Inside The Star
Following the Dallas Cowboys’ firing of first-year Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus, both the fanbase, and seemingly the organization, fell in love with one name as his replacement: Broncos defensive assistant Jim Leonhard.
The 43-year-old Wisconsin native and former NFL safety is Denver’s assistant head coach and defensive pass game coordinator, and he’s risen through the ranks quickly to earn those titles.
Hired in 2024 by the Broncos as the defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator, he’s already seen a promotion in Mile High, and was a college assistant as recently as 2023 with the Illinois Fighting Illini.
In short, Leonhard’s youth, intelligence, and upward trajectory in Denver made him an immediate candidate and fan favorite for Dallas, but it’s time to wake up from that dream.
The Cowboys’ chances of hiring Leonhard are, in all likelihood, cooked. Allow me to explain.
Everything that could go wrong with the Cowboys’ pursuit of Jim Leonhard has gone wrong, and it started with the Baltimore Ravens canning John Harbaugh after 18 seasons, and continued with the Miami Dolphins hiring Packers DC Jeff Hafley.
The moment Harbaugh was fired, the New York Giants became the favorites to hire him, and hire him they did. Soon after that news broke, reports flooded in that Big Blue and Leonhard would likely become a match.
Lots of buzz going around that the Giants are looking to hire #Broncos defensive pass-game coordinator Jim Leonhard as their new DC. https://t.co/sg3I3iCEcm
— Zack Kelberman (@KelbermanNFL) January 15, 2026
Harbaugh, Leonhard’s former coach during his playing days, is the consensus favorite to land his past player.
If he doesn’t, the Packers may be waiting, and if they pass, the Jets, his former longtime team as a player (who has interviewed him already), could pounce, and if they don’t, Denver may just promote him.
Green Bay, after the aforementioned hiring of Hafley in Miami, needs a defensive coordinator, and Leonhard was born and raised in Wisconsin, played for the Badgers in college, and was then the DC and interim HC for his alma mater during his coaching days.
The connections there are too strong to ignore, as are the odds that the Broncos make him an offer he can’t refuse if Vance Joseph lands a head coaching job.
Arizona, as things stand right now, is likely to hire Joseph away from Denver, leaving Sean Payton in need of a defensive coordinator. Who better than Joseph’s understudy, and the most attractive DC name on the market, in Leonhard?
If you haven’t caught on yet, I’ll put it this way: the Dallas Cowboys are probably Jim Leonhard’s fourth, fifth, or longer choice, behind both New York teams, Green Bay, and Denver.
The longer they wait on him despite the low odds, as the Broncos stay alive in the playoffs, the more they limit the defensive personnel conversations that need to happen now.
