Would a Leavitt team have done better last night?

[BasketBull2012]

It's hard to do one of these scenarios, but let's say if it were the exact conditions, etc.

I think USF would have won last night. FSU was pretty average emotionally.

A Leavitt team would have been really jacked up.

Both teams would have been undefeated going into this game.

The atmosphere would have been 100% more tense.

But...

If Leavitt had the team all fired up, FSU would have come out ready to kick some tail. FSU would put a hurting on that defense.

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

Bulls, we have the wrong head coach in there. He and his staff have made this one of our weakest USF teams.

Look, BJ as a freshman walked into a packed FSU stadium and won under Leavitt...

I'll be very impressed if this teams makes it to a bowl this year.

[BleacherBull]

Can't speculate on the final score, but I think if CJL had been in charge, we would have taken more chances on defense and had more PF penalties, including one on the coach himself, for arguing too much with the officials. The offense would not have been much different, except BJ would have never thrown the ball away on our last possession and we would have attempted a 50-60 yard FG. The post-game presser would have been much shorter. At the end of the season we would end up 8-5. with a minor bowl bid and no BE championship. GB!

[usfgrad84]

I don't know if we would have won last night, but I think the entire makeup of the team would have been much better.

The biggest reason is that BJ would have been running the offense he was supposed to be running. One of the biggest reasons teams run the spread/read option is because it isn't easy to recruit quality OL. Its easier to get athletic OL to zone block and run an offense where the best athlete on the field is in the best position to do his thing.

I think with Leavitt here we are least 3-1 coming in to last night, playing more confidently and the atmosphere last night would have been crazy.

[flsportsfan83]

Leavitt is the best coach in history, if he were still here we.would have won the last 3 National Titles.

[thebouncer1898]

Leavitt is the best coach in history, if he were still here we.would have won the last 3 National Titles.

And at least 2 Super Bowls!

[FatDaddyBull]

We'd have taken more chances I think. Not sure we'd have won, but would've shown more creativity trying to go all out.

[slick1ru2]

Doubt it. And he would have lost to Rutgers too. Then again, you all were ready to chuck Leavitt before he got fired because he had hit a plateau so he wouldn't have been coaching the team anyway.

[Cow Pie]

Leavitt is the best coach in history, if he were still here we.would have won the last 3 National Titles.

And at least 2 Super Bowls!

And a Stanley Cup or two...

But seriously in big games it is apparent that HCJL is at least better then HCSH...

[TrujilloBull2013]

listen, when Leavitt was coaching the team FBS was different. we were a new, fast team with an unconventional style. we won a lot of games sneaking up on people. even when we won big games we still snuck up on them. i don't know how jacked up Florida State looked, they didn't really need to be jacked up. they controlled the game from pretty much the beginning to end with only a few brief minutes of silence when USF made it close in the 3rd. this FSU team is good (but beatable) but they weren't going to go down 0-2 to us and blow their BCS NCG hopes at what was pretty much a neutral site with 65/35 fan split in their fan.

OVERALL i think Leavitt would have won us maybe a COUPLE more games the past 2 1/2 years than Skip. he absolutely wouldn't have lost at Ball State this year that's for sure, but looking at last year's schedule, none of the single games we lost stand out as games Leavitt definitely would have won. laying eggs to Pitt wasn't beyond Leavitt, neither was losing a 6 point game to UConn at or an OT loss at Rutgers. last year Leavitt would have probably gone 7-5. in 2010, Skips best season at 8-5, a Leavitt team would have probably gone 9-4: no Leavitt team would have lost to Cuse 13-9.

but then again, i dont know if a Leavitt team would have beat Nevada this year. Leavitt wouldn't have beaten Rutgers. not sure if he would have beaten Miami in Miami back in 2010, or Clemson in the Muffler Bowl.

so under Skip's tenure we are 15-15. with Leavitt we would realistically be about 17-13, maybe 18-12.

the only benefit to having Leavitt would have been continuity and consistency, which probably would have squeezed another win or two last season to get us bowling in St. Pete or somewhere similar. the difference with Skip in the broadview is adjusting to new coaching, which with an up-and-coming team in an increasingly competitive football landscape with more parity than ever is going to result in short-term shortcomings.

i'm not fan of Skip at this point. a better coach would have won this team more games than either Skip OR Leavitt. but i also think Leavitt plateaued, and an overall 2-4 more games in the W column over the past 2 1/2 seasons wouldnt have made much of a difference in USF's national image... and there's no telling how a Leavitt team would have faired in the chaos that FBS football has become since he left.

[TrujilloBull2013]

But seriously in big games it is apparent that HCJL is at least better then HCSH...

big games? like the two times we got our asses kicked by Miami with him at the helm? the egg we laid vs. NCState in the Muffler Bowl, our biggest game to date at the time? or the Sun Bowl? or Rutgers when we were ranked #2?

yes, Leavitt had AU, Kansas, FSU, huge wins over WVU... but Skip has ND, Miami, Clemson.

as i said, overall Leavitt would have probably squeezed a couple more games out of the last 2 1/2 seasons, but in terms of big games Skip has won his share.

the point, tho, is that this team is OVER "big games," we're OVER "signature wins," we're OVER the St. Pete Bowl and International Bowl and even the Muffler Bowl. the only thing this team needs to take the next step is to win a Big East championship and get to a BCS bowl while we still can.

don't think Leavitt would have done it the past 2 years, and the couple extra games he may have won us are insignificant if it doesn't lead to a BE championship.