Ryan Leonard begins his second year as a full-time assistant coach in 2011 after two years as a part-time assistant. Leonard was the special teams coordinator and coached wide receivers for the Arena Football League’s Chicago Rush from 2004 to 2008. He began his coaching career at Benedictine University (Ill.) in 2000, followed by stops at Waynesburg University in 2001 and 2002 and the University of Chicago in 2003.
A native of Evanston, Ill., Leonard was a four-year running back at DePauw University from 1993 to 1996, and where current Carthage offensive coordinator Terry Peebles was an assistant coach for the 1996 season. Leonard, who now lives in Park Ridge, Ill., graduated from DePauw in 1997 with a bachelor’s in communication, and he received his master’s in business administration from Waynesburg in 2003.