Jim Leavitt

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**Jim Leavitt**
School as a player
Image:Jim Leavitt-South Florida.jpg
Date of birth	December 5, 1956
Place of birth	Harlingen, Texas
Sport	Football
College	South Florida
Title	Head coach
Record with Team	70-43
Overall Record	70-43
Coaching Stats	College Football DataWarehouse
1974-1978	Missouri
Coaching positions
1996-present	South Florida

Jim Leavitt (b. December 5, 1956 in Harlingen, Texas) is the current head coach for the University of South Florida Bulls college football team.

[edit] Coaching Experience

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, in 1996, 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.

[edit] South Florida Bulls Years

Since the inaugural season in 1997, Leavitt has guided the team through the I-AA ranks into Division I-A, into Conference USA and finally into the Big East Conference. In December of 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 ever in the PapaJohns.com Bowl against East Carolina University in Birmingham, Alabama on December 23, 2006.

In his 10 years at the University of South Florida, Leavitt has been courted by the University of Alabama and Kansas State University. 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 as a candidate to replace Larry Coker at the University of Miami and Mike Shula at the University of Alabama. 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.

Leavitt's on-field success, drive and dedication to the university have produced significant improvements in athletic facilities including a new athletic training center, new administration facilities, and new practice fields for the football team.