With additions of not only the Raiders Roster, but the Las Vegas Coaching Staff as well,
Raider Nation deserves to have presentable information on who is taking charge of our beloved team. This will be an informative biographical text (will include statistics, schematics, and connections). The focus will be surrounded upon recently added Defensive Line Coach, Rob Leonard. Coach Leonard joined the franchise during the first week of March, leaving the Baltimore Ravens Coaching Staff. With questions and speculations surrounding the defense, including the wonders for the specific position groups, many feel confident that the Trenches will be the Raiders biggest strength this upcoming season. Furthermore, many are excited to witness what Coach Leonard could bring to the table. To know how Coach Leonard could boost the D-Line, a dive into a resume-like history of the Defensive Coach.
2004-09: College Football
Coach Leonard joined the “Washington & Jefferson Presidents” for the 2004 (NCAAF Division III) College Season. Coach Leonard would start 7 out of 13 matches, recording 1 Interception during his freshman year. The Presidents would result in dominating fashion, finishing the season with a 12-1 record. Coach Leonard would then transfer to “North Carolina State Wolfpack” as a walk-on. However, Leonard earned a scholarship as a redshirt for the 2005 (NCAAF Division I-A) College Season.
For the next three College Football Seasons, Leonard would fight his way up the ranks within the Defensive Roster. During the 2006 Season, Leonard contributed his time as a major contributor for the Special-Teams Roster, leading the Special-Teams unit with the 2nd most tackles. The following College Season, Leonard would earn more time on the field within the Defensive unit. As a Free-Safety, Leonard would play 8 matches, while the other 4 would be on Special-Teams. For the last College Season, the starting Strong-Side Linebacker spot would be gifted to Coach Leonard during a winning-season and a Bowl-Game appearance. By his senior year, Leonard would lead his team in Tackles (84) while also grabbing an Interception. At the end of his senior year, Coach Leonard would be awarded the 2008 NC State Mike Hardy Award, given to a player who had exceeded expectations.
2009-10: High School Coach
After graduating at NC State, Coach Leonard would be hired as the Defensive Assistant Head-Coach at Cardinals Gibbons High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Cardinals Gibbons would finish their 2009 Regular Season with a 10-1 Record, dominating their district with a 5-0 Conference Record. The team would finish the season with a playoff record of 2-1, resulting in a 12-2 Season Record for the 2009 Season. The team also resulted in 26pts scored per Game and 10pts allowed per Game. Compared to the previous season, before Coach Leonard’s presence, the 2009 High-School team was a massive upgrade.
The 2008 Season would result with a 7-6 Season Record (Reg. Season Rec.: 6-5 ; vs Conf.: 4-2 ; Playoffs: 1-1). The team would still result in 26pts scored per Game, however, the defense would allow 19pts per Game. The significance of Coach Leonard’s presence on the team alone can easily construct multiple speculations, whether it be positive or negative speculations. Another example, the 2009 High School Football Season caused the Cardinal Gibbons to jump from the 51st best team in Raleigh, to the 26th best team. The 2009 Season also made the team go from the 181st best team in North Carolina, to the 99th best team. This production and performance as a Coach would create exclusive interests from the same University Coach Leonard graduated from.
2010-13: College Coach & Scout
In 2010, Coach Leonard reconnected with his former Head Coach, Tom O’Brien, as a graduate assistant for NC State. During Leonard’s time with the Wolfpack, the graduate assistant would be assigned to assist designing defensive plays, help the defensive play-callers learn how to know when and what type of signals to call out on-field, as well as being placed in charge of the NC State’s Football Scout Teams. As a result of Coach Leonard’s three seasoned tenure with NC State, the Wolfpack earned a spot in 3 consecutive Bowl-Games, winning 2 out of the 3. The College team would also result in 3 consecutive winning seasons, having a record of 24-15 (0.615) during Coach Leonard’s tenure.
Before Coach Leonard joined the Wolfpack, no more than 10 Defensive Players were drafted in the NFL Draft from 2006-10. From 2011-13, 7 Defensive Players would be picked up in the NFL Draft. A few notable players of the bunch would consist of LB Nate Irving, DB Earl Wolff, and CB David Amerson. Both Irving and Wolff became potential rising-stars before suffering through injuries (the injuries changed their playstyle for the worst). Meanwhile, Amerson would rise as the Star-Player that was advertised, at least before also suffering through injuries that would shorten his NFL career. The Success of NC State would help Coach Leonard gain interests at another level, the NFL type of level.
2013-23: NFL Coach
New York Giants (2013-19)
Coach Leonard was hired by the New York Giants, led by Head Coach Tom Coughlin, in 2013. Leonard would be hired as a Defensive Assistant, staying at this role until 2017. But, in 2015, Tom Coughlin would be forced to step down from being Head Coach due to several consecutive losing seasons. In 2016, Ben McAdoo would be hired as Head Coach, leading the Giants into their first playoff appearance since their successful 2011 Super-Bowl Campaign. During the 2017 Season, Coach McAdoo would be fired due to the Giants resulting in a 3-13 record for a regular season. But back to Coach Leonard, who was promoted into the Assistant Defensive Line Coach. Coincidentally, Coach Leonard would be an assistant to present-day Las Vegas Raiders Defensive Coach, Patrick Graham.
The 2017-18 New York Giants’ Defensive Line would result in producing:
● Tackles: 310
○ Solo Tackles: 186
○ Tackles For Loss: 33
● Sacks: 19.5
○ QB-Hits: 42
● Forced Fumbles: 5
● Batted-Down Passes: 13
● Interceptions: 2
The following season, Coach Leonard would then be assigned to Coach the Linebackers as an Assistant Linebackers Coach. Meanwhile, the Giants would still suffer through a losing season during Pat Schumer’s first year as New York’s Head Coach. Despite the loss of a season, Leonard was able to still assist in coaching a solid (to great) Linebacker Room.
The 2018-19 New York Giants’ Linebacker Room would result in producing:
● Tackles: 362
○ Solo Tackles: 246
○ Tackles For Loss: 32
● Sacks: 16
○ QB-Hits: 52
○ Pressures: 85
● Forced Fumbles: 1
● Completions/Targets Allowed: 126/175 (72%)
○ Passing Yards Allowed: 1165 (9.25 YDs/CMP)
○ Touchdowns Allowed: 9
● Pass-Breakups: 23
● Interceptions: 7
● Passer-Rating Allowed: 90.3
Miami Dolphins (2019-22)
After being hired as the new Defensive Coach for the Miami Dolphins’ 2019-20 NFL Season, a recommendation from Patrick Graham would be ordered. This led to Coach Leonard being hired by Head Coach Brian Flores as the new Linebackers Coach for Miami. Disappointedly, the Dolphins’ Defense would be ranked as the top 2 worst defense in the league. The Linebacker Room, specifically, would not help Miami’s horrible case either.
The 2019-20 Miami Dolphins’ Linebacker Room would result in producing:
● Tackles: 348
○ Solo Tackles: 190
○ Tackles For Loss: 27
● Sacks: 9
○ QB-Hits: 39
○ Pressures: 48
● Forced Fumbles: 2
● Completions/Targets Allowed: 65/84 (77.4%)
○ Passing Yards Allowed: 625 (9.6 YDs/CMP)
○ Touchdowns Allowed: 1
● Pass-Breakups: 7
● Interceptions: 2
● Passer-Rating Allowed: 92.0
This performance led to many changes on the roster and staff. One of these changes would be Coach Leonard’s demotion, taking the role of an Assistant Defensive Line Coach for the 2020-21 NFL Season. Compared to last season, the Defense improved massively. Jumping to the (arguably) top 10 realm of NFL Defenses. For the position group Coach Leonard was in charge of in Assistant Coaching, the Defensive Line also significantly improved.
The 2019-20 vs 2020-21 Miami Dolphins’ Defensive-Line Production Comparison:
(Disclaimer: Brian Flores Predominantly ran a 4-3 Base Defense in 2019-20, then Predominantly ran a 3-4 Base Defense in 2020-21)
This level of production would help Coach Leonard earn a promotion (Some would believe that the demotion gave Leonard the motivation to excel at any task or coaching position assigned to him). The promotion placed Leonard into the Coaching role of the Outside Linebacker Room for the 2021-22 NFL Season. A significant change was happening with the playstyle utilized in the Linebacker Rooms. A significant increase of great production was also occurring, specifically, within the Outside Linebacker Room.
The 2020-21 vs 2021-22 Miami Dolphins’ Outside Linebackers Production Comparison:
(Disclaimer: The Playstyle to be exact was how the 3-4 base was utilized. The Linebackers during the 2021-22 Season were more versatile and edge-like, compared to the previous season of stationary styled Linebackers)
Despite the dysfunctional year for the Miami Dolphins, leading to the unnecessary and (arguably) unjustifiable firing of Brian Flores, Coach Leonard was still able to gain interests from other Defensive-Minded Head Coaches. This Head Coach would hire Coach Leonard to lead the same position group due to Leonard’s impact on the group’s production on-field.
Baltimore Ravens (2022-23)
For the 2022-23 NFL Season, Baltimore Ravens Head Coach: John Harbaugh, hires Coach Leonard as the new Outside Linebackers coach. This position would help Coach Leonard get noticed at another higher level. The interests would be due to the level of production made by the Linebackers from the Baltimore Ravens for the year. Even though it is specifically the Outside group of the Linebacker position, this position group still performed at a prominent degree.
The 2022-23 Baltimore Ravens’ Outside Linebackers Season Production:
● Tackles: 147
○ Solo Tackles: 99
○ Tackles For Loss: 26
○ Missed Tackles: 15 (10.2%)
● Sacks:
○ QB-Hits: 37
○ Pressures: 55
● Forced Fumbles: 4
● Completions/Targets Allowed: 20/42 (47.62 CMP%)
○ Passing Yards Allowed: 230 (11.5 YDs/CMP)
○ Touchdowns Allowed: 0
● Pass-Breakups: 8
● Interceptions: 2
● Passer-Rating Allowed: 44.7
The overall team production and hardworking results from the Baltimore Ravens helped Coach Leonard to experience his 2nd ever NFL Playoff Game. Another one lost. But, the exponential status of the Positional Coach has been increasing over the past several years. Due
19.5 to arguably coaching the best Linebacker crew in his NFL Coaching career, Leonard was given an offer to either stay in Baltimore or leave to help a team in need of Coach Leonard’s defensive expertise. A heavy decision that needed to be made on a personal level of Coach Leonard later on in the middle of the Spring of 2023. This decision would involve leaving the Ravens for another AFC team, located West.
Summer of 2023: Present-Day
Midway through the 2023 Off-Season, and Las Vegas’ new Defensive Line Coach is given the task to help boost the physical, mental, and actionable production within the Trenches of the Defense. Being tasked to help rookies such as Tyree Wilson, Byron Young, Nesta Jade Silvera, and UDFA standout Adam Plant Jr, would be a moderate difficulty task for the veteran coach. This can also be due to having the leadership of “MADD” Maxx Crosby and “Future Hall of Famer” Chandler Jones in support of Coach Leonard. While also needing to help out 2nd-Year Linemen, Matthew Butler and Neil Farrell Jr, the trenches of the Silver and Black are desperately in the hands of Leonard himself (to an extent of course).
To conclude the deep dive into Rob Leonard’s Coaching career, a question for Raider Nation remains. Do you believe in Coach Leonard? Hopefully this text helps you critically think about your answer, whether it’s a “yes” or no”.
Coach Leonard’s Career Win-Loss For Every Team He’s Associated With:
(Disclaimer: * = Bowl-Game ; ** = High School Playoffs ; *** = NFL Playoffs)
Coach Leonard’s Career Record:
● As a Player: 33-29 (0-1 in Bowl-Games)
● As an a Assistant Coach: 82-80 (4-3 in HS Playoffs, Bowl-Games, & NFL Playoffs)
○ College: 24-15 (2-1 in Bowl-Games)
○ NFL: 48-64 (0-1 in NFL Playoffs)
● As a Positional Coach: 24-26 (0-2 in NFL Playoffs)
● In Total: 139-135 (4-5)
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