This is why Leavitt is #1 in my book for making USF great

[Grateful Dad]

Do you think he would return after DW AND Judge Judy are gone? And Bulliever, I loved the post. Also, how much would coaching for San Fran help him in the season fades?

[hbryan]

Do you think he would return after DW AND Judge Judy are gone? And Bulliever, I loved the post. Also, how much would coaching for San Fran help him in the season fades?

 

They would both have to be gone but I think he has better offers than USF when he's ready.  Unfortunately, I think that ship has sailed (Leavitt as coach).  Oh, and you don't get rid of your president for football anyway.  JMHO.

[hbryan]

I can't see any scenario where CJL would return even if offered a the opportunity post Judy/Doug. Will there be some reconciliation someday between the university and honoring CJL? I would like to think so, but it won't come from the existing USF leadership.

 

+1

[commbull]

Profound stuff, Bulliever. Very nicely said.

[tamiamibull05]

 

CJL did great things while he was here, he achieved more than anyone could've reasonably expected. But he's gone. He's never going to coach USF again. Move on, let it go.

 

Too bad for many he's part of our history, a history some will try to remake.

 

Bush is gone and will never be our president again, but people still talk about him as if the Devil.  I am sure that when Obama departs the White House, assuming the 22nd amendment holds up, many will still talk about him and long for him to be in power still/again.

 

 

Roberto Clemente was #1, in my book, for making the Pirates great.  He died in '73, they still have a Roberto Clemente Day in Pittsburgh and his statue out front.

 

 

They still talk about the Great One decades after his demise.

 

 

Frank Kush at Arizona State experienced a situation with allegations far worse than Jim Leavitt, and, get this "Kush was fired over accusations he interfered with the case".  That's the "out" in many of these cases - because "interfering" can be so loosely defined.  Luckily for Kush, the player filed a case against him, like hightechbull thinks Miller should have done against Leavitt.  Kush won and was found not liable in the case.  Probably would have been better for USF had Miller and a court case decided it and not some shadowy employment lawyer doing the dirty work for a distant and flaccid AD.

 

Frank Kush is back on staff at Arizona State, has been for 15 or so years.  He's even had a "Frank Kush Day" and the football field is named after him.  He's enjoying life and the fans still love him and all that he accomplished for ASU.

 

ASU fans and administrators, much more maturely, understood what Kush meant to the program and how important that history was to them.  The team goes to the Camp Tontozona that Kush took them to and they still climb Mount Kush.

 

 

So, some suggest to "move on".  Critical error.  As I posted elsewhere, you don't just ignore a program's history, especially under the cloudiness and motivations of the Leavitt fiasco.  We all get that he won't coach here, but that's not the point.  People look to what he did for the program and he did more than any other individual in the history of the program, including Lee Roy Selmon, whom I deeply admired.  No one else is even close.

 

Until this is reconciled USF won't have a history or a future - at least that can be tied together, and a fan base that is still looking for some closure and a reason to come together.  Because of the mishandling of the fiasco, three years later there are still hard feelings on both sides. 

 

Unfortunately, the only ones that can really do anything to negate the still lingering effects are the very few that were in power then, making it a very unlikely event.

 

For a program with no identity (or a lost identity) and missing the two largest leaders of the program - it does not bode well.

 

 

Great post. Thanks for that.

[GreenBull93]

The "most powerful man" in USF athletics was LRS. He could have saved CJL's job, but he didn't.  So all of you who admire LRS (like myself) understand that it ultimately was LRS's decision. 

[Who'sYourData?]

Was CJL a football coach, or did he win the Nobel Peace Prize?

 

CJL led a new football team to mediocrity.  Let's get melodramatic.  The team never even won 10 games under his watch.  Good?  Sure.  Worthy of bowing down before him, I think not.

[Brad]

The "most powerful man" in USF athletics was LRS. He could have saved CJL's job, but he didn't.  So all of you who admire LRS (like myself) understand that it ultimately was LRS's decision. 

 

You have no idea what you are talking about.

[Brad]

Was CJL a football coach, or did he win the Nobel Peace Prize?

 

CJL led a new football team to mediocrity.  Let's get melodramatic.  The team never even won 10 games under his watch.  Good?  Sure.  Worthy of bowing down before him, I think not.

[Bull-by-Marriage]

In response to Brad’s post.

 

Bush: was the POTUS, just a “little†more important than any college football coach.

 

22^nd Amendment: Did you buy land somewhere in Europe? Are you building a doomsday shelter? Pure unadulterated conspiracy theory there. Also see Bush explanation.

 

Roberto Clemente: One of the greatest baseball players of all time. Sorry, I’m pretty sure that CJL was never going to go down as one of the greatest college coaches of all time.

 

Frank Kush: Coach at ASU from 1958 to 1979, 21 years before his “scandalâ€. He won several conference titles and finished in the top 10, wasn’t there for a cup of coffee before being sent back down to the minors.

 

Your post is a big pile of false equivalences.

 

I never said that we have to forget the history of USF while CJL was here, whether he did what he was accused of or not. But to hold onto the hatred that some of you have is bad for your own health.