Over the winter, one of Mike Leonard’s closest friends asked the winningest coach in the history of Franklin College football for an updated résumé.
When Leonard asked why, the explanation offered by former Whiteland athletic director Ken Sears was that he needed it for a background check. Sears wanted Leonard to be the offensive coach for his 8-year-old grandson’s football team.
Or so Leonard was told.
Only after receiving word that he was to be inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame did the Speedway native, who retired after the 2019 season, put the puzzle pieces together in his mind.
Sears had nominated Leonard for the Hall’s Class of 2022. The former Grizzlies coach will be part of a class that also includes Eric Moore, who has led Center Grove to six state finals and three championships since taking over there in 1999.
Leonard, who in 17 seasons at Franklin College made a concerted effort to deflect as much credit as possible for his program’s success, is surprised by the latest of many honors he’s received in his coaching career.
“It’s the farthest thing from my mind,” said the 59-year-old Leonard. “Am I honored? Of course. It just takes you back to a lot of great memories and a lot of great people. It’s truly one of those feelings where everything comes full circle, from signing up for third-grade football all the way up to the last games you coached.”
A 1980 graduate of Speedway High School, Leonard then played quarterback at Hanover College before embarking on a coaching career that ultimately led to him becoming the Franklin College head coach in 2003.
He posted a record of 129-55 (70.1%) with the Grizzlies, winning 11 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference titles and qualifying for the NCAA Division III playoffs 10 times.
Leonard’s love for teaching quarterbacks fittingly began when he attend the annual Bishop-Dullaghan Camp at Franklin College during the summer of 1979.
He served as a summer counselor there the next several years working alongside the likes of successful high school coaches such as Dick Dullaghan, Bob Gaddis and Mike Gillin.
Other influences were former Grizzlies quarterback Steve Wray; Bill Lynch, then a Butler assistant; and Eastern Illinois quarterback Sean Payton, who has been the head coach of the New Orleans Saints since 2006.
“I was just around a lot of winning people. The words that come to mind are thankful and grateful,” Leonard said. “I thank my parents, all my neighbors, coaches and teachers along the way.”
He’s already thanked Sears, who has devoted much of his own life to athletics as a player, coach and administrator. Sears recognizes and appreciates the manner in which Leonard positively influenced young men while achieving positive results on the field.
“Mike is such a humble guy that this kind of stuff doesn’t matter to him,” Sears said. “He coaches football the way it’s supposed to be coached. He always made the 130th kid on the roster feel just as important as the All-Americans.
“He cares about his kids. Just a great role model for his players.”
