Choke hold not in Leavitt’s repertoire

Posted Dec 19, 2009 by Tom McEwen

Updated Dec 19, 2009 at 02:42 AM

Looks like the alleged fight out at USF involving Coach Jim Leavitt, a passionate man, did not live up to expectations. Leavitt was mentioned as an involvee in a spat which was picked up by ESPN and Brett McMurphy, formerly a top Tribune reporter. As it turns out, player Joel Miller, who was quoted heavily on ESPN in reporting the fight, appeared to change his position or was misunderstood earlier.

Coach Leavitt himself said the incident was really nothing and he wasn’t mad at anybody. Apparently Leavitt, in the heat of argument for whatever causes, centered on the fact that he was mentioned as grabbing Miller’s shoulder pads, shaking him and perhaps slapping him a couple of times. Leavitt said, “not so.” Miller now says Leavitt did not do this.

Miller allegedly told ESPN he wanted to put this incident behind him, which happened at the half of the Louisville-USF game last month. “I believe my story was misrepresented. I told this to the school when they interviewed me for a half of an hour on Tuesday. Basically, I wasn’t having a good game on special teams (Miller was a walk-on athlete) and he was trying to motivate me.”

Miller had already told ESPN that Leavitt, “only grabbed my shoulder pads to motivate me.”

This was the first report and Leavitt on Friday told The Tribune that this was correct and he did nothing wrong. He said he has shaken the shoulder pads of many of his athletes to motivate them “or wake them up. To get into the game.”

We all know Jim Leavitt is a passionate football coach. Told to refrain from the use of profanity on the sidelines, thought by some to be directed at officials, he did. Told to be more careful with what he said about those officials silently without spoken words, he did that by not making comments about officials silently but with mouth motions. He did that.

He remains a passionate, exuberant man on the sidelines; some things cannot be changed. One of the positives about Leavitt has been his full involvement in coaching. None of us can hardly say we have seen a more red-blooded man. It was an attraction of Leavitt when he was hired 12 years ago to come to Tampa and from where he has never wavered or been tempted to leave.

Not even the calling cards of the University of Alabama, and they were genuine, could get his attention. Leavitt wants to continue coaching at USF his entire days or until USF responds favorably to some misguided attempts to make him unattractive.

“My plans now? When I do retire from USF as the head coach, and that is the way I want it to be, I hope to buy a little house on St. Pete Ceach so that I can sit there in the afternoon and watch that gorgeous sun go down,” said Leavitt. “That last little spot of land on the beach will be the last I will ever buy.”

Leavitt lives on Harbour Island now. Not bad, either.