USF plans long-term offer to Leavitt
The school wants to retain its only football coach, a possible successor to his former boss.
By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published November 22, 2005

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TAMPA - With USF's football team two wins from a Big East championship, athletic director Doug Woolard said he's committed to offering coach Jim Leavitt a new contract as early as next month to keep him with the program he has built over the past decade.

"Absolutely," Woolard said Monday afternoon. "We're working on a scenario that will give him an opportunity to stay here for a long time. He's got a chance to build a legacy here like few if any coaches have in college football."

The Bulls face increasing pressure to keep the only football coach they've had. Leavitt, 48, has been widely reported as a leading candidate to replace his mentor, Bill Snyder, at Kansas State. Leavitt coached under Snyder for six seasons before coming to USF in 1995.

Leavitt is under contract with USF until 2009 and is about to finish the third year of a seven-year, $4.3-million contract signed in October 2003. He would make considerably more at Kansas State, where Snyder, who announced his retirement Nov. 15, was paid $1.5-million this season.

Woolard said Monday he had not been contacted by the Big 12 school about speaking with Leavitt, a standard courtesy in coaching searches. Leavitt's agent, Neil Cornrich, did not return a message seeking comment.

Leavitt interviewed for the head-coaching job at Indiana of the Big Ten after the 2001 season, and with Alabama of the Southeastern Conference in December 2002. He stayed with the Bulls, whom he nursed through their Division I-AA, I-A independent and Conference USA years, but gained more leverage for the extension he signed in 2003, which more than doubled his base salary for this season.

Two members of Snyder's staff, offensive coordinator Del Miller and graduate assistant Dana Dimel, told the Manhattan Mercury they plan to apply for the vacancy. Dimel, head coach at Houston and Wyoming, is a close friend and former colleague of Leavitt's.

Woolard has a policy of not negotiating extensions while sports are in season, but he said he would visit a new deal for Leavitt after the regular season ends. In the past year, he has shown a commitment to keeping successful coaches. Softball coach Ken Eriksen and women's basketball coach Jose Fernandez were linked to vacancies at other schools, and Woolard signed both to new five-year deals through 2010, with a 20 percent raise for Eriksen and a 50 percent bump for Fernandez.

When asked about the opportunity to succeed Snyder at Kansas State, Leavitt reiterated that he wasn't thinking about anything except his team's next opponent.

"We're focused on Connecticut," he said. "That's all that's really important right now."

Copyright 2003 St. Petersburg Times