Jim Leonhard hasn’t informed Wisconsin officials whether he intends to stay with the program.

The Badgers interim coach since October and defensive coordinator since 2017, Leonhard has met with new coach Luke Fickell multiple times since athletic director chose Fickell to lead the program over Leonhard last weekend. Those talks, according to Fickell, have led to good dialogue, discussions about defensive philosophies, his potential role and talks about the other options outside of Madison that Leonhard has. But that time together has not brought a decision from the 40-year-old.

“I’ve definitely opened the door for Jim to be here,” Fickell said Sunday. “He’s kind of trying to weigh the options. And it’s not options of whether he wants to coach or not, or whether or not he wants it to be at Wisconsin. It’s just, I think, in the future of where he wants to go. So a lot of things are open.”

Getting Leonhard to stay would be a significant addition that could help the Badgers avoid a mass exodus of defensive players to the transfer portal, which officially opens Monday. The 40-year-old was thought to be the front runner for the head coaching job and a large portion of the Wisconsin locker room was initially upset when it turned out to be Fickell. A very popular member of the staff, Leonhard is widely considered one of the best young defensive minds in college football.

Fickell faced a somewhat similar situation as an assistant at Ohio State when he served as the interim coach in 2011. Instead of getting the head coaching job, the Buckeyes turned to Urban Meyer, forcing Fickell to either leave or go back to being a co-defensive coordinator. He took the latter route and stuck around. Fickell stayed at Ohio State for another five years before going to Cincinnati in 2017.

“I might have a little bit more insight and he’s picked my brain and gone back and forth several times on what’s going to be best — not just for him — but obviously for the program and for the future,” Fickell said. “So it’s not an easy decision. It’s not one of those things that is cut and dry. And I did kind of leave it vague a little bit to say as to how we would do this and what the roles would be.”

Despite the necessity of knowing who is in and who isn’t, Fickell has not set a deadline for Leonhard to make a decision.

“There’s no rush, there’s no timetable on this thing,” Fickell said. “I think when you rush things, you don’t get things done the right way. And I think that a lot of that has to do with the comfortability with all of us. And so there is no rush.”

Fickell is in the middle of building his staff. He wouldn’t comment on anyone specific, but based on social media posts from recruits, his co-defensive coordinators at Cincinnati — Mike Tressel, who coached linebackers, along with Colin Hitschler, who coached safeties — were on the road for Wisconsin on Friday. Wide receivers coach Mike Brown is also expected to join Fickell in Madison.