The goods...report findings.

[BobbyBull]

Basics are:

Kid missed a block and got a penalty on special teams.  Leavitt was pissed about the team's performance at half.  Grabbed Miller by the throat and slapped him across the face twice.  Players in the locker room "gasped" like "holly ****, he slapped him" -- Miller was embarassed.  Ask some other team members "did you see that" crap?  Players were like "that was messed up."  Miller stormed to his car after the game and told his parents and former coach about it.  They weren't happy.  Miller then went and talked to leavitt about it.  Leavitt acted like a jerk saying "watch your words" and "im the most powerful man in the building"

USF reads the article from Fan House and then launches an investigation.  Interviews all the coaches.  Coaches said that he slapped the kid.  12 players say he slapped the kid.  Leavitt denies.  Then where leavitt really screwed up was that he saw miller in the athletic building one night and told him pretty much not to talk to the investigators.  Investigators found out about this.  Leavitt denied again.  Then Leavitt trashed Colby's locker - and the investigators found out (second cause of tampering with the investigation) then USF fired him.

REVIEWERS FINDINGS

1. On November 21, 2009, the USF Bulls played the University of Louisville Cardinals.

USF built up an early lead but Louisville responded by a scoring run that gave it the lead until a

few seconds before halftime when USF scored a field goal to regain the edge.

2. Leavitt’s demeanor at halftime on November 21st was described as animated and unhappy

with the team’s performance and, in particular, with the play of the special teams unit. He paced

the locker room talking directly to several Student Athletes. Leavitt’s “passion†and energy that

particular day was further exhibited in the helmetless head-butt that was exchanged between

Coach Leavitt and another Student Athlete (who was wearing a helmet) which resulted in a

bleeding wound across the bridge of Coach’s nose.

3. At or near the beginning of the halftime, Coach Leavitt paced the floor of the locker

room, attempting to motivate his players.

4. Coach Leavitt reported that he did not know at the time (halftime) that Student Athlete A

had performed poorly in the first half. Upon review, it appears more plausible that Coach Leavitt

did, indeed, know that Student Athlete A had performed poorly in the first half as evident in the

witnesses reports of his words to Student Athlete A (“Fight your ***â€, and “Did you get your

block?â€). Student Athlete A had in fact received an illegal block penalty and had been on the

field when the opposing team returned a punt for a touchdown in the first half.

5. In the course of Coach Leavitt’s travels about the locker room, he approached Student

Athlete A, who was seated in his locker. Leavitt yelled at Student Athlete A. Leavitt then

placed his hand on the player’s throat and slapped him twice in the cheek. These actions were

personally observed by several Student Athletes who had the clearest line of sight to the event.

Despite Coach Leavitt and Student Athlete A’s denial that any inappropriate contact had taken

place, the reviewers find it more likely that contact did, in fact, occur to the face and throat/neck

area of Student Athlete A. This report was substantiated by multiple reports from credible direct

eye witnesses whose recollection was corroborated.

6. The reviewers found that there was a discrepancy between the description of the physical

positioning of Coach Leavitt in relation to Student Athlete A during their interaction at halftime.

No one except Leavitt remembers him being on his knees in front of Student Athlete A when he

spoke to Student Athlete A at halftime. Neither did anyone, except Leavitt, remember the Coach

asking Student Athlete A “in a concerned and encouraging fashion†from a crouched position at

“eye level†what was wrong. All accounts described Leavitt as standing on his feet directly in

front of the Student Athlete and speaking in a direct, aggressive, and disturbed fashion.

Someone in the locker room gasped, causing several other players to turn to see what had

happened. The incident was discussed by at least most of the players, either immediately

following the Louisville game or the weeks thereafter (prior to the release of the FanHouse

article).

7. Immediately after the game, Student Athlete A spoke of the incident to several players,

including some who witnessed the event, asking them if they had seen what happened. Those to

whom he spoke who had seen the event confirmed that fact. Others who had not seen it asked

what had happened and were told by Student Athlete A that Coach Leavitt had grabbed him by

the throat and slapped him or that he did not want to talk about it. Other players to whom

Student Athlete A spoke that day confirmed that Student Athlete was upset by the event. Student

Athlete A left the game site with his family. A family member of Student Athlete A described

the Student Athlete as being noticeably upset after the game, and uncharacteristically “running to

the car†after the game.

8. Student Athlete A spoke to several teammates in the days following the Louisville game.

He also said he planned on going to speak to Coach Leavitt about what had happened. Student

Athlete A did in fact go to Coach Leavitt’s office and said he wanted to speak to him. Leavitt

responded that he could speak, but he should “choose his words wisely,†because he, Leavitt,

was “the most powerful man in the building.†Student Athlete A described this meeting and

Leavitt’s words to several of his fellow teammates.

9. Leavitt denied grabbing or slapping Student Athlete A. He describes his actions as

“shaking†Student Athlete A by his shoulder pads and asking him what was wrong because he

“appeared to be down.†After careful review of all the witness accounts, it appears more

plausible that an inappropriate physical encounter did in fact occur, contrary to Leavitt’s

portrayal of the incident, to the neck and face of the Student Athlete.

10. Leavitt confirms that Student A came to his office to speak of his poor play and to

discuss “what happened.†Leavitt explains the last statement by saying that he rarely shakes

players and so his action with Student A was noteworthy. Leavitt told the reviewers that he had

apologized for grabbing his shoulder pads because he normally doesn’t grab people. The

reviewers find this to be in direct conflict with a statement that Leavitt made to the press in

which he was quoted as saying, “I shook a lot of different guys, but not in a forceful wayâ€.

When asked directly how many players he had “shaken†or had direct conflict with during that

particular halftime, Leavitt cited two Student Athletes, one of which was Student Athlete A.

Again, the reviewers find this inconsistent with his report to the media cited above as two does

not constitute “a lotâ€. Furthermore, the reviewers found an inconsistency in a statement that

Student Athlete A gave to ESPN saying: “People can say different things but [Leavitt] only

grabbed my shoulder pads to motivate me, because he’s a passionate guy. He never apologized

because he had nothing to apologize for.â€16 Again, Leavitt indicated to the reviewers that he

had, in fact, apologized to Student Athlete A for “shaking his shoulder padsâ€. He denies saying

that Student Athlete A should choose his words wisely or that he, Leavitt, was the most powerful

man in the building.

11. Leavitt was told that he should not discuss the review with any Student Athlete or anyone

else who may be interviewed in the course of the investigation. Nevertheless, he admits having

spoken to Student Athlete A immediately after Student Athlete A’s first interview by the

reviewers. Student A describes the meeting as having occurred by chance when Student Athlete

A visited the Athletic Building that night (somewhere in the vicinity of 8:30 p.m.) in order to

retrieve something from his locker on the first floor. After he accomplished that, he told the

reviewers that he went up to the second floor of the building to see his position coach.

According to Student Athlete A, while he was conversing with the assistant coaches, Leavitt

came out of his office and asked how he was doing “with all of this.†Leavitt describes the

meeting as having occurred because Student Athlete A appeared at Leavitt’s office door while

Leavitt was reviewing game film for the upcoming bowl game. According to Leavitt, Student

Athlete A noticed that the film being viewed was of special teams and asked Leavitt if he could

watch. Leavitt says there was no discussion of the review or the November 21st incident.

Furthermore, it was reported to the reviewers on January 4, 2010 that one of the witnesses raised

a concern that he had been retaliated against by Coach Leavitt for participating in the

investigation process. A Student Athlete discovered on the morning of January 4, 2010 that the

Equipment Manager had been instructed by Coach Leavitt to clean out the Student Athlete’s

locker immediately upon return to Tampa from the Bowl Game (Toronto, Canada). Upon(then they talk about Colby's locker pstuff being reinstated)

[NCBull]

Basics are:

Kid missed a block and got a penalty on special teams.  Leavitt was pissed about performance at half.  Grabbed the kid by the throat and slapped him twice.  Folks in teh locker room "gasped" like "holly ****, he slapped him" -- Miller was embarassed.  Ask some other team members "did you see that" crap.  Players were like "that was messed up."  Miller went andn talked to leavitt about it.  Leavitt acted like a jerk saying "watch your words" and "im the most powerful man in the building"

USF reads the article from Fan House.  Launches an investigation.  Interviews all the coaches.  Coaches said that he slapped the kid.  12 players say he slapped the kid.  Leavitt denies.  Then where leavitt really screwed up was that he saw miller in the athletic building one night and told him pretty much not to talk to the investigators.  Investigators found out about this.  Leavitt denied again.  Then Leavitt trashed Colby's locker - then they fired his ***.

...what?!  Did you even read the report?  Where did "coaches say that he slapped the kid"?  And I count 2 players that say he slapped Miller, not 12.  Also don't see where Leavitt told Miller to stay quiet.

You're adding to the speculation.  There was nothing of substance in this report except the 2 players who were the only ones to eyewitness the incident.  THAT'S where further investigation should have been aimed...why did they say that?  true or not?....we still don't know.

[BobbyBull]

Basics are:

Kid missed a block and got a penalty on special teams.  Leavitt was pissed about performance at half.  Grabbed the kid by the throat and slapped him twice.  Folks in teh locker room "gasped" like "holly ****, he slapped him" -- Miller was embarassed.  Ask some other team members "did you see that" crap.  Players were like "that was messed up."  Miller went andn talked to leavitt about it.  Leavitt acted like a jerk saying "watch your words" and "im the most powerful man in the building"

USF reads the article from Fan House.  Launches an investigation.  Interviews all the coaches.  Coaches said that he slapped the kid.  12 players say he slapped the kid.  Leavitt denies.  Then where leavitt really screwed up was that he saw miller in the athletic building one night and told him pretty much not to talk to the investigators.  Investigators found out about this.  Leavitt denied again.  Then Leavitt trashed Colby's locker - then they fired his ***.

...what?!  Did you even read the report?  Where did "coaches say that he slapped the kid"?  And I count 2 players that say he slapped Miller, not 12.  Also don't see where Leavitt told Miller to stay quiet.

You're adding to the speculation.  There was nothing of substance in this report except the 2 players who were the only ones to eyewitness the incident.  THAT'S where further investigation should have been aimed...why did they say that?  true or not?....we still don't know.

At the bottom.  The last page they list the witnesses verifying the story.

[BobbyBull]

And that's not true.  They black out all the student witnesses.  They list pretty much all the coaches. The real damning stuff is when he interfered in the investigation by 1.) telling miller not to talk and 2.) trashing colby's locker who was clearly one of the people talking to the investigators.

I bet that is where they hang their hat on the firing "with cause." 

And if you read the opening letter they fired him "with cause."

[Who'sYourData?]

My summary:

Player A has an encounter with Coach Leavitt.  Leavitt's account of the incident is that he was gentle and encouraging and trying to pump players up, not berate them. Leavitt claimes that he went to his knees to talk to Player A, and tugged on Player A's knees and told him he would play better in the second half.  No one else in the room remembers Leavitt being on his knees with any player.  They all recount him be very angry rather than motivational.  A few players mention they turned away because they didn't want to see what Leavitt would do "when he gets that way."  

Leavitt claims he apologized to Player A, Player A does not acknowledge an apology.  There were at least two meetings between Player A and Leavitt after the incident, and their versions of those meetings are different.

At least two players say they saw Leavitt "slap" or "tap" Player A to get him to "snap out of it".  A couple of others say that he just lifted him by his shoulder pads.  Leavitt says he may have grabbed his jersey, but that's about it.

Long a short of it is that the investigators felt that the stories were inconsistent in ways to conclude that something out of the ordinary happened.  The investigators believe that Leavitt slapped Player A and likely grabbed him around the neck.  I'm left with the impression that the investigators were very concerned that Leavitt obviously was making his story sound better than what really happened.  If Leavitt had been more honest in his own self-evaluation, I suspect he may have saved his job.

I think the case is pretty solid, whether or not Leavitt actually slapped or choked.  Leavitt may get a few bucks to avoid a lawsuit, but I don't think he'd have much of a case.

Time to look at who might be our next head coach.

[BullsFan2819]

In the letter to Leavitt, they got him on two USF policies in addition to the alleged slap/choke/whatever (USF Reg 10.212  Discipline, Misconduct, and Incompetence  and USF Policy 0-020 Retaliation, Retribution, or Reprisals Prohibited).  Basically, in the letter they said he's unreliable, Miller's unreliable, and they went on the eyewitness accounts. Also, because he had contact with a material witness (Regulation 10.212 violation), and treated a Student Athlete adversely during the review process (Policy 0-020 violation).

[BobbyBull]

In the letter to Leavitt, they got him on two USF policies in addition to the alleged slap/choke/whatever (USF Reg 10.212  Discipline, Misconduct, and Incompetence  and USF Policy 0-020 Retaliation, Retribution, or Reprisals Prohibited).  Basically, in the letter they said he's unreliable, Miller's unreliable, and they went on the eyewitness accounts. Also, because he had contact with a material witness (Regulation 10.212 violation), and treated a Student Athlete adversely during the review process (Policy 0-020 violation).

Pretty much right on the money right here.

[bulls96go]

the coverup always gets you in deep!