Mixed emotions on the Badger boards—incredulity, happiness, but also a fair amount of anger. It’s hard to overstate just how popular Leonhard is in that state; the guy has been a legend since his playing days, he’s fielded top 10 defenses more than once, and until this morning, almost everyone expected him to get the job. For his part, Leonhard made sacrifices to stay with UW, turning down a job with the Packers under the assumption (real or perceived) that he was the head coach in waiting.
UW is taking a calculated risk to distance themselves from “ The Wisconsin (Alvarez) Way” that led to decades of success. The current program trajectory wasn’t good, and maybe they don’t think it can work anymore in this new era. Who knows—maybe they’re right. But for some reason (can’t put my finger on why), their situation seems oddly familiar…