Still no Apology from Leavitt; Woolard’s Response to Miller’s Claim

Posted Jan 21, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Jan 21, 2010 at 03:31 PM

It has been a week since USF sophomore walk-on RB Joel Miller and his attorney, Barry Cohen, held a press conference demanding a public apology from former USF coach Jim Leavitt for an incident between Leavitt and Miller at halftime of the Louisville game Nov. 21.

Leavitt said he has no plans to apologize and maintains he did nothing wrong.

After that press conference ended, Cohen invited FanHouse.com reporter Brett McMurphy, who broke the original story detailing the incident Dec. 14, into a conference room to speak with Miller privately.

Miller then detailed a late-night meeting with Leavitt in a church parking to discuss Miller’s interview with investigators as Leavitt attempted to cover up the incident, according to Miller.

However, perhaps the most interesting comment from Miller during that exclusive interview with FanHouse was this: Miller said “everyone in the USF athletics building, including athletic director Doug Woolard,” knew what happened to him days after the incident. “Everyone knew,” Miller said. “Everyone knows what happened.”

In the FanHouse story, there was no response from Woolard concerning Miller’s claim.

Here is what Woolard told The Tampa Tribune during Friday’s press conference introducing Skip Holtz as USF’s new football coach: “The first time I ever knew about it was when I talked to the president and general counsel and determined to initiate and independent review along with HR, and that’s what they moved forward with.

“As I said, as soon as I was made aware of it is when I contacted the president and general counsel’s office.’‘

The Miller-Leavitt case is now being handled on USF’s end by the general counsel and non-athletic department officials. As for a potential civil lawsuit by Miller against Leavitt, Cohen said that is a possibility if Leavitt doesn’t apologize within a week to 10 days.