Green Bay Packers: Matt LaFleur’s First Choice In 2021 Trends Hard As Potential Joe Barry Replacement

There is a job opening on the Green Bay Packers coaching staff after the team sacked defensive coordinator Joe Barry. Several names have floated as potential replacements for Barry, and among them is that of Jim Leonhard, who is currently in the college football ranks serving as a senior football analyst for the Illinois Fighting Illini.

A Familiar Name Rises As Green Bay Packers’ Potential Joe Barry Replacement 

It has been said that Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur had Leonhard on top of his list to be the team’s defensive coordinator in 2021 before ultimately deciding to give the gig to Barry in part because Leonhard wanted to continue helping the Wisconsin Badgers at that time as the program’s defensive coordinator. With that said, it is perhaps not a stretch to think that LaFleur will at least check in on Leonhard, who also played several seasons in the NFL as a defensive back.

Via Matt Schneidman and Dianna Russini of The Athletic:

Leonhard, 41, was reportedly LaFleur’s first choice for the job before he eventually hired Barry in 2021, but Leonhard stayed at Wisconsin as the Badgers’ defensive coordinator before becoming their interim head coach in 2022. He’s now a senior analyst at Illinois. Would LaFleur circle back to the guy who spurned him?

Green Bay Packers and NFL fans in general have already been voicing out their preference for the team to let Leonhard handle the defense.