Great Article - Leavitt staying at South Florida s

[ChiTownBull]

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/sports/colleges/kansas_state_university/13297475.htm

Leavitt staying at South Florida so he can finish what he started

By WRIGHT THOMPSON

The Kansas City Star

TAMPA, Fla.  Pierce and Lois Leavitt sat side by side, like they’ve been doing for more than half a century, telling stories about their baby. To the people in Tampa, he’s Jim Leavitt, 48, local celebrity. To them, he’s Jimmy, the youngest of four.

They know their children  a school teacher, a pastor, a missionary and a football coach  and if the Leavitt kids share any trait, it’s that they won’t ever leave a project before it’s finished. They’re true believers, as sincere as the worn book of Lutheran hymns on the family piano.

“I don’t know if any of them have dropped anything in the middle,†Lois said on Wednesday afternoon in their St. Petersburg home.

Pierce nodded. He grew up on a South Dakota farm, sleeping under his dog for warmth when the blizzards came, the times too tough to turn on the heater. His family heard all his stories of growing up Depression poor, of flying P-51s over the Pacific. They learned to persevere from their old man.

“I think all of them finish what they start,†he agreed.

Across town a few hours later, on the University of South Florida practice fields he quite literally built from the ground up, Jim Leavitt proved his parents right. Despite interest from Kansas State, he was staying in Tampa, getting a seven-year contract extension worth about $1 million annually. The Wildcats would have to keep looking; the former K-State defensive coordinator had declined to follow his mentor.

“Coach Bill Snyder is one of the greatest coaches who ever coached the game, and he means everything to me,†said Leavitt, who played his college ball at Missouri and began his coaching career there as well. “Everybody knows that’s a great job; my goodness.â€Â

After being linked with many high-profile openings in the last few years, Leavitt finally had his big payday, and he’d gotten it at a place he loved, a place he created.

“Everybody knows I grew up here,†he said. “It means a whole lot. This community has been the best. This is a great place to be, and I feel this is one of the best jobs out there.â€Â

While K-State fans figured any disciple of Snyder would race back to Manhattan to take the reins, the people who knew Leavitt seemed fairly certain all along that he wouldn’t leave.

“It’s his baby,†said ex-player Shawn Hay, one of his first recruits. “He created it. I don’t see him giving up what he’s built. Not this early, anyway.â€Â

And it would be hard for him to move far away from his 80-year-old mother and 83-year-old father, both of whom love it when he drops by for some of Mom’s roast beef, or just to knock back a bit more caffeine.

“When he comes here for lunch,†Pierce said, laughing, “we always have a cold Pepsi waiting on him.â€Â

The USF football program was born, fittingly enough, 10 years ago in his parents’ living room.

The place on 57th Street was the first house the Leavitts ever owned, and the only real home Jim ever had. He was in fourth grade when they settled there, after his dad retired from the service.

More than 30 years later, there in the living room, Leavitt and assistant coach Rick Kravitz sat down and drew up the blueprints for a dream. Soon after, they traded his parents’ home for a trailer  not an auspicious beginning. Certainly not a selling point for his first group of recruits.

“It was one trailer,†Hay said. “There were no USF emblems on the wall. Nothing. Just a trailer and, ‘Hey, we’re gonna have a football program, do you wanna be part of it?’ â€Â

Leavitt did everything. He sat up all night watching concrete dry, making sure the fence around his practice field was perfectly straight. He ordered the uniforms, asking his parents whether they had any thoughts on the matter.

Almost two years later, South Florida played its first game. From the very beginning, the team was told of the Manhattan Miracle. That would be its guide.

“ ‘This is how we did it at K-State,’ †Hay remembers hearing. “ ‘When I got to K-State, we were nothing and we turned it around, and this is what we did.’ He just modeled things the way they turned it around there. It had a lot to do with Snyder.â€Â

Leavitt’s attention to detail eventually resulted in success. First, they moved from I-AA to I-A. Then to Conference USA. Then to the Big East. This year, they came within a hair of a BCS bid. They have actual offices now, and top-notch facilities. All thanks to Leavitt’s vision. On Wednesday, he got paid a king’s ransom for that vision, and he seemed embarrassed by the number of zeroes.

“I came here for $75,000,†he said, “and was happy to get it. It’s not all about money with me.â€Â

He comes from a family of successful people, all of whom have dedicated their lives to building. His sister Diana builds young minds. His brother Rusty, the pastor, builds up souls. His oldest brother, Randy, who flew planes in Vietnam, now builds churches in storefronts in poor communities in Texas, moving on only after roots have taken hold.

This isn’t a family of glory hounds, and when Jim’s actions are viewed alongside those of his siblings, his motives become clearer. And any doubt where his heart lies can quickly be put to rest with one walk through his parents’ house. All around the place are pictures of his brothers and sister, with all of their children smiling around them, 12 grandkids in all.

Then there’s Jim.

He’s divorced, with no kids of his own. In his photo on the table by the door, he’s alone, decked out in USF Bulls gear, with a grin stretching from here to here. It’s a portrait of a man in love, and, looking at the joy written all over his face, everything makes sense. The football program is his wife and his children. It’s his family.

“That’s his thing,†his mother said, quietly. “That’s all he cares about.â€Â

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To reach Wright Thompson, sports reporter for The Star, call (816) 234-4856 or send e-mail to wthompson@kcstar.com

[BullGrad95]

Wow!  CJL is everything that we though he was.  He truly is not all about the money.  Great read.

[mutt]

I think he deserves more respect than he gets...  (not to mention any names or anything)

[LW]

Wright Thompson is one of the great young writers out there right now and this story proves it. Very nice.

[Bull Matrix]

It just points out once again on how lucky USF is because we have Leavitt. I am sorry, but some fans need to stop bashing Leavitt at times. Leavitt will take chances on trick plays. That is how he has always been, so I dont understand why some of you are surprised about that.

[MechanicalBull]

Great Article!  I'm now a bigger fan of Leavitt