How former Badgers coach Jim Leonhard impressed Buffalo Bills to become new defensive coordinator

Former Wisconsin Badgers player and coach Jim Leonhard was one of the most popular defensive coordinator candidates in this winter's NFL hiring cycle.

After interviewing with a number of teams, he joined the Buffalo Bills to run the defense under Joe Brady.

Brady has never worked directly with Leonhard, but the new head coach told a local TV station WKBW how impressed he was with the former Badgers All-American when he interviewed for the position.

"He’s exactly what I was looking for," Brady said. "When you get a chance to talk to him, not just from the back end but talk to him from a front standpoint, what stresses defense… Everything he was talking about, we could have talked for hours."

Why was Jim Leonhard the defensive coordinator pick for Joe Brady?

Here’s what Brady had to say. pic.twitter.com/1zxBNzFuwk
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) February 3, 2026

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Brady spent evaluating the defenses Leonhard has coached.

For the last two years, he has been the defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator for the Denver Broncos.

But his only defensive coordinator and play-calling experience came at Wisconsin from 2017 to 2022.

The results Leonhard put on tape are what really sold Brady on the hire.

"I always think it’s really important when you watch a team play, you can tell how they communicate," Brady said. "You can tell, if they’re trying to put them in stressful situations, how they handle it. I think it’s a reflection of him as a coach how his guys play."

The Bills have hired Jim Leonhard as defensive coordinator pic.twitter.com/1Oe4pmBOSQ
— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) January 31, 2026

It's one thing for a coach like Leonhard to be a smart football mind and understand the Xs and Os of the game.

It's another skill to be able to take that knowledge and teach it to players and assistant coaches to have them execute it at a high level on the field.

He checked all the boxes for the Bills, the same way he did under Paul Chryst at Wisconsin.

Related: Jim Leonhard is assembling former Badgers on his Bills coaching staff and stealing from Minnesota in the process

"Clear vision, understanding, great communicator," Brady said. "He can paint a picture of exactly what he wants it to look like and can hold the players to that same accountability."

If Leonhard continues his coaching ascent with strong defenses in Buffalo, he'll start getting NFL head coach interviews before too long.

All of his success will always leave Badgers fans wondering what could have been if UW had hired him to be the permanent head coach at the end of the 2022 season.

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