Jim Leavitt

College coach infobox
Name = Jim Leavitt

---

Caption =
DateOfBirth = Birth date and age|1956|12|5|mf=y
Birthplace = flagicon|Texas Harlingen, TX
DateOfDeath =
Sport = Football
College = South Florida
Title = Head coach
CurrentRecord = 70-44
OverallRecord = 70-44
Awards =
Championships =
CFbDWID = 1361
Player = Y
Years = 1974-1978
Team = Missouri
Position =
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1995-present
CoachTeams = South Florida
FootballHOF =

Jim Leavitt (b. December 5, 1956 in Harlingen, Texas) is the current head coach of the University of South Florida Bulls college football team, and its only head coach to date, having been with the program since its inception.

Coaching career

Early years

Leavitt grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, and was a star quarterback for Dixie Hollins High School. After graduating from high school, Leavitt pursued studies at the University of Missouri–Columbia, graduating in 1978. From 1978 to 1980, Leavitt worked as a graduate assistant. He then left for the University of Dubuque, where he spent two years as their football team's defensive coordinator. Following his years there, he went to Morningside College in 1982, spending one year as special teams coordinator before being promoted to defensive coordinator. After a brief stint at the University of Iowa where Leavitt pursued a doctorate degree in psychology, he continued to Kansas State University in 1990. At Kansas State, Leavitt spent two years as linebackers coach then four more as defensive coordinator, leading Kansas State from relative obscurity to having a consistent, highly regarded defense. Finally, on December 12, 1995, Leavitt was hired to as the head coach for the new South Florida football team. He has been, to date, the only head coach for the South Florida Bulls.

South Florida Bulls

After signing his first class in 1996 (all redshirted) for the first varsity season in 1997, Leavitt has guided his through the Football Championship Subdivision ranks into the Football Bowl Subdivision, into Conference USA and finally into the Big East Conference. In December 2005 the team played its 100th game and first bowl game in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Meineke Car Care Bowl. One year later, Leavitt led the team to its first ever bowl win in the PapaJohns.com Bowl against East Carolina University in Birmingham, Alabama on December 23,2006.

In his 11 years at the University of South Florida, Leavitt has been heavily courted by the University of Alabama (who in 2003 sought him so rabidly that they sent him an offer and a contract to sign) [http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10260748] and Kansas State University [http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/9070042/rss] . On both occasions, he chose to stay with the program he'd created in Tampa, Florida. The success of the 2006 season spawned yet another round of interest in Leavitt's services, as his name was mentioned in national publications as a candidate to replace Larry Coker at the University of Miami and Mike Shula again at the University of Alabama [http://www.fanblogs.com/south_florida/006785.php] . True to form, Leavitt expressed his desire and intent to stay with the program he established at USF and removed himself from consideration for those positions.

On September 16, 2007, Leavitt's Bulls team cracked the Top 25 (AP 23, USA Today 24) for the first time in the program's 11 year history.On September 28th, 2007, Leavitt's USF Bulls stunned the 5th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers at Raymond James Stadium, which is perhaps the biggest win thus far for the USF football program. South Florida's ascension from 1-A startup to the Top 25 is the fastest in NCAA history, surpassing Boise State's by a mere 7 weeks [http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=1241438] . Yet another record was achieved when, on September 30, 2007, the Bulls became the fastest program of the modern era to reach the Top 10, landing at #6 in the AP poll and #9 in the coaches poll.

On October 14, 2007, USF received its first ever BCS ranking as the #2 team in the nation behind only Ohio State University. That week the team was also ranked #2 in the AP poll and #3 in both the Coaches and Harris polls. That ranking would last only one week, as the Bulls lost to Rutgers 30-27 on October 18 in Piscataway, New Jersey. USF would be the first team in the modern era of the BCS to go from the #2 ranking out of the polls completely as they lost the next three games.

On March 11, 2008, Leavitt signed a two-year extension to his original seven-year, $7 million contract that he signed in 2006. The new contract pays Leavitt $12.6 million from the 2008–2014 seasons, with the annual starting salary of $1.5 million increasing by $100,000 each contract year. [cite news|url=http://www.ncaafootball.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=34&url_article_id=12071&change_well_id=2|title=South Florida's Leavitt signs contract extension through 2014|publisher=NCAAfootball.com|accessdate=2008-03-11|date=2008-03-11|work=Associated Press]

Head coaching record

CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name=South Florida Bulls
conf=I-AA Independent
startyear=1997
endyear=2000CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1997
name = USF
overall = 5–6
conference = N/A
confstanding = N/ACFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1998
name = USF
overall = 8–3
conference = N/A
confstanding = N/ACFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1999
name = USF
overall = 7–4
conference = N/A
confstanding = N/ACFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2000
name = USF
overall = 7–4
conference = N/A
confstanding = N/ACFB Yearly Record Subhead
name=South Florida Bulls
conf=I-A Independent
startyear=2001
endyear=2002CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2001
name = USF
overall = 8–3
conference = N/A
confstanding = N/ACFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2002
name = USF
overall = 9–2
conference = N/A
confstanding = N/ACFB Yearly Record Subhead
name=South Florida Bulls
conf=Conference USA
startyear=2003
endyear=2004CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2003
name = USF
overall = 7–4
conference = 5–3
confstanding = T–3rdCFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2004
name = USF
overall = 4–7
conference = 3–5
confstanding = T–6thCFB Yearly Record Subhead
name=South Florida Bulls
conf=Big East
startyear=2005
endyear="present"CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2005
name = USF
overall = 6–6
conference = 4–3
confstanding = T–3rd
bowlname = Meineke Car Care
bowloutcome = LCFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2006
name = USF
overall = 9–4
conference = 4–3
confstanding = T–4th
bowlname = Papajohns.com
bowloutcome = WCFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2007
name = USF
overall = 9–4
conference = 4–3
confstanding = T–3rd
bowlname = Sun
bowloutcome = LCFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name=South Florida
overall=79–47
confrecord=20–17CFB Yearly Record End
overall = 79–47
bcs = no


poll = no

References

External links

* [http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=37329&SPID=2981&DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=220470&Q_SEASON=2006 South Florida Official Biography]