Why Sean Payton hired “football genius” Jim Leonhard to Broncos staff

INDIANAPOLIS — Maema Njongmeta gets straight to the point when discussing his old defensive coordinator.

The former University of Wisconsin linebacker spent his first three years in college playing under Jim Leonhard. He redshirted in 2020, played sparingly as a redshirt freshman and then burst onto the scene in 2022.

That year, Leonhard began the season as UW’s long-time defensive coordinator and became the interim head coach for the final seven games after Paul Chryst was fired.

That year, Njongmeta flourished as a full-time starter, racking up 95 tackles and 11.5 tackles for loss.

Leonhard likely thought he was in line to spend the next many years as the head coach at his alma mater after going 4-3 as the interim and having strong support from the Badgers’ roster.

Instead, of course, Wisconsin hired Luke Fickell and Leonhard took the year off from full-time coaching. He spent 2023 as an analyst with the University of Illinois and now is the Broncos’ new defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator.

“Man, you’re getting a football genius who is for the players above all,” Njongmeta told reporters Wednesday morning at the NFL scouting combine. “Who is very versatile, very adaptable and able to look at his personnel and adjust his defense based on his personnel.

“All-out good coach.”

What makes Leonhard, who played 10 years in the NFL, including a late-career season with the Broncos in 2012, a football genius, as Njongmeta puts it?

“I think it was Coach Leonhard’s ability to take really complex ideas and make them really simple to the point where you’re like, ‘This is really easy,’” the inside linebackers said. “And you try to explain it to someone else who might not be in the program, like coaches, and they’re like, ‘This is unreal. This is crazy.’ Working with him for (three) years was really, really cool. Missed it.

“Hopefully, I’ll have the opportunity again.”

If he does in 2024, it would be because Denver drafts him after head coach Sean Payton’s long recruitment of Leonhard finally paid off earlier this month.

Payton considered Leonhard, the Tony, Wisc., native who spent 2016-22 on UW’s staff, for the Broncos’ defensive coordinator job or another staff position a year ago when he first took over, but it didn’t line up at that time.

“Jim was someone that I’d spoken with last offseason,” Payton said Tuesday in his first public comments on the hire. “He actually played for us (in New Orleans) briefly. I know he played for Denver for a year. He had hip replacement surgery last year, so he was kind of going to be in a position where he couldn’t commit to a full-time job.”

This winter, Payton saw defensive backs coach Christian Parker leave for Philadelphia, where he’ll reunite with former Broncos head coach Vic Fangio, also a close friend of Payton’s.

“(Parker) was a pleasure to work with and I’m excited that he has that opportunity,” Payton said. “Vic and I talked at length about Christian.”

Payton, though, is clearly excited about Leonhard, and he had to work hard to land him.

Leonhard had interest from teams in college and the NFL, though Illinois coach Bret Bielema indicated to reporters in January that Leonhard was focused on the pro level. Even still, Payton had to work hard to ensure he landed Leonhard.

“We spent a lot of time on that process,” the head coach said.