The Denver Broncos replaced defensive backs coach Christian Parker with Jim Leonhard.
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00:00 So this is Jim Leonard coming in as the defensive backs coach
00:04 for the for the Denver Broncos. And if you don't remember Jim
00:08 Leonard was a safety for a long time in the NFL. I think he
00:12 started with the the Bills then went to the Ravens Jets played
00:16 for the Broncos in 2012 and had a pretty darn good season that
00:21 year. That was probably I don't think it's even arguable. It
00:26 was probably the most overall talented team with Peyton
00:29 Manning here. Offense, defense, both of them were top five. Jim
00:32 Leonard was a part of that and then he went off and started
00:36 coaching at Wisconsin if I remember right. Is that right?
00:40 And yeah, did a heck of a job as a defensive coordinator for
00:44 a team that wasn't the most talented by any means, but they
00:47 seem to be very disciplined. They seem to be playing up to
00:54 the level of a lot of great teams there in the Big Ten. So I
00:58 really I like this higher and I think he's one of those up and
01:01 coming guys that really could be moving up the ranks to
01:04 defensive coordinator sooner than later in the NFL. I think
01:08 a lot of football innovation from a scheme perspective comes
01:12 from the bottom of the top. So high school up to college up to
01:16 the NFL because the talent disparities at those levels are
01:20 much bigger than you see at the NFL. So what's the difference?
01:23 How do these teams find the edge? I think it's a lot of
01:25 times pushing the envelope in scheme and Jim Leonard has been
01:29 phenomenal with the ability to create pressure packages and
01:34 use different body types to play different kind of roles,
01:38 specifically defensive. I know he's going to be the defensive
01:40 back coach, but I've always been super impressed with just
01:42 the glass eating mentality of the linebackers and the
01:46 strength and discipline of the defensive line of those
01:49 Wisconsin teams. We saw Leo Chanel in the Super Bowl here
01:52 with Wisconsin, you know, finding a role with him. He was
01:55 you know recruited and brought up under Jim Leonard out there
01:58 in Wisconsin. TJ Watt also out there. Van oh gosh, who's the
02:04 really Van Ginkle maybe a little bit more of an
02:06 undernone name, but it was awesome this year with the
02:08 Dolphins. Obviously you had Keanu Benton, so they've had
02:11 some really good defenses and I've been super impressed with
02:14 Jim Leonard. He comes up under the Rex Ryan school. I would
02:18 say more so than anything because he played there. I
02:21 think his best seasons were with the Jets, so he came up
02:24 more of that, you know zone style, but very aggressive in
02:27 the front trying to isolate pass rushers one on one and
02:31 make sure that your worst pass protector is up against your
02:33 best pass rusher often, which I think is really playing pretty
02:36 well right now. I think the I don't want to say the the
02:40 godfather of that or anything, but it's a lot of this stuff
02:42 that's trickling up to the NFL right now with the simulated
02:45 pressures and when it's been going on for a bit, everything
02:46 in the NFL is cyclical, but Dave Aranda did a lot of that
02:50 went from Wisconsin to LSU. Now the head coach at Baylor and
02:52 Leonard kind of is in that tree as well. We see it worked
02:55 really well with Mike McDonald this year and now he's the
02:57 head coach of Seattle coming from Baltimore. So I'm really
02:59 excited to see what Leonard does. Obviously there's going
03:02 to be some interest with Vance Joseph lining up with him
03:05 because they're both defensive back guys at heart. So how does
03:08 that look? 'cause I don't think they've crossed paths at all so
03:12 far, so I don't know if there's a relationship there, but
03:15 Leonard. I mean really highly thought of. I'm honestly pretty
03:18 shocked that Wisconsin did not keep him as the head coach
03:21 after they fired Paul Crist 2 years ago 'cause Leonard was
03:24 thought of so highly as a defensive coordinator there
03:28 would go on for a year to go on to Illinois under Brett
03:31 Bielema as well and I think had an interview with the Eagles
03:34 last year. The defensive coordinator but backed off
03:36 'cause he had to have a shoulder surgery back surgery,
03:39 something like that. So really a well thought of guy. I'm going
03:42 to miss Christian Parker in Denver. No doubt I very smart
03:45 up and coming 32 year old same age as me, Carl defensive back
03:49 coach, but Jim Leonard is about as good of a replacement as you
03:54 could have thought of for losing Christian Parker in my