Report: Rams' Sean McVay "had great interest" in Wisconsin's Jim Leonhard

An NFC West team appears to had taken notice of the Wisconsin coordinator.

Per a tweet from an NFL reporter, it appears one team at the next level took note of Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.

The MMQB's Albert Breer reported on Saturday afternoon that Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay "had great interest" in the UW assistant.

Based on reports from NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, ESPN's Adam Schefter and The Denver Post, however, the NFC West organization will make Denver Broncos outside linebackers coach Brandon Staley its defensive coordinator. The team appears to have not formerly announced the decision as of Saturday, Jan. 11.

Leonhard -- a former 10-year NFL veteran after his walk-on, All-American career as a UW safety -- guided Wisconsin to another standout season in his third year as defensive coordinator.

With the national championship game to be played on Monday night, Wisconsin currently ranks first in the nation in third down conversion defense (27.3), fifth in total defense (287.1 yards per game), sixth in rushing defense (99.8 yards per game) and 10th in scoring defense (16.9 points per game). 

The Badgers also recorded a school-record 51 sacks -- 24 combined from linebackers Chris Orr and Zack Baun -- and their 3.64 sacks per game average ranks fifth in the FBS as of Jan. 7.