Jim Leonhard’s term as interim Head Coach of the Wisconsin Badgers football team is off to a great start.
In his first game with the headset on, Leonhard presided over a convincing 42-7 win over Northwestern. Before you knock the Wildcats as being an inferior opponent, consider the Badgers lost to Washington State and Illinois this season…at home.
As impressed as I was with the Badgers win, I was more impressed with how Leonhard handled a difficult situation earlier this week.
On Wednesday, offensive lineman Logan Brown, the second highest rated recruit in program history, announced he was entering the transfer portal, thus ending his time with the Badgers.
When asked about the matter, Leonhard was quick to point out that the decision to leave the program was not Brown’s choice. Brown struck a teammate at practice and Leonhard kicked him off the team.
While he wouldn’t get into details of why Brown did what he did, Leonhard was quick to extinguish the flames of the rumor mill before they ran rampant.
Leonhard’s transparent and no-nonsense approach is refreshing.
At the end of the season, Athletic Director Chris McIntosh will entertain other applicants for the position. Already, former Carolina Panthers Head Coach Matt Rhule’s name has been tossed around. Same for Lance Leipold, the former UW-Whitewater Head Coach who is making something out of nothing at the University of Kansas.
There might even be a search committee involved.
But what Leonhard has done in less than two weeks on the job is noteworthy…and it goes way beyond wins and losses.
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