Members
Inductee
LEONARD, MIKE
LEONARD, MIKE
Born on December 27, 1967
Inducted On
November 5, 2022
Location Inducted
Franklin, Indiana
Region Number
8
Franklin College
Coach
Speedway High School
1980
Mike lettered in both football and track & field, having played quarterback and earned the most valuable player award in his senior season. He was also a four-year class vice-president.
Hanover College & DePauw University
Double Major in Business Administration and Physical Education. Master's degree in physical education.
B.A. 1984, M.A. 1986
Leonard played quarterback and was named the mental attitude award and most valuable player in his senior season.
The Central Indiana Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame recognized him with a Distinguished American Award in June 2021.
Mike and his wife Susan reside in Franklin, and have two adult children, Bart and Emily, and a son-in-law Ethan. Mike and Susan became grandparents during the National Anthem of the 2022 Super Bowl, welcoming grandson Cash Ray Bailey to the family.
Mike enjoys kayaking, fly fishing, golf and learning how to better play and teach guitar.
Mike had been the head football coach at Franklin College from 2003-2019 and had been in the coaching profession for 36 years. In his early days of coaching, he had also been both Hanover College's head track and field coach and head tennis coach, while he was an assistant football coach. When he took over the reins as the head football coach at Franklin, his team of players and coaches quickly turned the program into a powerhouse at the Division III level. He compiled a 129-55 (70.1%) record over 17 seasons and captured 9 outright and 2 shared conference championships. He led his team to nine playoff appearances during that time and ended his coaching career as the all-time leader in coaching wins.
More than 200 student-athletes earned all-conference accolades during Leonard's time as the head coach with 12 players earning one of the league's players of the year honors and 11 players collecting All-American recognition. Coach Leonard himself was recognized as the HCAC Coach of the Year on seven different occasions.
Before making an impact as Franklin's head coach, Coach Leonard made coaching stops all over the world, working on the sidelines at DePauw University, Wittenberg, Hanover, Holy Cross, the University of Alabama, and Butler, as well as with a professional team in Tokyo, Japan, the Recruit Seagulls.
Mike was named to be Franklin Community High School's first-ever Unified Flag Football Coach in 2021.