Leonhard isn’t afraid to play while at work
MADISON - Jim Leonhard is a teacher, a technician and a tactician.
The members of Wisconsin’s defense, particularly those who play in the secondary and listen to Leonhard in the meeting room day after day, hang on every word.
They understand he was an All-American safety at UW who survived 10 years in the National Football League and was the quarterback of some outstanding defensive units.
“He is a leader,” senior cornerback Derrick
Tindal said. “You look at him and say: ‘Dang. That’s what I want to be when I get older. That is what I want my life to be like.’
“He is that type of role model.”
Leonhard, 35, is also part comic, part provocateur in dealing with his players and hasn’t changed this week as UW (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) prepares to face Ohio State (10-2, 8-1) for the Big Ten title in Indianapolis.
No one is safe from his needling. Thin skin? You probably want to stay out of the meeting room and off the practice field.
Safety D’Cota Dixon understands.
Leonhard isn’t afraid to poke fun at Dixon’s spacious forehead or stubby arms.
“I pick on Dixon because of a lot of things,” Leonhard acknowledged with pride.
Leonhard refers to Dixon as either raptor or TRex. Both prehistoric creatures had unusually short arms compared to the rest of their frames.
“Oh my gosh,” Dixon said, laughing. “We have a play call – raptors.
“He says: ‘D’Cota, hold out your arms.’ ” Raptor.
Tindal knows.
“He throws his little jokes in there on me now and then,” said Tindal, who has two forced fumbles, eight passes broken up and one interception. “If I get beat at practice on a route, he will tell me: ‘You just got destroyed.’ “He’ll let you know.” Tindal’s old neighborhood back in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is not off-limits.
“Sometimes he makes jokes about my neighborhood,” Tindal said. “We’ve got this rapper called Kodak there. So he’ll say: ‘Kodak says you can’t come back to the neighborhood.’
“That’s just his personality and I think that is what makes him the best coach I’ve ever had. He can joke with me but I still take him seriously.”
Linebacker Chris Orr knows.
Orr is listed at 6-foot and 223 pounds. No one who has stood close to Orr believes the listed height is legit.
“Next time you see Chris ask him how tall he is,” senior defensive end Alec James instructed with a grin. “He’ll tell you he is 6 feet and that it is on Google.”
Orr just rolls his eyes when asked about Leonhard’s jibes.
“He told me I was an undersized safety,” Orr said, chuckling.
Really? Does Leonhard recall he was 5-8 and 180 pounds as a freshman at UW in 2001?
“I tell him: ‘Look who’s talking,’ ” Orr said.
Leonhard can take what he dishes out and his players relish upping the ante.
Leonhard has been known to get a bit animated during video review.
“Coach talks as if he is in the NFL,” Dixon said. “Sometimes he gets a little too excited and thinks he can cover. I’ve got to tell him to slow down.
“He’s going to talk smack back.”
The back and forth isn’t limited to the meeting room or the practice field.
Reporters generally interview defensive players every Wednesday and then meet with Leonhard, who waits patiently for his players to answer questions.
Patience doesn’t mean silence.
When Dixon was surrounded by reporters after a recent practice, Leonhard feigned frustration.
“Ten-question limit,” Leonhard said to Dixon.
When a reporter playfully asked why Leonhard rides Dixon, Leonhard rolled his eyes.
“With what he puts me through?” he said. “Everything. It is a daily battle.”
Those arms. That forehead.
“We all give him stuff about his big forehead,” James interjected. And the raptor arms? “Once a week in practice he’ll try to jump for the ball and he won’t be tall enough,” James said. “He gets exposed once a week in practice. That is a running joke we have.”
Different coaches have different personalities. They communicate differently. They embrace different teaching styles and/or techniques.
In short, there is no one way to coach.
Leonhard mixes pleasure with business.
“He knows from playing football and I personally feel this way that if you have a coach who is just ripping you for how many weeks in a row, it is just draining mentally,” Orr said. “He knows guys play their best when we’re having fun.”
Anyone who has ever watched Tindal on the practice field or during a break in a game understands he enjoys being on the field.
He dances between plays in practice and if the music during a break on Saturdays moves him, watch out. Tindal will move and groove with the best on the team.
Leonhard hasn’t revealed any such moves, but his transitional moves are impressive. One minute he can be jumping into a drill to demonstrate the proper technique. Seconds later he can ride Dixon about his T-Rex arms or remind Tindal he won’t be welcome back in the hood if he doesn’t perform better.
“I never had a fun meeting until I met Coach Leonhard,” Tindal said. “But we still hit everything we need to hit. He is just a great coach. A great guy.”