Oracle: Mum can't be Leavitt's only word

[Minotaur]

Mum can't be Leavitt's only word

Distractions, suspensions should have the football team's only source of info answering questions about his program's integrity.

Charles Gonzalez, Staff Writer

Issue date: 8/31/06 Section: Sports

It took coach Jim Leavitt 10 years to get the Bulls football program on track in joining the Big Three - Miami, Florida State and Florida - in terms of success. It might be just one off-season that brings all the hard work crumbling to his feet.

With the momentum of reaching the school's first bowl game and a successful first year in the Big East, the expectations for the program are steadily increasing. In a Tampa Tribune article that published Aug. 3, Leavitt even said the Bulls are in the room with FSU and Florida for a shot at a national championship.

After a nightmare of an off-season filled with off-field player issues and recruits failing to qualify, Leavitt and his Bulls could be pushed out the door of the championship room of which he was speaking.

From quarterback Carlton Hill's roller-coaster spring in the classroom and his arrest in a dorm room to three players - Jackie Chambers, Josh Julmiste and Ricky Ponton - failing a second drug test, Leavitt couldn't have imagined a worst-case scenario for his team.

But when does Leavitt make a statement to his players or become accountable for these actions? Why hasn't Leavitt, who is known as a disciplinarian, used an iron fist with these troublesome players?

There have to be consequences for their actions, and Leavitt needs to do what's best for his team, even if that means getting rid of talented players.

Leavitt has yet to acknowledge questions he has answers for, including who will be the starting quarterback, why these players are still getting in trouble and why a third of his recruiting class isn't on the field or in class.

Leavitt's praised his recruiting class during spring drills and was excited about the incoming freshmen. How does Leavitt feel now that his recruiting class has diminished in just three months?

No one knows, because Leavitt isn't talking about it.

Ponton, Julmiste and Chambers will miss at least the first two games of the regular season, possibly six games. All three players are appealing the punishment of having to miss six games.

But unlike Ponton, this isn't the first time Chambers and Julmiste have been in trouble.

Chambers was seen in a picture on a Facebook page with Hill and former USF player Johnny Peyton as Peyton held up what looked like a bag of marijuana. So is it a coincidence Chambers is now failing his second drug test while playing at USF?

I don't think so.

Julmiste got into trouble in 2004 and had to withdraw from USF after he and two teammates were accused of removing $4,000 worth of property from a former player's dorm room. Now Julmiste comes up failing a second drug test.

Notice a pattern here?

Leavitt, however, has done little or nothing to show Chambers, Julmiste or other players on the team that this behavior will not be tolerated. Instead, he tries to keep these acts quiet or tries to cover them up to keep anyone from knowing how these players conduct themselves off the field.

In a Tampa Tribune article that was published Sunday, Leavitt said even if players did violate team rules, he wouldn't tell the media. He also said a violation of team rules is between him and the team.

That's a lame excuse for not being able to keep his players in line.

Even if Leavitt had a three-strikes-and-you're-out type of policy in place, Julmiste should be on his way out and Chambers should be hanging on by a thin thread. Julmiste and Chambers, however, will probably serve just a two-game suspension and be on the field just in time for Big East play.

So what price is Leavitt willing to pay for success?

It has to be a big price, since according to Leavitt, Ponton and Julmiste weren't even going to be starters this season. So if he can't make a statement with a six-game suspension or cutting loose backup players, what will he do if Amarri Jackson or Stephen Nicholas fail a drug test or get in trouble with the law?

Leavitt has done wonders for this program and has built it from the ground up with quality players such as Andre Hall and Marquel Blackwell. It may be players like Julmiste and Chambers who hinder this team from continuing its progress in the national championship picture.

This is already becoming an interesting season for the football program, and it hasn't played its first game of the season yet.

The clock is ticking for the Bulls, and the fuse connected to this time bomb is slowly burning and could explode at any moment.

http://media.www.usforacle.com/media/storage/paper880/news/2006/08/31/Sports/Mum-Cant.Be.Leavitts.Only.Word-2253475.shtml?sourcedomain=www.usforacle.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com

:o :o :o

Prepare for 6 more weeks of media blackout!!

Good story.

[usfgrad84]

If Leavitt keeps things betwen him and his players, how do we know he is not doing anything about the situation?

Isn't a suspension of 2 maybe 6 games a punishment?  For a guy like Ponton to be demoted to not even on the 2 deep is punishment.  What about a guy like Chambers?  2 year starter, leading returning receiver not even discussed as a backup (not talking about the first game).  These are from practice reports before all this became public.  Sounds like punishment to me.

Just because he doesn't talk about it with the media doesn't mean he isn't addressing it.  What remedy does the author believe to be appropriate?  Immediate dismissal from the team after the second failed drug test?  If that's what he believes then fine.  The only problem is, the athletic department has a different policy in place.  Lobby to have the policy changed then, but that's a different argument.

I don't see a lot of actual research going into this article.  Didn't Leavitt make a public statement about over recruiting (signed 28 kids to fill 23 spots) and only lost 1 he didn't expect to?

This is just a rehash of the major newspaper's articles.  Personally I thought it was stupid article.

[Joe]

This article is all accusations...stupid.

I will say this. This is why schools make suspensions and violations known, because people start digging and questioning. If Leavitt had given numbered suspensions for "violating team rules" it wouldn't be as big of a deal as it was when he just dropped them off the 2 deep and rumors were abound that they were in the doghouse.

If this happened at any other program the media would be asking how the players are being addressed too. So please quit acting like this is a situation where the media is ganging up on USF and it doesn't happen elsewhere.

Look at Miami/Ryan Moore the last few days.

You come out and say it rigth away to take away these stupid accusations.

[MikeG]

circle the wagons

[BullDoug]

Kinda agree with Joe and Mike's right.  Jim is circling the wagons.  I bet CJL is royaly pissed at these players.

[Triple B]

  :o :o :o

Prepare for 6 more weeks of media blackout!!

Good story.

It's only the Oracle ..... Does that really count as "media"?

[Brad]

This is just a rehash of the major newspaper's articles.  Personally I thought it was stupid article.

And while I believe Leavitt could have handled this much better, I agree with usfgrad84's statement.  

[hightechbull]

This is just a rehash of the major newspaper's articles.  Personally I thought it was stupid article.

Why do people bash the Oracle whenever it prints a not so flattering article about one of the sports teams or coaches?  Did you ever work for the Oracle or at least write a few guest columns?  The students on the Oracle have one of the toughest unpaid jobs on campus.  Try producing a paper on a 5 day a week basis with no pay while still taking a full time course load.

Be as that may, speaking from experience as a former college student, I never read the local newsprints because I could not afford them.  Textbooks, food, and even beer was higher on the list than paying for the local news print.  The Oracle filled in the gaps of local news for a starving college student while focusing on campus news that the local papers ignored.  Granted, today's students can jump on the Web and read a paper online, which was not available when I was at USF.  BTW, I still do not pay for the local paper, and now I read them as well as other papers online.

The typical journalist student writes for the Oracle because they aspire to become professional writers for a paper or some other media outlet.  They need to build up a portfolio of work to break into those fields.  The cliché "practice makes perfect" rings true, and many of these students become better over time.

Can you imagine the same type of criticism put upon other majors?

CS or ISM major:  "That double linked list algorithm you wrote for last weeks assignment was such a rehash of the algorithm in P.J. Plauger's classic algorithms text..."

Music major: "That section in your recital reminds me so much of Kenny G....."

Economics major: "Your analysis of that topic reminds me of John Maynard Keynes theories.  Are you copying his works?..."

I could ramble on, but the point is that college students are derivative of those who they aspire to become.  They will eventually find their own voice when they gain the knowledge and experience.

[Brad]

Why do people bash the Oracle whenever it prints a not so flattering article about one of the sports teams or coaches?  Did you ever work for the Oracle or at least write a few guest columns?  

Did anyone at the Oracle ever coach DI-A BCS football?

That does not seem to stop them...  

Now I'll finish reading the rest of your comment...  

[bulls96go]

we better win or the media like vulture will eat you alive with the negative press