Wisconsin program legend among college football interception leaders since 1976

Former Wisconsin star safety Jim Leonhard is tied for the fourth most interceptions in college football since 1976.

The Tony, Wisconsin native is tied with Miami legend Ed Reed, Wake Forest’s Alphonso Smith, Florida State’s Terrell Buckley and Arizona’s Chuck Cecil with 21 interceptions since ’76.

Bowling Green’s Martin Bayless leads the list with 27 while Boston College’s Tony Thurman and Texas Tech’s Tracy Saul boast 26 and 25 picks, respectively.

Unlike a majority of these all-world athletes, Leonhard arrived in Madison as a walk-on in 2001. A year later, he was named first-team All-America and Wisconsin’s team MVP as a sophomore.

By the time he left campus, the 5-foot-8 safety boasted three first-team All-American selections, shattered the Big Ten record with 1,347 career punt return yards and finished his senior campaign as a finalist for the inaugural Lott IMPACT Trophy.

Leonhard followed his storied college career with 10 seasons in the NFL as a member of the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, the New York Jets, Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns.

After retirement, he would go on to serve as Wisconsin’s defensive backs coach in 2016 before transitioning to defensive coordinator from 2017-2022. Under his guidance, UW landed in the nation’s top five for total defense and top 10 in scoring defense on four separate occasions.

Leonard was inducted into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.