Leavitt Expected to be...

[Guest BasketBull.]

...First USF Coach

SUSAN CLARY, JOHN COTEY. St. Petersburg Times.Dec 12, 1995

Kansas State University co-defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt is expected to be announced as the first head football coach at the University of South Florida today.

Leavitt's mother, Lois Leavitt, said that her son and his wife were on their way to Tampa Monday night to meet with USF officials and planned to stay in a local hotel. Leavitt grew up in St. Petersburg and is a Dixie Hollins High School graduate.

"He's been very close-mouthed about this," Mrs. Leavitt said. "But I do know he and Denise were flying in tonight and meeting with USF people."

USF sports information director John Gerdes, who was in Orlando Monday night for a USF basketball game, would not confirm that a news conference was scheduled for today or that Leavitt was on his way to Tampa. But other candidates for the job said Monday evening that they had been told that USF had hired a coach and all signs pointed to Leavitt as the choice.

Officials at Kansas State, where Leavitt, 39, has been an assistant coach for the past six years, said they could not talk about his possible resignation.

"Officially, we can't say anything until tomorrow morning," said Ven Boyle, sports information director at Kansas State. "There will be an official statement from the coaches tomorrow."

Two of the other four candidates reached Monday night said they were told by USF officials they had not been chosen for the head coaching job. A third accepted another head coaching job.

Joe Kinnan, head coach at Bradenton Manatee High School, said he was called by USF Athletic Director Paul Griffin late Monday and told he didn't get the job.

"Yes, it's disappointing," Kinnan said. "Certainly I have no ill feelings. I wish him (Leavitt) well."

Joe Kinnan retired as coach, athletic director and physical education teacher at Bradenton Manatee High School in December 2000.

Jack Burns, former NFL coach for Minnesota and Washington, who was considered one of the front runners for the USF job said he was also contacted Monday by Lee Roy Selmon, USF's assistant athletic director.

January 2003 -- Falcons quarterbacks coach Jack Burns was fired Friday after a season in which he helped Michael Vick earn a trip to the Pro Bowl.

Burns was on the Atlanta staff since Dan Reeves was hired as coach six years ago. Burns worked with quarterbacks in 1997-98 and 2001-02. He coached receivers in 2000 and was in charge of the passing game and play-calling in 1999.

"Lee Roy Selmon has called me and told me they have made a decision to proceed forward with another candidate and thanked me for my interest," Burns said.

Dan Allen, head coach at Boston University and another finalist, accepted the head coaching position at Holy Cross on Monday.

11/25/2003 Holy Cross fired football coach Dan Allen after a 1-11 season, breaking the school record for losses. Allen, who had a year left on his contract, went 26-63 in eight seasons at Holy Cross. This year's team also set records for consecutive losses (10) and points allowed (478).

May 17, 2004 Former Holy Cross football coach Dan Allen passes away at the age of 48 after battling complications of multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome for most of the past two years.

Tony Samuel, linebackers coach at Nebraska, was recruiting in Kansas City and unavailable for comment. His wife, Diane, said he hadn't heard from USF officials late Monday.

Tony Samuel, New Mexico State University, begins the 2004 season with a career record of 29-51 (.362) in seven seasons at New Mexico State … Led the Aggies to a 7-5 record in 2002 … Guided NMSU to a 6-5 record and a third place finish in the Big West Conference in 1999.

Though USF athletic officials would not say they planned to name a head coach, several coaches said they had heard the announcement would be made today.

"I can tell you that they are naming a football coach on Tuesday, but that's all I can say," Ken Eriksen, assistant softball coach. "Everyone is as enthusiastic as we can be."

Eddie Cardieri, head baseball coach, and Perri Hankins, head volleyball coach, said they had also heard that an announcement would be made today.

Leavitt, a two-sport star at Dixie in the 1970s played American Legion baseball with Cardieri. He went on to star at Missouri, where he was an All-Big Eight selection in baseball and football.

Leavitt has been co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State since 1990. During that time, the school has had its most successful years, and finished this past season with the nation's top-ranked defense. The Wildcats were 9-2 this season, and will meet Colorado State on Dec. 29 in the Holiday Bowl.

In 1993, Leavitt's defense helped propel Kansas State to the first bowl win in school history. The team finished in the top 20 for the first time, and its record was the best since 1910.

Leavitt has gained a reputation for helping to build up downtrodden programs. He was defensive coordinator at Morningside College from 1982-88, and served in the same position at the University of Dubuque. Both programs had unparalleled successes while Leavitt was there.

"I've been with nothing but turn-around programs," Leavitt said at his campus interview two weeks ago.

And he has done most of it by recruiting Florida players, particularly those in the Tampa Bay area. His squads at Morningside had at least a dozen bay area players each year, and this year's defense at Kansas State was led by All-American Tim Colston of King High School. - Jeremy Crabtree of the Kansas City Star and Times correspondent Tim Hipps contributed to this story.

After the first seven seasons of USF Football, Leavitt has proven only further that he was indeed the right man for the right job at the right time. Charged with fast tracking a program from non-existence to Division I-A football in just five years time, Leavitt has led the program to an impressive 51-26 record. A mega-success in the first four years at the I-AA level (24 straight weeks in national polls), Leavitt and crew moved to I-A in 2001 and went 8-3, including a 35-26 win at Pittsburgh.

In 2002, his team finished 9-2 and seriously contended for a Bowl Game, even as an Independent. The Bulls are also received votes in both major polls and ranked 18th in the final New York Times Computer Poll, one of several polls utilized by the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). In fact, USF ranked among the top 30 in each of the computer polls utilized by the BCS, and the program also heads into the 2003 season with an active 19-game home win streak, the second-longest in the nation.

Leavitt’s success has extended beyond league play as he reached his 50th career win faster than all but six active I-A coaches. Leavitt picked up his 50th victory in his 75th game, placing him behind Bob Pruett (Marshall), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Philip Fulmer (Tennessee), John Robinson (UNLV), Joe Paterno (Penn State) and Lloyd Carr (Michigan).

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As far as I'm concerned, I hope Coach Leavitt stays at USF until he retires!

  ---BasketBull.

[smazza]

not if he doesn't improve talent level and coaching

he is no different than any other coach

he must win

[Apis Bull]

You know, smazza, you're a broken record.  Talent is improving.  We've gone from nothing to where we are in only 7 years.  Nobody knew much about us.  It's not like we were a powerhouse in basketball and then decided to start football.  We had and still have very little national reccognition added to the fact that up until this year our staff was working out of trailers.  It's difficult to recruit under those circumstances.  I think we've gotten outstanding talent (except QB), based on what we had to work with

[TyBull]

I hope that CJL is the USF version of Bobby Bowden......

[bulls87]

If JL and USF live up to there potential, how long can you keep JL here?  Remember we almost lost him to Bama, if all goes well and he shows that he can rebuild a team, recruit good talent and teach that talent he will become even more attractive to a BIG TIME PROGRAM.  Even with the new teams in the BE, the BE is still only a little better than the rest of the Mid-Major conferences.  The B12, B10/11, Pac10, and ACC are still light years ahead of what is left in the BE.  The BE will keep it's BCS spot because of location only at this point, the BCS/TV Networks still need the NE market for TV revenue.