OT: Jim Leavit strikes USF player in face during halftime
http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/12/14/sources-south-floridas-leav…
The player's father went to the press and since then five USF players and staff members have confirmed the incident anonymously. Apparently the kid, a walkon, made a mistake on special teams. Leavit was pacing the locker room, grabbed him by his throat and struck him twice in the face.
Two days after the incident, Miller told his father, teammates and staff members he went to Leavitt's office to discuss the incident. Instead, Miller left feeling disrespected, threatened and intimidated, according to his teammates. "Coach I want to talk to you about what happened," Joel told Leavitt on Nov. 23. "Before you say anything," said Leavitt, according to what Miller told others in USF's program and his father, "just know I am the most powerful man in this building."Leavit coached with Mark Mangino at Kansas State from 1991-1995.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:04 PM ^
if it is true.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:05 PM ^
Mangino'd
December 14th, 2009 at 4:21 PM ^
I was gonna say "Hayes'd" but that works too.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:32 PM ^
Having said that, they should still can his ass.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:33 PM ^
So Leavitt is like Mangino and Hayes combined...
That's pretty bad.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:53 PM ^
"So Leavitt is like Mangino and Hayes combined..."
That may be the most horrifying and disturbing mental image...EVER. Particularly if that nightmarish hybrid wore those wrap-around sunglasses that Mangino insists on fusing to his corpulent noggin. (shudder)
December 14th, 2009 at 5:56 PM ^
but I don't think Hayes' body/neck could hold up that 'corpulent noggin'.
December 14th, 2009 at 10:31 PM ^
So more accurate would be: Patton'd.
December 14th, 2009 at 6:17 PM ^
When Bobby Knight does this it's classy. Jim.. Not so much.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:11 PM ^
Based upon his inability to make mature comments about given situations (e.g. Rich Rod), stories like this, and his constant sideline antics, I'm trending towards believing that Jim Levitt is one of those people that make this world a worse place to live in. I don't want to act like an adult, but I do because, you know, I AM an adult.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:18 PM ^
No hookers for me, I mean, it's Monday... I have work in the morning.
Maturity.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:15 PM ^
Tom Cable and Jim Leavitt to the 2009 class of the Woody Hayes Hall of Fame, er.. shame.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:18 PM ^
Word on the street is that Harbaugh is at the top of their list for coaching prospects if Leavitt get fired.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:27 PM ^
He's got a USF clause in his contract.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:30 PM ^
I heard from my nephew's friends brother that he saw the USF AD and Bob Stoops together at Disney World and overheard that he's "very interested" in the position if it becomes available.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:48 PM ^
ESPN is reporting that Les Miles has already accepted the USF job.
Oh wait . . .
December 15th, 2009 at 12:01 AM ^
Herbstreit'd!
December 14th, 2009 at 5:11 PM ^
I think we may need a "My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious" tag.
Perhaps abbreviated to "MBFSBBGHFTGWKTKWGWTGWSFPOA31FLNIGIPS..."
December 14th, 2009 at 9:18 PM ^
I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy's cousin. Brian Kelly is just using ND to get the USF job.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:32 PM ^
If I had to rank this as far as the worst things a coach could do, it would probably be up at the top of the list. Can't really think of many things I would find more horrible.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:40 PM ^
I bet that stupid douche will blame RR for this. I hope this clown is fired and ends up setting up pins in a bowling alley somewhere.
December 14th, 2009 at 7:40 PM ^
blame RichRod. I mean who else is he gonna blame? Urban Meyer? Tiger Woods? Glenn Beck?
December 14th, 2009 at 9:54 PM ^
for sure
December 14th, 2009 at 4:45 PM ^
Please tell me you are going to write about this at TSB.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:48 PM ^
If this gets picked up by the national sports media (e.g. ESPN), Leavitt will be canned within a week.
On a related note, can you imagine how fast this story would make it to the Freep (immediately followed by ESPN) if RR did this?
December 14th, 2009 at 4:51 PM ^
Why does everything around here have to turn into a tangential discussion on RR and the Freep?
December 14th, 2009 at 5:25 PM ^
Because it's the Devil.
December 14th, 2009 at 5:38 PM ^
The Freep is Kevin Bacon.
December 14th, 2009 at 7:43 PM ^
before RichRod did it. After all, the Freep is not only hardworking, unbiased and professional; they are also psychic.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:51 PM ^
Wait a minute... if a coach can't punch a walk-on in the face a few times to make a point to the important players on a team, then what the hell is he supposed to do???
December 14th, 2009 at 4:56 PM ^
"On the afternoon of Dec. 3 -- nearly two weeks after the incident -- Leavitt left cell phone messages wanting to meet Miller. They met in his office where Leavitt apologized, according to what Miller told his father, teammates and staff members. Ironically, Leavitt's 12-day old apology came one day after Kansas coach Mark Mangino resigned amid an investigation into his treatment of his players, including verbal abuse or having inappropriate physical contact with his players."
Only the threat of being held accountable was able to move "the most powerful man in the building" to act like a man at all. I wish he would have hit Brandon Graham twice in the face.
December 14th, 2009 at 5:07 PM ^
I wish he would have hit Brandon Graham twice in the face.Head asplode.
December 15th, 2009 at 12:43 PM ^
I wish he would have hit Brandon Graham twice in the face.You're suggesting there is a mortal man capable of hitting Brandon Graham twice in the face?
December 15th, 2009 at 6:55 AM ^
and kicked Albert Belle in the balls.
December 14th, 2009 at 5:31 PM ^
This will not end well, and I agree with Other Brian that Leavitt should be reduced to most powerful man in the bowling alley.
December 14th, 2009 at 5:11 PM ^
There might be even more to the story...
http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/comments/report-says-leavitt-s…
"Leavitt had cuts visible on his face after halftime of the Louisville game, but multiple players said those occurred when he headbutted LaDre Watkins, another walk-on from Wharton High who recently left the team, to fire up the Bulls."
1. Was the headbutt really an attempt to "...fire up the Bulls" or something...else?
2. Why has the walk-on who received the headbutt (coincidentally, from the same HS as the player who was grabbed and smacked) "...recently left the team..."?
There could be perfectly innocent explanations for all of this stuff, but it sure seems a little...odd.
December 14th, 2009 at 5:15 PM ^
Owen Schmitt?
December 14th, 2009 at 5:50 PM ^
"Leavit coached with Mark Mangino"Says it all....
December 14th, 2009 at 6:56 PM ^
if it is true.
I remember Woody Hayes and Charlie Bauman.
You never want to see a successful coach go out like this.
December 14th, 2009 at 8:03 PM ^
I'm not condoning what Leavitt did, but is this really a big deal?? Some old dude slaps you in the face and your life is ruined?? Would it have been better if he had him do 50 Oklahomas?? What punishment do you think Arrington would have picked from Lloyd? Adrian you choose, I can smack you in the face or we can get up at 5:00am everyday and you can run stairs all morning? I'd take a smack all day long. Football is tough, it is voluntary, deal with it.. This ain't intermurals brother!!!
December 14th, 2009 at 9:02 PM ^
I can't remember ever reading a more jackass comment on this board. First of all, this kid had no choice. He got slugged in front of his whole team, his teammate speculates he was the victim because Leavit knew he wouldn't fight back.
Second Arrington was running stadiums to work his way back on the team. There was no reason for this kid to get slugged, it was just an abuse of power.
Thirdly, Arrington wasn't running stadiums every day because he committed got a 15 yeard penalty. Tell me, how do you think Arrington would have responded if Carr slugged him for that reason?
December 14th, 2009 at 9:08 PM ^
Do you think Leavitt gave him the choice? It sounds like Leavitt just hit him, if the reports are right. That makes it assault. The idea that Leavitt can hide behind "it's football, it's tough" is frankly bullshit.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:07 PM ^
Remind me to slap you in the face if I ever see you - I'll have a football in my hands so I can claim it's OK.
December 14th, 2009 at 10:54 PM ^
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/308768-usf-leavitt-strikes-player-or…
Believe me, posting a link to Bleacher Report just made me throw up in my mouth a bit, but hey, less time in the gym for me! Understand that in no way do I suggest that you listen to this guy, or anyone else who writes stuff for Bleacher Report for that matter.
The guy says that there are no credible sources, but the article that the OP posted quotes anonymous players. Take from that what you will, but I think that hitting someone is a lot more obvious than exceeding practice limits and much harder to manipulate. Also Jim Leavitt's comment in that youtube video was sarcastic, not really so much "demasculating" (it's "emasculating" you fucking halfwit Bleacher Report writer). Also, how do we know that McMurphy was the guy who Leavitt "demasculated"?
Judging from what we've seen on the sidelines and off the field with Leavitt, I wouldn't be surprised. We don't know for sure if Leavitt struck the player, but it's pretty clear that he is an asshole regardless.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:06 PM ^
Dude seems KA-RAZY.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:46 PM ^
When I was posting it, I was thinking, Sure the guy's an idiot Bleacher Report writer, but a possible vendetta sure makes things interesting. As I typed the post I started to actually think (I know, right?) and I think I pretty much ended up tearing it apart rather than just type something that says, "This is interesting even though it's flawed." That means I pretty much wasted my time--never bother with a BR article. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Jim Leavitt is the guy who wrote the BR article.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:49 PM ^
Thanks. Now I don't have a head.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:34 PM ^
But his teams always have played very physically defensively, which I enjoyed watching. I never liked the fact that they gave WVU so much trouble. Someone correct me, but didn't that linebacker Moffit play without ever having to go to class or anything?