USFreak

1 hour ago, Jim Johnson said:

Is that the ONLY condition that will get you to buy again?  Leavitt or bust?

This program needs a shot in the arm and a kick in the ass...fueled by Pepsi.

8 minutes ago, Brad said:

Hard to bring back the father of USF Football and then tell he can't be around his kids.

Do people that re-marry do that?  Accept the husband back, but he can't see his kids.  Just trying to picture how that works.  No wife is worth it.  

*

Everybody that keeps saying "AD."   Have you met the guy? (not meant for you Brad..."you" meaning a lot of the others calling for him to be the AD)  He's not exactly a diplomat.  He is a football coach.  Xs and Os, recruiting and time on the practice field.  He'd be all in trying to land better facilities, a speech or two at a grip and grin and sign a few autographs here and there but in terms of AD you'd be better off installing a chimp in a suit.

2 hours ago, Rocky Style said:

And she did achieve her goals of elevating USF from an academic perspective.  So where it goes after you step down is up to the next leadership, right?

Right.  Ultimately she did good by the university.  At this point does it make a lick of sense to keep the "father" of this football team away from the program?  Either now or for legacy sake?  Whatever went down is hardly Joe Paterno level.   I'm sure Leavitt wants his name cleared for whatever real or perceived wrongdoing, but maybe he could offer up that he's always been an intense guy and in his years following the incident that he has matured further as a coach and mentor?

People get second chances.  I'm not sure this is even that but damnit some of this seems worse than me negotiating with my teenagers when they fight.  Just fix it and move on.  Even if it is just getting Jim back in the building and honoring his contributions.  A lot of great players are tied to Jim (see some of his past twitter entries at Lightning or Bucs games) and that era should have some cohesion. 

If he were to become coach again that would really be a cherry on top.  I can't believe anybody looking at the past 5-10 years would see it any other way.

1 hour ago, JTrue said:

As TDS said last time around before xCJS was hired.

Just stop it. Seriously. Y’all act like Leavitt was your first girlfriend from high school. It’s embarrassing.

You make it like he's some **** coach.  At every program he's been at he's gotten a LOT out of not a ton of talent.  Oregon was probably his most talented roster but KState, Colorado, USF in its infancy?, FAU.  Guy can coach.  Weird that so many people are so against the actual concept.  What the hell is going on here?  Is there a line forming somewhere to come coach this ******** program?

Come coach our directional commuter school with zero talent, a **** conference, no conference wins and no on campus stadium.  Sign me up!

1 hour ago, JTrue said:

USF is never hiring Jim Leavitt. I hope most of us can move forward.

I think all of us can.  Look in the stands.  Most everybody has moved on to better life pursuits.

If you want the football program to actually move forward you consider it.  What inside baseball do you have that says no way, no how?  Why?  Why absolutely **** on the legacy of your program form what really reads like a hit-piece.  How many retreads will these tires take?  4-26!  Three more years of that?  In the AAC?  Did we even beat any non I-AA programs during the last three years?  I personally couldn't tell you because I stopped paying attention like everybody else.

On 11/6/2022 at 5:37 AM, smazza said:

leavitt got rid of himself by hitting a student athlete

Railroaded

13 minutes ago, usfbullrider said:

You ride the horse that brought you.  Jim is the lowest risk hire of likely all possible hires in my estimation.  Even without getting knee deep in stats, every job he's been at he's made a positive impact that's noticeable even to casual observers.  His defensive players play incredibly hard.  His love for this area is unmatched.  He would likely have a large rolodex of coaching hires he could make to support winning and recruiting as soon as year one.

I think that's the thing.  I know there are are a few saying "no way in hell" but it that because of the chances of it happening or really wanting it not to happen?  A lot of the cogs from that time period are long gone - Gerdes, Genshaft, Woolard, Selmon, etc.  Are the larger boosters on board with all the **** that went down or did time heal those wounds.  

Forget for a second this program is his baby and just go to the coaching he did when he moved on.  Oregon and Colorado improved fast.  His recruiting and stamp on this area are still very positive and parents sent their kids to play with him.  

I think this stuff is so blown up and there are far too many egos involved.  Can the program get any worse?  I mean this is literally the lowest of the low.  The admin will do what they want but I see this post getting pointed out 3 years from now again.  And yes, as Dave mentioned in an earlier post if it doesn't happen this go round we can officially put it to bed.

4 minutes ago, Brad said:

A true crisis in leadership. 

Much like anonymous fans on the internet. The easiest path was to burn it down, and they did (and were sure to get no ashes on themselves).

But it doesn't add up. I get the clash of the egos and maybe even the clash of education vs. sports.  But I was in those rooms with Judy.  Was it all fake?  Was she simply John Allen 2.0 secretly trying to get rid of the sports that Allen never wanted in the first place?

There is so much bizarro **** that goes down with USF sports. None of it makes sense sometimes and I swear the Indian burial ground thing isn't too far off the mark.

I was off and on around in the Judy/Dougie years.  What the hell was I missing during that time?  Judy was out there glad-handing right next to Lee Roy, flying to and fro on the Gonzmarts jet (am I making that up?), and generally seemed to like how the program complemented the school and getting more of the community and alumni base involved (and writing checks). 

Now maybe I was totally wrong on that and simply read it wrong.  There was a bit of a cockfight with Leavitt who simply was never a joy to be around.  I know that.  He coached football and ducked any real questions at pressers.  He was hoodie-less Bill Bellicheck who liked to lose conference titles rather than win them but he generally had us moving in the direction we needed to move in.  Grads/alum need something to bind them to the school and Judy seemed in on the deal.  What the hell went south?

I get some academic strides have been made but the two didn't have to be mutually exclusive?  What set fire to the whole **** thing which is literally what Doug, Judy and our boy McMurphy did.

2 minutes ago, Bull Awakening said:

Well said. The good news is Leavitt was able to help USF out perform UCF when we started the program in 1997. Sure UCF had the head start but USF made up ground and became a threat to UCF which is why they hate USF so much while we honestly never gave a **** about UCF. I am counting on USF hitting a home run with the new hire and we will eventually end up in the ACC with a great OCS. That is my positive outlook 

The problem is USF never gets an OCS if they keep running in place.  There is about as much excitement for this program as an upcoming colonoscopy.  Nobody attends the games and I don't think anybody with lined pockets wants to cough up any real money for this boat anchor of a program.

I think the point about Judy being a key donor is relevant.  But how many bigger donors has USF lost cow-towing to Judy? 

The problem is this program is in the gutter.  It is going to take a lot to resurrect it too.  What name do the Bulls pick up that is going to inject any life into this program?  They still play on Dale Mabry and a lot of the plans outlined require vision, money and on-field success.  Next year's AAC looks like a 6A Florida HS slate...and USF probably still won't win more than 2-3 games.

Leavitt probably wouldn't take the job if offered and USF is so stubborn they won't offer.  Sad for each as it is probably the only thing that breaks the Indian Burial ground curse.  But they'll take another run at some ACC or SEC also-ran and we'll be at the same place in 3 seasons with no OCS, an AAC losing record and less fans than a WNBA game.

Meanwhile, UCF is eating USF's lunch.  Malzahn seems like a legit long-term option for that team (has said multiple times his last coaching stop) and I see no reason things don't further improve for them with a Big12 conference home.  They certainly will out-recruit USF for years to come.  They have everything right now that we probably want and they did some bold things in the past to achieve them (certainly a few a little sketchy).

10 hours ago, Outlaw said:

He was good at bringing wins, life, energy, and intensity to the program. Something we seriously lack now.

Absolutely. He’s an animal on building a program and fanbase.  It’s a disaster they cut him loose but get him In for the next 7 years and watch what I’ve talked about for the past 15 years come to fruition.  Thank me later.

It is now past the point of no return.  1 FBS opponent in 3 years is a signal to recruits, current players, current assistants and potential assistants that this rebuild is a flop.  Nobody wants to be associated with this boat anchor of a program…especially the fans.

I get it is a Greg Schiano type move but I guarantee you Leavitt would get 7 wins in his first year.  Keep this Scott legacy dud and what to you get next year?  1 win?

On 10/9/2022 at 5:04 PM, Brad said:

When you have lowlifes dropping stories like this 5-6years later and during your career opportunities is not helpful.  If you can keep the myth alive you can continue to assert power and propagate the nonsense.

 

Jim Leavitt back in college game, while player he struck is struggling - CBSSports.com

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In 2010, South Florida fired Jim Leavitt for striking Joel Miller. Yet in 2015, Miller is paying a far bigger price for the incident.

 

True.  Dodd and McMurphy really must not have liked the taste of urine the Jim must have sprayed in their Cheerios.  Man, it was a vendetta from about 2004 on.

3 hours ago, Outlaw said:

Hire him as president of football operations or Coach. Allow someone with success at USF advise CJS or the next coach how to win and run a program here. We hired his dad Brad Scott who failed as a head coach which is was an odd choice but he had ACC connections with Mike Kelley and probably was a package deal to come with Jeff Scott.

What a lot of people fail to understand is that USF is simply a building block school for any other coach (to be fair almost anybody but Alabama or Texas is too).  Leavitt was a different bird.  He would have retired here.  I have zero doubt of that.  Maybe he still will if somebody wakes the living f--k up.

On 10/8/2022 at 3:59 PM, TRUTH D. Antagonist said:

firing Leavitt is the curse.

hiring him as AD is the solution.

Leavitt is no administrator.  He's a football coach.  

I would hope that now that all of the old guard has cycled through he would be received back with open arms.  Other coaches have dealt with worse than these trumped up allegations (looking at you O'Leary and Petrino).   He's 65 and he's still a manimal in terms of energy (Pepsi).  He'd infuse an immediate recruiting benefit and I think the donor-base has seen enough in the past decade that it is worth a shot.  IPF, stadium and general excitement has been more than lacking.  I was on board for the moonshot but once they fired Leavitt I knew the soul of this thing was gone.  He was a Bobby Bowden/Dabo Swinney type for USF and he was sent packing.  A series of ultra-poor decisions have compounded the impact of that.

The blueprint, it would seem, is to (try and) hire Leavitt and get this thing back on track.  Groom an assistant to take over in 5-7 years and try and build the facilities to the point where this thing takes on more of a life of its own.  Right now it is on life support.  4 wins in 3 years?  Program is in shambles and Scott will be gone by the end of the year.  Who even wants this job after that?

Look at the amount of Leavitt coached kids that played in the NFL AND have Super Bowl rings.  Guy found and developed talent…some of it from under rocks.  He certainly had some game management issues but anybody here would take a bunch of 8-4 or 9-3 seasons and legit bowl invites over the trainwreck.

Firing him set this program back 10 years.  Not bringing him back…another 10.  Continuing to shun him from the program likely another 10.

USF is built on an ancient Indian burial ground…that much is true.  But Leavitt mellowed those spirits for an incredible run for a while there.  

2 hours ago, Brad said:

If they were to only want to use him as a fundraiser I would certainly hope he shows them the middle finger. 

I know people say that these things would never happen. But each day that passes or has passed over the last decade it becomes less and less likely there will be anything there.

He thought he’d actually hear from someone three years ago and of course did not.  No effort to make peace or truly be united start to finish to make the program, his baby, better. 

I said the same almost 8 years ago and I think i was called an old man and laughed off this board.  Now I’m truly moving into old man-dom and this program is in shambles.

My daughter attends UCF and they are 4-1 with an on campus stadium and a punched ticket to the Big 12 (to be fair she got a huge scholarship…my other goes to Cal Poly full fare). 
 

USF is 3 for the 2020s and just grasping at straws to catch a program they had in the crosshairs for a decade.  But yeah, shun Leavitt some more.  It’s worked so far.  Morons(mean the administration by this comment).

21 minutes ago, USFreak said:

Two that matter. 

I think what we end up with is 4 Super-Conferences but only 2 of them are super.

The SEC and Big20 round themselves out with Miami, FSU, Notre Dame, Washington, Oregon, Clemson, and one or two others.  Maybe even kick out a Mizzou or some po-dunk non TV contributor to the curb.  

Then an East Coast and a West Coast catch-all.  Hopefully they make it regional to create some rivalry.  The eastern and midwest factions of the ACC/Big 12 (West Virginia, UCF, USF?, etc) would hopefully form the East faction and then the Arizona schools, California schools, Colorado (and Colorado State), and the tornado alley schools form the West faction.

Some formerly "safe" schools like Georgia Tech or Baylor now get to look up at what USF has been looking up at in the ACC.  Not great for football in a power sense.  It wouldn't be terrible though if a 16 team playoff emerged and these Power2 schools got a few seats (3-4) at the table with 11-1 and 10-2 records.  Who knows.

If there was ever a time for USF to announce an on-campus stadium it would be in the next week or two.

What the Power2 East/West conferences should theoretically look like:
 
EAST CONFERENCE - 16 teams (possibly add cast-off from Big 20 or SEC if occurs)
=================
(11 remaining)
Boston College 
Duke University  
Georgia Institute of Technology 
University of Louisville  
University of North Carolina  
North Carolina State University  
University of Pittsburgh
Syracuse University 
University of Virginia 
Virginia Tech 
Wake Forest University

Add:
Iowa State
Cincinnati
West Virginia
USF
UCF

WEST CONFERENCE - 18 teams total
==================
7 Remaining (assuming Colorado gets picked up too...)

University of Arizona   
Arizona State University  
University of California 
Oregon State University 
Stanford University 
University of Utah 
Washington State University 

Add:

Baylor University 
University of Kansas 
Kansas State University 
Oklahoma State University  
Texas Christian University  
Texas Tech University
Houston  
San Diego State
Colorado State
BYU
Boise State     
 

1 hour ago, cmhatter said:

Anyone else share my opinion that we're headed to only 2 conferences that really matter? B10/SEC.

 

Even if we get into ACC/B12 it will be the same routine until b10/SEC are truly done... which may be never... or until they effectively replace the ncaa.

 

Two that matter. 

I think what we end up with is 4 Super-Conferences but only 2 of them are super.

The SEC and Big20 round themselves out with Miami, FSU, Notre Dame, Washington, Oregon, Clemson, and one or two others.  Maybe even kick out a Mizzou or some po-dunk non TV contributor to the curb.  

Then an East Coast and a West Coast catch-all.  Hopefully they make it regional to create some rivalry.  The eastern and midwest factions of the ACC/Big 12 (West Virginia, UCF, USF?, etc) would hopefully form the East faction and then the Arizona schools, California schools, Colorado (and Colorado State), and the tornado alley schools form the West faction.

Some formerly "safe" schools like Georgia Tech or Baylor now get to look up at what USF has been looking up at in the ACC.  Not great for football in a power sense.  It wouldn't be terrible though if a 16 team playoff emerged and these Power2 schools got a few seats (3-4) at the table with 11-1 and 10-2 records.  Who knows.

If there was ever a time for USF to announce an on-campus stadium it would be in the next week or two.

7 hours ago, Dave_Glaser said:

CG: I’m not sure I said we’re Harvard. Wasn’t really my point, but OK. I’m happy that you’re happy that you’ve been able to step away and put USF in some better perspective in your life. I guess the implication is that I haven’t? Actually, I think I’m a pretty well adjusted guy with solid priorities. And USF football can ONLY succeed with Jim Leavitt in charge - ever? C’mon, you don’t really believe that.

If I said that I didn't mean to say that.  I think these trolls are getting under your skin.  That wasn't my intention.  I'm sure having a kid there re-lights the fire too gives you even more zest for USF.  My kid goes to Cal Poly and I'm pretty into what they have going on there with no real tie to the place. But yes, personally I'm glad I'm not as into it (USF) as I used to be and yes there are man-children out there that live for Saturday.  Fun is fun and I've clearly had a ton of it with USF going back many years.

Your point about Jim too is true.   I probably should just look down the road to prove the point you are making to me.  UCF has had plenty of success now without a career-coach.  Other programs have as well.  

9 hours ago, NewEnglandBull said:

A coach who has not been a head coach in more than 10 years is the one who can lead us to the promise land? Come on man get real. You are just reaching for the past, a past that is gone. I do respect what he has done but to suggest that it is “FACT” that this would lead to our success is just silly. 

I think I was fairly clear he's too old now and it is too late.  He's still probably got the energy but it is unrealistic.  My bigger point is he was the ONLY one that ever cared to stay at USF.  Every other coach has been trying to climb to the next rung.  I get that happens at larger programs too.  The knock on Leavitt will always be he's a great DC but so-so head coach.  Still, his so-so did pretty well for us and he had no plans to go anywhere else.  He could have been our Saint Bobby.

Yes, the past is gone and there have been a few articles now detailing the absolutely bonkers missteps of this program.  Leavitt is just one of many holes that sent this ship down.  Ironically, the pirate ship in the North End zone is another.

Last point you a-holes.  In an earlier post I said:

Quote

" That stadium might be made of coat-hangers and chewing gum but for a directional school they got it mostly right."

C'mon, beyond being fairly accurate it is a real place steps from on-campus housing.  But you know what?  You can pre-game on the quad and hope to hell that thing doesn't collapse week in and week out while bragging about being in two BCS bowls (and ******* winning one) and beating Florida and Auburn in two others.  That ain't made up.