As his Franklin College team got set for its preseason intrasquad scrimmage in late August, Mike Leonard really did feel like he'd just stepped out of a DeLorean and back into the fall of 2003 — just the way his son Bart drew it up when Leonard was re-hired as the Grizzlies' head football coach after a five-year "retirement."

It wasn't mid-September yet, but it was, as Leonard called it, "a perfect Saturday morning" for college football — and as he and his players enjoyed the same scrambled eggs, tater tots and sausage links they were eating for pregame meals 22 years ago, it really started to sink in.

He's back.

And he's absolutely loving it.

"It feels great," Leonard said. "It really does. Energized. I love this group of guys. They're attentive, they're buying into everything that all the coaches are doing, and I think we're leading them in a great way."

When Leonard — who compiled a 129-55 record during his first 17-season stint at Franklin, including a sparkling 106-20 in conference play — stepped away after the 2019 season, he did so with the intent of pursuing some of his other passions in life, and that's exactly what he did. He served on the board of the Baxter YMCA in Indianapolis. He joined the Franklin Kiwanis. He coached Unified flag football at the local high school, did some broadcasting ... heck, he even spent a week at a guitar camp this summer.

But when his old job re-opened after the 2024 season, Leonard started to consider the idea of a comeback, and decided that coaching is indeed his true calling.

"My assignment is a football coach; that's the assignment," he said. "My calling is to somehow teach some guys some lessons that I've learned along the way that will help them in their lives, and there's no better way to do it with my gifts than to be coaching football."

The time away from the sideline seems to have energized the 63-year-old Leonard, who calls himself 36 and brings a day-to-day energy that certainly makes it seem as though he's closer to the latter number in age.

That energy has been felt by those who share office space with Leonard at the Spurlock Center.

"His enthusiasm's contagious," athletic director and baseball coach Lance Marshall said. "The energy he's brought back to campus and back to the football program — but not just the football program, the entire athletic department, the college in general — has just been fantastic."

"I think (the time away) did him some good. It's a lot of responsibility running a college football program, and he's definitely come back with a renewed energy and enthusiasm that's been contagious."

Franklin College swimming and diving coach Zach Rayce '20 was a student during the final years of the first Leonard Era, and he's noticed a difference since the beginning of this second one.

"The whole hallway, from day one of him being re-hired, has changed," Rayce said. "Everybody is happier to be here. Every day, he comes in with a smile on his face, and even if he doesn't know much about your sport, he's going to act like he does — to show you that he cares not only about you, but about the success of Franklin."

Leonard's job (again) is to ensure the success of Franklin on the gridiron, and he feels as though he's got the right staff to help him. If the Grizzlies do end up winning a ton of games, the head coach will be quick to share the credit.

"I'm getting these nice accolades from people," he said. "If I had to coach defense, our team would stink. If I had to coach offensive line, our team would stink. ... This staff is great. I love them, and everybody brings something to the table to make us better."

When Leonard was at a high school football game late last month, he was approached by a fan who asked, "You guys going to be any good?" The coach answered enthusiastically in the affirmative, but he did counter with a query of his own: "Define 'good.' What do you mean by good?"

In the five years between his first run here and what Franklin College president Kerry Prather recently termed "the reboot," Leonard has found a new perspective on that last question.

"I see a much bigger picture now," Leonard said. "Everybody wants to win, but the bigger picture is how you go about it. And I think I knew that; even back in the later stages of my coaching career, I think I knew that. But it was confirmed by some of the things I did. I mean, coaching Unified flag football at Franklin Community High School for two years — it was an absolute blast. You see the joy that people had; not only the joy of the players, but the joy of the parents and the joy of other people in the school system, and that's the same thing that can go on here. ...

"We're going to be as good as we can possibly be. I have no clue what the opponents have, you know? But we're going to be as good as we possibly can be, and if that means winning games, then great."