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Tampa Bay Times Article on Jim Leavitt

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fauowl said

cbboarder said

Local Owl said

BTW..just read the Tampa story. I played football in the late 70s and early 80s. Now I know times have changed. But I will tell you , in South Florida , back then, coaches had a very physical style. Hands on if you will. As a player, we didn't run home and tell mom and dad. I'm not saying that this style is OK. But I am saying it was the style. I will not judge a man for an incident  from years ago. It was a different world. People were tougher. Less snow-flakeish. JMHO. I would be thrilled to get a guy like Jim.
Posted On: Dec 3rd 2016, 6:39 AM #363396
Exactly! I can't tell you how many times my coach grabbed me by the face mask to told me to get my head out of my arse.

You can't run a successful football program like it's a private liberal arts college.
Posted On: Dec 3rd 2016, 7:12 AM #363398

And he's had just one incident in his life, 7 years ago.  If there was a big character flaw, it would show up more than once.

I think it would be a good hire but would caution FAU to be prepared (unlike the GEO debacle) to have a plan to address those who will insist we hired a monster. College kids like to protest things (many times not even knowing or caring why they are protesting).  If we decide it is the best hire, then do it and have a plan to respond to the "noise."
Posted On: Dec 3rd 2016, 7:54 AM #363401

100% agreed there and probably why FAU won't hire him.

By the way his D got exposed a bit last night by Washington. The Colorado O was pretty bad but 41 points is 41 points (yes, there was a pick 6 (or 7!) by UW. But 265 yards RUSHING by UW is a lot. But they did shut down Browning (9/24 for only 118!).

I do think he would be very good here but ONLY is he lets the O play fast and aggressive!
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People do learn from their mistakes, especially successful people. It was an embarrassment for Leavitt and it cost him a job as well as negative national publicity. I don't see Leavitt making the same mistake again. The problem is many people have good long term memories. Thank God we all have gotten second chances. I know I am thankful for that.

FAU - THE REAL SLEEPING GIANT
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I've gotten more than two. Thank god.
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Prior to Leavitt being fired the belief among many USF fans was that his teams consistently underachieved.  Many wanted him gone due to the teams performance as they believed at the time that USF should have been dominating the Big East much like UM did prior to moving to the ACC. I don't doubt it had something to do with his firing along with the incident and probably contributed to the settlement for wrongful termination. In hindsight he is thought of more highly now at USF after they had to go through 3 disappointing seasons under Skip Holtz and the first couple years under Willie Taggart. Still Jim Leavitt is thought of as a great coach for building a program but it's still unknown if he can get his teams to achieve their full potential.
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owl said

Prior to Leavitt being fired the belief among many USF fans was that his teams consistently underachieved.  Many wanted him gone due to the teams performance as they believed at the time that USF should have been dominating the Big East much like UM did prior to moving to the ACC. I don't doubt it had something to do with his firing along with the incident and probably contributed to the settlement for wrongful termination. In hindsight he is thought of more highly now at USF after they had to go through 3 disappointing seasons under Skip Holtz and the first couple years under Willie Taggart. Still Jim Leavitt is thought of as a great coach for building a program but it's still unknown if he can get his teams to achieve their full potential.
Posted On: Dec 3rd 2016, 3:57 PM #363412



Regardless we're at the building point right now 
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[A view from Denver] I do not know the facts surrounding the seven-year-old incident at USF, though I certainly have read about it. But I am confident of this: If he hasn't been flagged for anything in two years in left-leaning Boulder, Colo., this is a strong indicator of decent ßehavior (and on-field performance shouldn't be seriously questioned; he has done very good things at the University of Colorado). In Boulder, it is fashionable among some to critique football in general, and those who make their living from football in particular. That's OK by me; it's their right. I'm simply saying that if no one has come up with even a semi-scandal / problem, this indicates something good. So I think that if Pat Chun decides to pursue this avenue, and satisfies himself that things are OK now (emphasize preceding clause), more power to him. The truth of the matter is that in as high-pressure a business as FBS coaching, one never knows for sure how a head coach will cope. Even those who haven't snapped sometime somewhere, might. The choice is important, and any important choice carries a quantity of risk. The trick is to find a balance of passion, talent and experience in recruiting, managing people and coaching -- all blended with strong character. A lot of guys want to take shortcuts in one or more of these areas; I hope they go somewhere else.
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Overall good points of view.  I like him as our coach as well.  The articles are so incriminating, but then again none of us were there.  If we get him we get to 6 wins easily.  Our offense is getting better, roc would be gone and we would close out games couldn't have in the past.  It's a good match.  We need him to bring us to respectability and he needs us to help people forget the past once and for all and respect him. 
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Do people still talk about what happened there at USF in Colorado? That might give you some gauge about if people have let go of it yet or not
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We had a post that nothing new happened at Colorado….

But Colorado is long way from Tampa so as to his past coming up out there….


Fill us in more GrayOwl!
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I am not aware of anything significant coming out here re the USF episode. Certainly, he has not been a subject of frequent (or any) controversy here. All in all, I join with a couple of earlier posts: I do not oppose second chances in cases in which the person has shown good behavior for a significant period of time. As long as Pat Chun can satisfy himself of this, I would like to think of it as a football decision, not a decision based on a years-past episode. Truth be known, years-past episodes could trip up a lot of us....
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