 AM ^
Allen said he is a badger and not a wolverine...
That's it...
December 7th, 2022 at 9:56 AM ^
Sure. He is, until he’s not.
December 7th, 2022 at 7:58 AM ^
He's going to the Packers. Barry will be fired on Black Monday.
December 7th, 2022 at 8:51 AM ^
I think Allen will stay at UW. He'll do well in Fickell's offense, which is really fun to watch. He's done a nice job building it up from where he started. I think he was the best hire the West has made...
December 7th, 2022 at 9:22 AM ^
I assume Allen will stick around at Wisconsin; Fickell should jive with his outlook on offense and I'm sure Leonhard supported the hiring of Fickell.
I think Wisconsin will be good under Fickell in a year or two though I do wonder how they're offense will look; Fickell had a good offense at Cincy with Ridder as an upperclassman QB but this past year was rough. The defense should be stout but that has been the case for some time.
December 7th, 2022 at 9:27 AM ^
Packers job?
December 7th, 2022 at 11:32 AM ^
things are getting fickel in WS now that Fickell is there.