However this ultimately plays out (read: settlement), even though this has been sad and embarrassing, USF is better off with a new football coach. For all that Jim Leavitt had done to successfully build a program from scratch and guide it to Big East membership, he had, quite arguably, taken it as far as he could. From underdog to underachiever.
The last three years were frustrating re-runs: Fast, nationally-noted (5-0) starts followed by more losses than wins against Big East opponents. Followed by a minor bowl appearance. This year the Bulls got the one (International in Toronto) that drew the fewest spectators.
But it was more than those late-season swoons that disappointed USF fans. It was the manner in which the Bulls lost. A lack of on-field discipline had become a Bulls’ trademark. USF had earned a dubious reputation for losing games by losing poise when the pressure was on. It was also known as a team that didn’t outcoach anybody.
For those paying close attention, it appeared the on-field play was an extension of the side-line by-play. That’s where Leavitt roamed and ranted. Too often his team seemed to channel his lack of composure.
Increasingly, USF insiders were no longer seeing the passionate, energetic, gung-ho Leavitt who jumpstarted the program from nothing. They were seeing the often off-putting, overbearing sort who lost more Big East games (18) than he won (17). They were also seeing a coach whose recruiting in talent-laden Florida was still yielding more junior college transfers than high school blue chips. That’s no way to build a solid foundation for success.
USF, by virtue of its Big East affiliation, talent-rich geography and major media-market status, is now a place that can command a national-caliber coach who can take the Bulls to the next level: winning the Big East and playing in a BCS bowl. And ironically, it would not have been possible had not Jim Leavitt been the right guy at the right time for USF to start a football program back in 1995. That’s Leavitt’s legacy.