Based on a report from AOL FanHouse this afternoon, yet another Div. 1-A head coach could find himself in hot water for laying his hands on a player.
According to writer Brett McMurphy, and citing five witnesses who did not want their names used for fear of retribution, South Florida’s Jim Leavitt grabbed special teams player Joel Miller by the throat during halftime of a Nov. 21 game against Louisville and twice struck the player in the face with his hand.
Miller’s father and his high school coach confirmed the incident to the website.
“You do something like that [on the street], you put them in jail,” Paul Miller, Joel’s father and a former Tampa police officer, told FanHouse. “Somewhere [Leavitt] crossed the line.”
Miller allegedly enraged Leavitt for a mistake he made in the first half of the game against the Cardinals. When reached by phone by the website, Leavitt refused to discuss the incident.
“I’ll visit with you about recruiting,” Leavitt said. “All the stuff we do in there [the locker room] … I’ll visit with you about recruiting.
“Things that happen or don’t happen usually are kept within the team — whether they happen or don’t happen. If you want to talk about recruiting, I’ll talk about recruiting.”
Two days after the incident, Miller — who refused to discuss the situation with FanHouse — told his father and others that he went to the coach to discuss the incident. Leavitt allegedly warned his player that “before you say anything, just know I am the most powerful man in this building.”
Ten days after that alleged conversation, Leavitt called Miller to apologize for the incident. Ironically enough, the apology came a day after Mark Mangino resigned his head coaching job at Kansas. Mangino had been under an internal investigation for allegedly pushing/poking one of his players in the chest during a walk-through the day before a November game.
For Leavitt’s sake, he’d better hope that, unlike Mangino, he has a good relationship with his athletic director. Otherwise, this situation could escalate very rapidly.
Football is just a game at the end of the day. It is a violent sport, but at no point does a coach have the right to strike a player.
This is extremely disheartening. If this is true, he needs to be terminated. I am a huge USF fan (as well as an Alum) and have enjoyed watching Leavitt build the program, but actions like this can’t be tolerated. If this report is actually true, he will be gone. However, we will need to wait and see if this report has validity. McMurphy has had an axe to grind with USF athletics since his time as a beat writer at the Tampa Tribune. He has had some negative reports that haven’t come to fruition in the past. However, this one does at least appear to have more firm sources, which does not bode well for Leavitt.
Leavitt is becoming an embarrassment for USF. The guy has the sideline demeanor of Big Bird on Meth.
USF is one of the finest schools in the south, and if true, this report is shameful. I would urge the athletic director and administration of the university to investigate immediately and — should they find the allegations to be true — terminate Leavitt on the spot! The report that he intimidated the player by reminding him “before you say anything, just know I am the most powerful man in this building.” is equally unacceptable, and certainly should be grounds for dismissal.
I would also hope that if he is fired that no other college or university would ever consider hiring him. We do not people with these kind of attitudes in college sports.
This isn’t the first time Leavitt has done this. Just the first time someone has been willing to go on record.
Leavitt is completely out of control.
I’m not a hater, I’m an alum and season ticket holder. I’ve been saying for years that he’s a ticking time bomb.
Boom goes the dynamite.
Think of it this way. When USF’s football program consisted of a trailer they were able to hire Leavitt. Their program is much bigger now and they let the coach they should have hired go to Louisville. The point I am making is if you fire this guy you will have 10 resumes in the fax box from much more highly regarded coaches than Leavitt was in 1997.
how do u think leavitt got usf to the level they are? by baby-ing his players? i doubt it…i agree that he crossed the line but his career shouldnt be ruined because of it.
@Benito
You don’t think his career should be over because he hit one of his players? Are you serious? Yea, hard work and dedication gets you places, not beating your players in the face. Great post dumbass.
Like all sports…it’s just a game! Sounds like Bobby Knight, revisited.
By no means is USF one of the finest schools in the south. Their athletes, according to some research article I remember reading in recent years, were statistically some of the dumbest student-athletes in the country. I distinctively remember this because I was comparing them to FSU, who was also rather high on the list.
Aww … that’s so cute: Leavitt wants to be Woody Hayes.
I just read an article by John Romano of the St. Pete Times which quotes the father as saying that Leavitt only grabbed the player by the shoulder pads. The father also says that the quotes from FanHouse were taken way out of context. I will echo what I read above that I have heard that McMurphy has some sort of dislike for USF although I don’t know any first hand info. In any event, given Leavitt”s demeanor, nothing would surprise me.
Lastly, let’s not go calling USF the “Harvard of the South” just yet. USF has some outstanding programs, including a great medical school, but it’s hardly the bastion of academia.