Will South Florida’s program suffer due to Leavitt’s lawsuit?
Posted by Anthony Stalter (03/16/2010 @ 10:25 am)
It was inevitable that former Bulls head coach Jim Leavitt would sue South Florida in an effort to recover the money he lost when he was fired on January 8. After all, he wasn’t going to leave millions of dollars on the table and just walk away into the dark of the night to never return.
But even if the situation was inevitable, this isn’t a situation that USF desired to be in. The program knows it had recourse to fire Leavitt and avoid paying him for the final five years left on his contract after allegations emerged that he slapped walk-on player Joel Miller. But the school would prefer to move on and start new head coach Skip Holtz’s career without this dark cloud hanging over its head.
Still, it’s a situation USF has to deal with and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of effect it’ll have on the program this year. Miller is still on the team, as are several of the witnesses that attest to Miller’s side of the story. Can the Bulls still be a power in the Big East if Leavitt’s lawsuit makes it to court? What will the media coverage of the story be?
With exciting quarterback B.J. Daniels set to enter his second season, South Florida has plenty to look forward to in 2010. But as his lawsuit can attest to, Leavitt isn’t going away quite yet.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
South Florida player wants apology from Leavitt
Posted by Anthony Stalter (01/14/2010 @ 5:00 pm)
The player who claims Jim Leavitt slapped him twice is seeking an apology from the recently fired South Florida head coach.
From SI.com:
The attorney for Joel Miller said Thursday that the sophomore walk-on is not interested in filing a lawsuit, but could if Leavitt doesn’t “man up” and admit wrongdoing in the locker room incident that cost the coach his job.
Leavitt was fired last week after a university investigation concluded he grabbed Miller during halftime of a game, slapped the player twice in the face and then lied about it. The coach strongly denies the accusation and wants his job back.
“We’re ready for a fight,” said Barry Cohen, Miller’s attorney. “We don’t want a fight. We don’t want a lawsuit. We don’t want to pursue any criminal cases. We just want you to say, I made a mistake.”
“He grabbed me by the neck and he hit me twice,” said Miller, flanked by Cohen and sitting in front of his parents.
“Everyone knows the truth inside that locker room. All the players know the truth. All the coaches know the truth. … I covered it up, and then it got to be where it was too big for me to handle any more. All I want is for the truth to come out, and I want coach Leavitt to just admit that he did grab me and did hit me twice.”
If I were this young man’s parent, I’d probably recommend him to move on and concentrate on his playing career. But the eye-for-an-eye in me applauds Miller for seeking an apology. If Leavitt did hit him, then he deserves to suffer some public embarrassment for what transpired.
Either way, I think Miller will be waiting a while to get that apology. Leavitt isn’t going to admit to anything and further damage his reputation.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
South Florida fires head coach Jim Leavitt
Posted by Anthony Stalter (01/08/2010 @ 2:45 pm)
South Florida has decided to fire head coach Jim Leavitt after he allegedly struck a player and subsequently lied to investigators.
From Fanhouse.com:
USF fired the only coach the Bulls have had in the program’s 13-year history following an investigation initiated after a FanHouse report that stated Leavitt grabbed sophomore Joel Miller by the throat and hit the walk-on twice in the face Nov. 21 at halftime of the Louisville game.
FanHouse first reported details of the incident Dec. 14. Five witnesses, USF players and staff members, said that Leavitt was upset by a mistake Miller made on special teams during the first half against Louisville, and subsequently struck Miller twice.
“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 at the time. “Somewhere [Leavitt] crossed the line.”
Wednesday, wide receiver Colby Erskin, who was not present in the locker room at the time, told FanHouse that Miller told him about the incident and asked for his advice on what he should do, a few days after the Nov. 21 incident.
Erskin also said Leavitt cleaned out his locker and threw his personal effects into a trash bin. Erskin said he believed that Leavitt suspected him of leaking the story to the media.
As the article notes, Leavitt was 95-47 during his tenure at South Florida. He essentially built that program from nothing and deserves credit for making USF relevant in college football.
That said, there’s zero excuse to hit a kid. There’s a difference between being a hard ass and hitting players because they screw up. If the report is true and Leavitt did strike Miller multiple times, then he deserves to be fired. Many of these college coaches have massive egos and think they can say and do whatever they want to players because they’re above them.
Leavitt found out the hard way that universities are stepping in to ensure that these types of situations don’t continue and won’t be tolerated.
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The bowl season has not been kind to the MAC
Posted by Anthony Stalter (01/02/2010 @ 4:19 pm)
Outside of Arizona, no team has given a worse effort in a bowl game this season than Northern Illinois, which lost 27-3 to South Florida in the International Bowl on Saturday. And at least the Wildcats had an excuse for being so inept: They were playing Nebraska and the Cornhuskers’ outstanding defense.
The Huskies racked up just 130 total yards, went 3-for-13 on third downs and turned the ball over twice. They had one decent drive the entire game on offense, which netted a 21-yard field goal.
With NIU’s loss, the Mid-American Conference is now 0-4 in the International Bowl, which is the only bowl game played outside of the United States. Cincinnati beat Western Michigan in the first International Bowl in 2007, then Rutgers defeated Ball State in 2008 and Connecticut topped Buffalo in 2009.
The MAC must feel cursed in bowl games. The conference is now 0-4 in bowl games this season, which includes Bowling Green’s heartbreaking loss to Idaho on Wednesday and Temple’s near win over UCLA on Tuesday.
The MAC’s lone hope for a win this year will come down to next Wednesday when Central Michigan takes on Troy in the GMAC Bowl. Thankfully, the Chippewas are the class of the conference and aren’t likely to turn in the horrendous effort the Huskies did today.
No. 8 Cincinnati dominates No. 19 South Florida, but Pike hurt in victory
Posted by Anthony Stalter (10/15/2009 @ 10:34 pm)
In what was supposed to be a tough game in a tough environment for Cincinnati, the No. 8 Bearcats easily disposed of No. 19 South Florida 34-17 at Raymond James Stadium on Thursday night. And they did it with their starting quarterback missing the entire second half.
Tony Pike suffered an injury right before halftime and was replaced by backup Zach Collaros, who supplied a touchdown run of 75 yards midway through the third quarter. He then hooked up with Ben Guidugli on a 43-yard pass completion to set up his second touchdown of the game, this time from three yards out with 13 minutes remaining in the game.
This was an impressive victory for Cincinnati, especially considering Pike didn’t play the entire second half. To beat a good South Florida team on the road with their backup quarterback should give the Bearcats leverage when the BCS standings are released for the first time on October 20.
That said, should anyone be surprised by this outcome? The Bulls were undefeated coming into this game, but their only substantial win was against a Florida State team that was obviously overrated from the start. And while freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels is fun to watch, he has a long way to go as a passer. He looked like he was playing in a pick up game tonight with the way he often ran backwards from the snap and never stayed in the pocket.
But allow me to give credit where credit is due – Cincinnati’s defense played well tonight as it suffocated USF’s running game and never allowed Daniels to set his feet and throw (whether he wanted to or not). Everyone takes about the Bearcats offense (and rightfully so), but Brian Kelly’s team has played well defensively this season too.
Kelly told Erin Andrews after the game that it “doesn’t look good” for Pike, who could miss a couple weeks with a wrist injury. While that’s unfortunate, Cincinnati has an easy stretch of games over the next couple weeks and could certainly get by with the shifty Collaros.
Posted in: College Football
Tags: 2009 College Football Week 7, Ben Guidugli, Cincinnati Bearcats, Cincinnati South Florida, Cincinnati vs South Florida, College Football Week 7 scoreboard, South Florida Bulls, Tony Pike, Tony Pike injury, Tony Pike injury report, Zach Collaros
South Florida upsets No. 18 Florida State
Posted by Christopher Glotfelty (09/26/2009 @ 4:24 pm)
The undefeated South Florida Bulls entered Saturday’s competition against Florida State well aware that the Seminoles would be fired up on their home turf. While the Seminoles sought to prove their worth among the nation’s elite, their opponents were simply trying to justify their football program within their state. With senior quarterback Matt Grothe out with a knee injury, the Bulls looked to redshirt freshman B.J. Daniels for help. Daniels, who is coincidentally a Tallahassee native, was stellar in his debut performance. Rushing for 126 yards and throwing two touchdown passes, Daniels led his squad to a 17-7 victory at No. 18 Florida State.
It was the first time since Nebraska’s Steve Taylor ran for 139 yards against the Seminoles in 1986 that an opposing quarterback rushed for over 100 yards against them.
The Seminoles couldn’t keep the South Florida pass rush, led by defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and George Selvie and tackle Craig Marshall, off of Ponder. The Bulls sacked him five times and forced the crucial fumble in the fourth quarter.
South Florida stopped the Seminoles on four plays from the 3-yard line early in the second quarter. USF then needed just five plays to cover 99 yards to get the game’s first touchdown.
Another huge pass play, this one a 73-yard scoring pass from Daniels to Sterling Griffin, gave USF a 14-0 lead at the half.
The Bulls could have been ahead by more at halftime, but Eric Schwartz missed a pair of 37-yard field goal tries.
It was the first time since the third game of the 2008 season, a 12-3 loss to Wake Forest, that the Seminoles went scoreless in the first half.
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden can’t be too pleased. While his team is ranked in the Top 25, I’m sure he wasn’t expecting a 2-2 record at this point in the season, let alone suffering a loss to the unranked Bulls. Nevertheless, this is a nice story for B.J. Daniels, who was overlooked by his hometown team. Now that he’s found a place with the Bulls, hopefully he’ll see more time on the field after his fine play today.
Posted in: College Football
Tags: 2009 College Football, 2009 College Football Week 4, 2009 College Football Week 4 recaps, 2009 College Football Week 4 Scores, B.J. Daniels, B.J. Daniels South Florida, B.J. Daniels South Florida quarterback, Bulls-Seminoles, College Football recaps, College Football scores, Florida State football, Florida State Seminoles, South Florida Bulls, South Florida defeats Florida State, South Florida football, South Florida upsets, South Florida upsets Florida State, South Florida vs. Florida State, South Florida vs. Florida State recap, South Florida vs. Florida State scores, South Florida vs. Florida State stats, South Florida-Florida State, South Florida-Florida State recap, South Florida-Florida State score
College Football Preview: No. 13 Kansas at No. 19 South Florida
Posted by Anthony Stalter (09/12/2008 @ 12:23 pm)
Kickoff: Friday @ 8:00 PM ET, ESPN 2
Records: Kansas (2-0); South Florida (2-0)
Spread: South Florida –3.5
 Game Matchup:
Kansas marches its 30th ranked (and highly powerful) offense into Tampa Friday night, but South Florida has the top ranked defense in the nation. South Florida’s defense ends are used to getting a good edge rush, but Jayhawks’ QB Todd Reesing gets the ball out of his hands quickly so he might be able to neutralize what the Bulls’ defense do so well. With how aggressive USF’s defensive front is, Kansas might employ a gash n’ go approach with its running backs. The Jayhawks could allow the Bulls’ defensive ends to get up field, and then the Kansas RBs can run at the edges for big gains. The Jayhawks also excel at avoiding bad down-and-distance situations. Offensively for South Florida, QB Matt Grothe isn’t as accurate as Reesing, but he makes plays with his feet and keeps drives alive with his mobility.
Prediction:
South Florida’s defense is outstanding, but Kansas has the weapons on offense to exploit what the Bulls do best. For the Jayhawks, coming out with a victory depends on how well their defense can contain Grothe and get off the field on third downs. This is a great machup and should be a close game throughout. Kansas 30, South Florida 28.
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