Figured it was time for a Praise Leavitt thread!

[nobullaboutit]

I agree with you E.T.  Leavitt is a gift.  Yeah sometimes he does not have the finess that some of the other coaches have and does not like being in the limelight as much but he gets the job done.  When we met the buses at the Athletic Ctr. upon the team's arrival back from WVU Leavitt stood there with the rest of the team and signed autographs and kept thanking all the fans for coming out.  He was just so appreciative and humble.

I like the way he sticks by his word and the kids know that and respect that and that is what will carry on and the recruiting will increase because of his team's word of mouth that this guy backs up what he says.  His vision will come to pass and I believe as most that he is another Bobby B. or Papa Joe Paterno!!!  Kids will want to play for him cause they know they get the real deal when they commit.

I love watching him run up and down that field and see the intensity in him when he is coaching.  He loves that team and he loves USF!    Here's to the future BCS title with Jim Leavitt!

[Mama_Bull]

You can't say enough about how great JL is........as a coach and a person.  To start up a program from scratch and take it to where it is today is simply remarkable.  I really hope that Jim will be coaching at USF for many years to come.

I sincerely hope that he will in fact coach until he retires and then sit in the stands watching the team on Saturdays.

Jim Leavitt, you are one of a kind........in the very best way.

[Bullpride08]

n 2005, Willingham's first season at Washington, marked improvements over the team's performance in 2004 were made in nearly every facet of the game. The 2005 Huskies improved their per-game scoring average by more than seven points over 2004. They improved both their rushing offense and defense in terms of yards per game. The team's passing efficiency improved from 78.73 to 123.30. Turnovers dropped from 42 in 2004 to only 20 in 2005 while total offense and third-down efficiency were up and penalties were down. In the meantime, the Huskies' academic performance during the fall quarter was the among the best in years. In all, 11 Huskies received some level of academic All-Pac-10 honors from the conference.  

In his inaugural season with the Irish in 2002, he wasted no time reversing the tide of the Irish program, leading Notre Dame to a 10-2 regular-season record and a trip to the 2003 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

In the process, Willingham became the only first-year coach in Notre Dame history to win 10 games in his initial campaign.

That doesn't look like  failing miserably to me, but then I'm not an expert in the field.

You've got to be kidding me, Washington was 3-9 in Willingham's first year, and 5-7 this year with an easier OOC schedule.  Willingham's 10-2 season in 2003 was the product of fortunate scheduling, a senior heavy team recruited by Bob Davie and a ton of luck like when they beat FSU because FSU turned the ball over 6 times.  Tyrone's next two years at ND were more reflective of his ability he finished 5-7, and 6-6.

[Sitting_BULL]

Great points E. T.  It's a hell of a lot more difficult to build from scratch and to sell nothing more than a vision than it is to select from among the nation's best.  Jim is recruiting with nothing more than a vision, [highlight]the same way Schiano did 5 and 6 years ago.[/highlight]  Carrol, Weiss and Meyer can let their teams tradition and history do the recruiting for them.  ( it's not meant to take anything away from [highlight]Meyer though, he has proven he could do it at Utah)[/highlight].

Even still, Shiano & Meyer at least had something to work with.

Leavitt was out in 1996 shining his car headlights so he could dig holes for the  fence posts around what would become our practce field.

Now THAT'S TOUGH!!!!!!!