Ohhhhh Noooo, USF Tells Jim Leavitt He’s Gotta Go!

Jim Leavitt, one of the best college football coaches in the nation, has been relieved of his duties at the University of South Florida based on accusations that he grabbed and hit a player back in November. It wasn’t necessarily the act of putting his hands on the player that got him fired but the fact that he tried to cover the situation up by telling his assistants to go along with his side of the story when questioned. His entire coaching staff will be fired as well. Leavitt just completed the second year of a 7-year, $12 million contract.

Leavitt, who is solely responsible for turning a fledgling football program into a Big East contender, was the only coach in the 13-year history of the South Florida program. He set the bar very high for the Bulls and whoever follows Leavitt will have to live up to unreasonable and possibly unattainable expectations. Florida may be a hotbed for football recruits but when you’re living off the trimmings of Florida State, Miami and the University of Florida, coaching is an integral part of forming a winning program. The continuity that Leavitt provided gave recruits something to rely on and simply can’t be replaced. He was also able to look back through the tough, growing years of the program and revert back to when the Bulls were on the lower rungs of the ladder on their way to the top of the Big East. Unfortunately, they might be returning to them soon.

South Florida depended on QB Matt Grothe to carry the offensive load over the past four years but they also produced a number of NFL-caliber defensive players that allowed them to throw exotic defenses at bigger - but slower - Big East offenses. USF never had eye-popping recruiting classes under Leavitt but, much like his counterpart Randy Edsall at UConn, Leavitt made the most out of his players on a year to year basis.

When Grothe went down with a season ending ACL injury at the beginning of the year, freshman BJ Daniels stepped in and had a fantastic season. By the end of the year the offense ran through Daniels and his potential seemed limitless under Leavitt’s staff. It will be interesting to see where the offense, and Daniels in particular, goes from here. The Bulls will also lose pass rush specialists George Selvie and one-year wonder Jason Pierre-Paul, who lit the world on fire in his lone season at USF.

There sure isn’t a lack of talented - and controversial - coaches on the market right now, with names like Mark Mangino, Mike Leach and now Leavitt. Don’t be surprised when Leavitt is the first to land a job.