The TBP Official In Game Thread: Bulls vs. Florida A&M

[Rocky Style]

2 minutes ago, CousinRicky said:

Thought I could get through this one without drinking. Gin and tonic time.

Lol

[Roaming Bull]

Just now, snarling Bull said:

I hate ESPN plus

That’s what they strive for

[feardabull2]

Fitting for them to have a UCF grad as the color commentator....

[Roaming Bull]

Nice run there

[The Sheriff]

8 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

Its a final

Skip Holtz- 37

Jim Leavitt- 39 ....hail Mary bomb with no time left

Didn't realize he was in Dallas - no wonder his personal FB profile keeps popping up in my feed. The older I get, the more I realize Coach Leavitt wasn't such an a-hole. He was pushing us to our limits and some - just takes away to see why - and he still loves Pepsi like me.

 

When SMU’s new defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt was looking for a job after the 2009 season, one of the first offers he received was from Sonny Dykes. At the time, Dykes had just gotten his first head coaching job at Louisiana Tech.

Leavitt didn’t take him up on the opportunity. Instead, he waited a year and became a linebackers coach with the San Francisco 49ers. When Dykes had a chance to offer him a job again just last month, this time the pair made it happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“We had been friends for a long time,” Leavitt said. “And he was one of the guys in the coaching circles that I always thought very highly of. I’m going to be honest with you, that was the main reason [I took the job]. That was a big deal.”

 

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Leavitt has taken a different route than most established coaches. At a young age, he became the head coach of a brand new South Florida program. He built it up over 13 seasons, oversaw its joining the FBS and even had it ranked No. 2 in the country at one point. He was then fired after the school alleged he punched one of his players and hindered the university’s investigation of the incident.

As a result, Leavitt has gone from an established head coach with many offers — including Alabama at one point — to a coach who’s bounced around quite a bit. He went from the 49ers to the University of Colorado to Oregon to Florida State and then to Florida Atlantic. And now he’s at SMU — a school he tried to get a job at in 1980 as the strength coach.

“I never meant to be bouncing around,” Leavitt said. “It’s not really what I want.”

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But for one reason or another, his career has led him to these various spots, and Leavitt’s defenses have been successful wherever he’s gone.

In San Francisco, the 49ers made three conference championships and advanced to the Super Bowl once. In his second season at Colorado in 2016 — when he was in charge of recruiting the D-FW area — the Buffaloes finished 10-4, their first winning season in more than a decade. He helped turn an Oregon team that was 4-8 the year before he got there into a 9-4 squad in his second season.

At 64, he’ll join a staff that was among the youngest in all of college football. He hasn’t given up on becoming a head coach again at some point. He said he’s interviewed in recent years for head coaching jobs at Oregon, Colorado State, Kansas State and Texas Tech.

“People keep saying ‘Oh, he’s 64, he’s 64,’ like you’re about to die the next day,” Leavitt said. “So everybody’s going after the young guys that are on offense, for the most part. You just don’t want to keep chasing jobs and keep getting turned down. Now, in my mind, in my heart, do I feel like I could be really successful as a head coach? Yeah, I do.”

Part of why those interviews haven’t resulted in him being hired, he acknowledged, has to do with the accusations made against him at South Florida. He denies the incident took place as it’s described.

“I’ve always told the truth, I’ve never lied,” said Leavitt, who later settled a lawsuit with USF for $2.75 million. “It was portrayed wrong.”

 

While he was with the 49ers, he coached one game in Raymond James Stadium, USF’s home stadium. Even though there was no connection to USF, Leavitt still felt an added desire to win that day, which the 49ers did.

He hasn’t been back to USF and has never faced the program he helped create. That will change this upcoming season when the Mustangs host the Bulls.

“You tell your players all the time how you deal with adversity in life, how you deal with adversity in games,” Leavitt said. “If you’re going to tell your players to rise up to no matter what type of adverse situation you go through, you’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to face it.”

 

Before the end of his USF tenure, Leavitt was one of the hottest coaches on the market. He said he had offers from Kentucky, Minnesota, Kansas State and a bunch of others in the first few successful years after the Bulls moved to the higher end of Division I football.

He started with a salary of just $75,000 at USF and a pool for assistant coaches of $90,000. Those numbers rose as the program elevated, and he started to gain more stature after Alabama sent him a five-year contract offer after the 2000 season.

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Leavitt eventually declined Alabama’s offer, deciding to stay at South Florida, which he believed could be built into a powerhouse in the state, much like Florida, Florida State or Miami. He kept the unsigned Alabama contract, though, and was reminded of it the other day when he saw it while visiting his family in Colorado.

“I told [my agent] I didn’t want it. I absolutely didn’t want it,” Leavitt said. “I called Bob Stoops and said, ‘Can you believe I don’t want this Alabama job?’ I was so in love with my home and building South Florida.”

That is in the past now and future chances to lead a program aren’t Leavitt’s focus, either. He said he pulled the trigger on coming to SMU because of his belief in Dykes. And since joining the Mustangs he’s gotten to know his fellow coaches and has begun meeting his players. He’s also worked with Dykes on hiring a new defensive line coach.

It wasn’t an easy choice for Leavitt to leave FAU, however. His mother, Lois, is 95 and has a fading memory. And his wife and children are in Colorado. They’ll move to Tampa to be with Lois, and Leavitt’s brother also assists in taking care of his mother, who still lives in the house Jim grew up in.

 

His family is scattered at the moment and he’s moving into a new city and learning a new team, but Leavitt is fired up about being at SMU, the latest stop in a long and sometimes dramatic football journey.

“I’ll run with anybody out here,” Leavitt said, noting his youthful secret is drinking a lot of Pepsi. “With my energy and passion, you’d think I was 20 years old. And if I lose that, I’ll stop coaching.

“That’s just the way I coach. The energy these guys infuse on me is great, and I’m a pretty active guy. Will there be a time where I can’t do all the things I want to do? Yeah. I won’t coach then. When do I think that will be? Oh, probably in about 20 years.”

[NCBull]

Some downhill running there!  Love to see it

[NCBull]

Just now, The Sheriff said:

Didn't realize he was in Dallas - no wonder his personal FB profile keeps popping up in my feed. The older I get, the more I realize Coach Leavitt wasn't such an a-hole. He was pushing us to our limits and some - just takes away to see why - and he still loves Pepsi like me.

 

When SMU’s new defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt was looking for a job after the 2009 season, one of the first offers he received was from Sonny Dykes. At the time, Dykes had just gotten his first head coaching job at Louisiana Tech.

Leavitt didn’t take him up on the opportunity. Instead, he waited a year and became a linebackers coach with the San Francisco 49ers. When Dykes had a chance to offer him a job again just last month, this time the pair made it happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advertisement

FEATURED ON DALLAS NEWS

‘Records are made to be broken’: Pete Incavigila, Rangers’ rookie HR king, rooting for Adolis García

 

“We had been friends for a long time,” Leavitt said. “And he was one of the guys in the coaching circles that I always thought very highly of. I’m going to be honest with you, that was the main reason [I took the job]. That was a big deal.”

 

ADVERTISING

Leavitt has taken a different route than most established coaches. At a young age, he became the head coach of a brand new South Florida program. He built it up over 13 seasons, oversaw its joining the FBS and even had it ranked No. 2 in the country at one point. He was then fired after the school alleged he punched one of his players and hindered the university’s investigation of the incident.

As a result, Leavitt has gone from an established head coach with many offers — including Alabama at one point — to a coach who’s bounced around quite a bit. He went from the 49ers to the University of Colorado to Oregon to Florida State and then to Florida Atlantic. And now he’s at SMU — a school he tried to get a job at in 1980 as the strength coach.

“I never meant to be bouncing around,” Leavitt said. “It’s not really what I want.”

SPONSORED CONTENT

Save on Your Closing

Get up to $5k off closing costs when you buy a home. Set up a Virtual Appointment now! (1)

BY 

But for one reason or another, his career has led him to these various spots, and Leavitt’s defenses have been successful wherever he’s gone.

In San Francisco, the 49ers made three conference championships and advanced to the Super Bowl once. In his second season at Colorado in 2016 — when he was in charge of recruiting the D-FW area — the Buffaloes finished 10-4, their first winning season in more than a decade. He helped turn an Oregon team that was 4-8 the year before he got there into a 9-4 squad in his second season.

At 64, he’ll join a staff that was among the youngest in all of college football. He hasn’t given up on becoming a head coach again at some point. He said he’s interviewed in recent years for head coaching jobs at Oregon, Colorado State, Kansas State and Texas Tech.

“People keep saying ‘Oh, he’s 64, he’s 64,’ like you’re about to die the next day,” Leavitt said. “So everybody’s going after the young guys that are on offense, for the most part. You just don’t want to keep chasing jobs and keep getting turned down. Now, in my mind, in my heart, do I feel like I could be really successful as a head coach? Yeah, I do.”

Part of why those interviews haven’t resulted in him being hired, he acknowledged, has to do with the accusations made against him at South Florida. He denies the incident took place as it’s described.

“I’ve always told the truth, I’ve never lied,” said Leavitt, who later settled a lawsuit with USF for $2.75 million. “It was portrayed wrong.”

 

While he was with the 49ers, he coached one game in Raymond James Stadium, USF’s home stadium. Even though there was no connection to USF, Leavitt still felt an added desire to win that day, which the 49ers did.

He hasn’t been back to USF and has never faced the program he helped create. That will change this upcoming season when the Mustangs host the Bulls.

“You tell your players all the time how you deal with adversity in life, how you deal with adversity in games,” Leavitt said. “If you’re going to tell your players to rise up to no matter what type of adverse situation you go through, you’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to face it.”

 

Before the end of his USF tenure, Leavitt was one of the hottest coaches on the market. He said he had offers from Kentucky, Minnesota, Kansas State and a bunch of others in the first few successful years after the Bulls moved to the higher end of Division I football.

He started with a salary of just $75,000 at USF and a pool for assistant coaches of $90,000. Those numbers rose as the program elevated, and he started to gain more stature after Alabama sent him a five-year contract offer after the 2000 season.

ADVERTISEMENT

Leavitt eventually declined Alabama’s offer, deciding to stay at South Florida, which he believed could be built into a powerhouse in the state, much like Florida, Florida State or Miami. He kept the unsigned Alabama contract, though, and was reminded of it the other day when he saw it while visiting his family in Colorado.

“I told [my agent] I didn’t want it. I absolutely didn’t want it,” Leavitt said. “I called Bob Stoops and said, ‘Can you believe I don’t want this Alabama job?’ I was so in love with my home and building South Florida.”

That is in the past now and future chances to lead a program aren’t Leavitt’s focus, either. He said he pulled the trigger on coming to SMU because of his belief in Dykes. And since joining the Mustangs he’s gotten to know his fellow coaches and has begun meeting his players. He’s also worked with Dykes on hiring a new defensive line coach.

It wasn’t an easy choice for Leavitt to leave FAU, however. His mother, Lois, is 95 and has a fading memory. And his wife and children are in Colorado. They’ll move to Tampa to be with Lois, and Leavitt’s brother also assists in taking care of his mother, who still lives in the house Jim grew up in.

 

His family is scattered at the moment and he’s moving into a new city and learning a new team, but Leavitt is fired up about being at SMU, the latest stop in a long and sometimes dramatic football journey.

“I’ll run with anybody out here,” Leavitt said, noting his youthful secret is drinking a lot of Pepsi. “With my energy and passion, you’d think I was 20 years old. And if I lose that, I’ll stop coaching.

“That’s just the way I coach. The energy these guys infuse on me is great, and I’m a pretty active guy. Will there be a time where I can’t do all the things I want to do? Yeah. I won’t coach then. When do I think that will be? Oh, probably in about 20 years.”

Good on you Sherriff!

[Roaming Bull]

Nice throw, good catch, nice run after

[bullsfan27]

nice pass to get us 1st and goal 

[The Sheriff]

Grabbed the knee immediately. This never plays out well.