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Interesting to see if he can teach as well as he played ?
http://www.uwbadgers.com/news/2016/3/12/football-fresh-faces-fresh-start.aspx
http://www.uwbadgers.com/news/2016/3/12/football-fresh-faces-fresh-start.aspx
In terms of college coaching experience, the latest additions to the Wisconsin football staff are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Justin Wilcox has been a full-time assistant since 2003 and has spent the last decade as a defensive coordinator at four high-profile schools.
Jim Leonhard, meanwhile, has never had a college coaching job until he was hired last month to be the defensive backfield assistant at his alma mater.
But don't be fooled by the content of their resumes. The two 30-somethings have much in common that goes beyond their shared place on UW coach Paul Chryst's staff for 2016.
Both were decorated defensive backs in college: Wilcox was a safety and cornerback at Oregon; Leonhard was a strong safety and free safety with the Badgers.
Both were all-academic selections with humanist majors: Wilcox earned a degree in anthropology, which focuses on the physical, social and cultural development of humans; Leonhard studied kinesiology, which concentrates on the mechanics of human motion.
Both have prominent links to the NFL: Wilcox's father, Dave, was a Hall of Fame linebacker with the San Francisco 49ers; Leonhard played 10 years with five different NFL clubs before retiring after the 2014 season.
Both are now newbies on UW staff who shared a moment Saturday when the Badgers staged their first spring practice at Camp Randall Stadium.
"The first practice of either spring football or fall camp is always exciting," Wilcox said.
Just another day?
"Not for me," Leonhard said.
This was a little after 8 a.m. Saturday. Both were sitting in their offices. Both were anxious to take the field in two hours and accelerate the process of creating chemistry, trust and relationships with their new charges. Both harbored the same priorities.
"The obvious one is language and verbiage," Wilcox said. "It's both sides (of the ball). That comes with the more you do it. You soak it in."
Leonhard, 33, lauded Wilcox, 39, for keeping the playbook terminology as it was under Dave Aranda — he's now the defensive coordinator at LSU — all while forcing the two new first-year coaches to adjust.
Leonhard said he's essentially learning a new language.
"Justin's being really smart in what he's doing," he said. "It's almost harder for us because we're changing the way we've known it. But it makes so much more sense because there's two new guys at this point and everyone else is the same. We're putting it on ourselves a little bit more than we are with the kids."
Leonhard said the three weeks since he was hired to replace Daronte' Jones — he's now an NFL assistant with the Miami Dolphins — have been dominated by lengthy staff meetings designed to get everyone communicating with the same voice.
"There's a million different ways to say the same thing," he said. "We all want to be speaking the same for the kids. That's the way they'll learn it best."
Another shared priority is presenting techniques and fundamentals.
"It's teaching the game of football conceptually," Wilcox said.
"You don't just go into a meeting and say, 'This is what we're doing. This is why you've got to trust me.' You've got to earn it. I've got to earn it from them and there's a process to that."
Wilcox will coach inside linebackers for the Badgers, a role he handled three seasons at California from 2003 to '05. He inherits a veteran-laden group featuring sophomore starters T.J. Edwards and Chris Orr.
"It's fun at that position because you're involved in the coverage part of it and the run part of it," Wilcox said. "I enjoy it for sure."
Leonhard, hired Feb. 20, takes over a secondary that must replace three starters. The lone returnee is senior cornerback Sojourn Shelton.
"Obviously my drills are going to be different than Coach Jones' drills and what Coach Wilcox wants to emphasize is different than Coach Aranda," Leonhard said.
"It's getting the guys to understand how we emphasize things and the way we talk. Getting them comfortable with the change that's happened. Then getting guys to compete.
"Spring is all about going out there and competing. Roles are going to change, no question about that."
Leonhard, regarded as an astute tactician in the NFL who owns the school career record with 21 interceptions, said the process of building a stout defense starts in the cool of the spring when the seats at Camp Randall are empty.
"It's getting guys to understand situational football," he said. "When you get really good with your players and your coordinator, they know what's coming. Obviously we need to get to that point."
Another priority that both men mentioned is building chemistry.
"It's a new team and a new year and it's got different strengths and weaknesses, so it's finding out who we're going to be," Wilcox said. "It's finding out the identity and the chemistry. That part of it is big."
Leonhard intends to create a unit willing to go out and fight for one another.
"It's building relationships," he said. "That's the biggest part. Football is a game of trust. You need players to trust each other. You need them to trust their coaches that they're going to put the kids in the best positions possible and being honest with them."
Yes, Leonhard lacks college coaching experience, but calling NFL defenses for the better part of a decade gives him a unique teaching perspective.
"He's been great," Wilcox said. "We come from similar backgrounds with the coverage and stuff that he's been involved with at other places. The football part of it has been awesome."
Leonhard has to absorb the NCAA rulebook and get acclimated to his East Coast recruiting territory, but Wilcox says he's more than ready to coach.
"Some people just have it and Jim is one of those guys," he said. "He hasn't been a quote-unquote 'position coach' before, but there's no doubt that he has it and he'll be unbelievable at it. You could tell that right away."
Wilcox was hired Jan. 28 after a two-season stop at USC. He previously worked at Cal, Boise State, Tennessee and Washington.
He has moved out of a hotel and into a downtown apartment that he said is a five-minute drive to Camp Randall. He's still figuring things out topographically, but so far, so good.
"It's a neat city," said the guy who grew up in Junction City, Oregon (pop. 5,392).
Leonhard took a year off after retiring from the NFL — he played for Buffalo (twice), Baltimore, New York Jets, Denver and Cleveland — with the idea of creating a home base in the Madison area and mapping out the rest of his life.
Leonhard expects his new endeavor will be demanding and require a lot of adjustments.
"It's a challenge and I love that," he said.
"There's going to be a lot of growth for me. The way this spring sets up to where we have three practices and then we get a nice solid break for spring break, so I can kind of re-evaluate.
"We can make a lot of adjustments and that's the way it's going to be all spring for me. It's going to be a little bit of trial and error.
"The football knowledge I'm not worried about at all. My ability to coach, it's the ability to teach it to where the guys can retain it and use it on the field."
Two hours before he stepped on the Camp Randall surface for the first spring practice, Wilcox said the moment for him and Leonhard would be "energizing for sure."
"The kids are so eager to play and learn," he said. "I know they're excited, too, to get started.
