Ch. 8: What If Jim Leonhard Was Hired Permanently?
Exploring the alternate reality where Chris McIntosh chose continuity over Luke Fickell’s hard reset.
November 2022 will forever be remembered as the moment the Wisconsin football program decided to blow up its own blueprint.
Following the firing of Paul Chryst, interim head coach Jim Leonhard did exactly what everyone expected: he kept the locker room together, rallied the team, and, despite the rough start to the season, kept the Badgers’ bowl game streak alive.
He looked every bit the part of the program’s heir apparent. The players wanted him. The fans campaigned for him. It felt like a done deal.
Then, Athletic Director Chris McIntosh took a huge swing by hiring Luke Fickell instead of Leonhard.
Fickell was among the hottest coaching candidates around after leading Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff in 2021, making the Bearcats the first Group of 5 school to make the CFP.
But with Fickell came a change in identity. Wisconsin, which was known for primarily running the ball on offense, all of a sudden became an air-raid offense under offensive coordinator Phil Longo, whom Fickell hired to run it.
McIntosh chose a hard reset, bringing in an outside coach with no ties to the Wisconsin football program, essentially creating a fresh start.
Three seasons into the Fickell era, the fan base is deeply divided. The ‘Dairy Raid’ offense was a total disaster. After two seasons, Longo was fired and was replaced by Jeff Grimes, who brought more of a pro-style offense with him from Kansas to help the Badgers get back to their roots: running the football.
After a brutal 2025 schedule mixed with an offense in the middle of a transition, the Badgers failed to make a bowl game for the second year in a row. Definitely not what Wisconsin football fans expected when Fickell was named the head coach.
So, that begs the question:
What if McIntosh had played it safe, listened to the locker room, and given the permanent job to the native son, Jim Leonhard?
The 2023 Transition: Continuity Over Chaos
If Leonhard is named the permanent head coach in late 2022, the immediate roster gutting of the transfer portal era looks vastly different. Fickell’s arrival triggered an immediate culture clash, causing traditional Wisconsin-style players to exit while bringing in dozens of transfers to fit an entirely new scheme.
Under Leonhard, continuity rules. There is no Phil Longo. There is no Air Raid transition. Leonhard retains a defensive-minded staff and hires a modern, yet power-focused offensive coordinator—someone committed to utilizing fullbacks and tight ends while implementing modern play-action concepts.
In 2023, instead of an awkward offensive identity crisis that left running back Braelon Allen frustrated in shotgun formations, the Badgers double down on their strengths. Leonhard’s defense remains a top-10 unit nationally, suffocating Big Ten West opponents.
The Badgers win the final iteration of the Big Ten West not with flash, but with the classic, brutal formula that defined the program for three decades.
The Super-Conference Reality Check (2024–2025)
The true test of the Leonhard timeline arrives in 2024 and 2025, when the Big Ten expands into a coast-to-coast super-conference, welcoming USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington.
In our reality, Fickell’s 2025 season was a painful watch. The Badgers struggled heavily against elite conference opponents, and the constant shuffling of offensive staff left fans questioning the long-term vision.
In the Leonhard timeline, the 2025 season is equally difficult, but for entirely different reasons. Leonhard’s teams are disciplined, tough, and rarely beat themselves. They don’t suffer the embarrassing blowout losses or the internal schematic friction that we’ve seen recently.
However, without Fickell’s national recruiting gravity, Leonhard faces a severe talent-ceiling issue. While his defense keeps Wisconsin competitive in every game, the old-school offense struggles to score enough points to keep pace with the high-flying offenses of Oregon or Ohio State.
A stable floor keeps the Badgers competitive, but can a traditional identity survive the modern Big Ten? Upgrade to a paid subscription below to unlock the full simulation of the Leonhard era, including his recruiting limitations, the fate of Luke Fickell, and where the program would stand today.
