rcade

Only if you believe there's a chance he will prove he was fired without cause. Even then, the money he is owed is minus anything he earns in another football job through 2014. So let's figure on Leavitt getting a head coaching job for $750,000 a year, which is the low end of what he could command based on his success at USF. That's $3 million. What would you rather have as Jim Leavitt -- a small chance at $7 million from a protracted lawsuit fight that keeps you out of work through 2014, or a $3 million contract from another school and a chance to put the USF mess in the rear view mirror?

We'll see. I think Leavitt's a fine coach worthy of being considered here, regardless of whether he did everything he was alleged to have done. But I think the allegations plus the lawsuit have all-but-eliminated the chance UNT will hire him.

Me calling Leavitt an idiot for not settling is different than you repeatedly calling me an idiot. Leavitt's not here. You and I are, and your repeated attempts to make this personal have been reported to the moderators. Grow up. As for my numbers being fictional, I said the issue was $375,000 vs. $66,000 for a with-cause firing and you backed me up with your own link.

You should learn some manners. It's possible to disagree with someone without constantly calling them ignorant, stupid, and so on. I'm surprised the moderators are letting you get away with it. Go be childish on Mizzou boards. You quoted the most important part of those stories: "Even if it is determined he was fired 'with cause,' his contract says that he is due $375,000, not the $66,000 USF gave him the day he was fired, the suit says." Leavitt's attorneys can assert in a lawsuit that he's lost $9.5 million, but his own suit acknowledges that a with-cause firing would only net him $375,000. I think there's almost no chance a court will find that there was no cause to fire Leavitt. He's got an incredibly weak hand here and the most he can hope to make is $311,000 minus attorney costs. If he had not pursued the suit, he'd be a front-runner for the UNT job and other jobs as well.

Where is the misinformation? I'm in Florida and I clearly have read more about this than you have.

That's not how these contracts work. You don't get paid the full amount of your contract when you are fired with cause. The numbers I got were from media coverage of the Leavitt mess here in Florida. His lawyers are not claiming he's owed $7.1 million dollars. Google is your friend. Try it sometime.

North Texas fans have complained for years about bigger Texas schools conspiring to keep us down. Considering that, it's ironic that you want us to do that to Texas State and UTSA. We should be happy that two more Texas schools are moving up to the FBS. They could become good in-state opponents and potential conference rivals.

True. I live in Florida. USF was an up-and-coming program getting respect here before the Leavitt firing mess. Now it's getting about as much attention as UCF.

Even Leavitt's attorneys are not claiming he's owed millions. The school maintains that he's due one-twelth of his yearly contract ($66,000) after being fired with cause. Leavitt's attorneys say he's due one-twelth of the entire contract ($375,000). So he's prolonging the damage to his employability for $311,000 minus whatever he's paying his attorneys. He's an idiot for not settling.

Ever been involved in a legal dispute, Cerebus? I have. The idea you can restore your good name that way seems farcical to me. Lawsuits will bleed you dry and take up a lot of your time -- costing you even more money. The smart move is almost always to avoid litigation. No matter how much you've been wronged, getting lawyers involved in your life will make it worse.

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Some UNT fans decided to stop giving money to the program until it got its act together. Maybe they helped RV finally realize the Dodge he bought was a lemon.

He didn't break any commitment. Scholarships are year to year. Schools can drop them after any year, and he has the same right.

My bet is that neither Leavitt nor Leach gets a head coaching job while their lawsuits are unresolved. It's a shame because they're both good coaches.

If the lawsuit made other potential employers reluctant to hire me, hell yes I would give up the suit. A good coach has to be able to look at the long view. You can blackball yourself out of a lot of careers by suing a former employer. I would be extremely reluctant to do it. The way Leavitt should be answering USF's actions is by getting another head coaching job and kicking ass at it.

I can't blame Vizza for quitting the football team in the shape it was in under Coach Dodge. I admire the players who stuck it out like Riley Dodge, but that doesn't mean Vizza should be taking so much abuse for deciding he'd rather be somewhere else. He still has eligibility, so I wouldn't be surprised if he changes his mind and ends up somewhere. He was a good QB. When he lost faith in Coach Dodge and we lost our best quarterback, it may have been the final thing that sealed his fate here.

I can believe that USF made a mockery of its investigation and was unfair to Leavitt. But Leavitt pursuing a lawsuit against a university for firing him -- for one year and counting -- is killing his attempts to get another head coaching job. It's too much drama. The fact he does not see this makes me question his judgment. He should have settled or dropped the suit.

My thoughts exactly. Concussions can do serious damage. I can't blame any football player who decides to quit the game because of them.

There's a flaw in your logic here. They weren't getting Big East money until 2005, eight years after Leavitt began the program.

Meyer had engineered an incredible turnaround at Bowling Green for two years as head coach before being hired by Utah. Franchione was head coach for six years at New Mexico and led them to a bowl game before being hired by TCU. Koetter had been a coordinator for 11 seasons before being hired by Boise State. Of those four, Leavitt is the only one without strong credentials when he was hired as head coach. But he was hired for a Division I-AA independent that was just getting started. UNT needs a coach with skins on the wall; somebody who has proven they can win at the FBS level.

If they're looking for a conference that's better for them regionally and has comparable (or better) teams ...

You had me up to this point. But I hate the idea that UNT shouldn't go for a big name because someday he will leave us. That reeks of insecurity. There are times in your life when you should go for somebody who is out of your league. I did, and my wife hasn't figured it out for 23 years and counting.

Not just no, but hell no.

It's hard to believe that any UNT alumnus would be offended by Coach Canales and his wife lobbying hard for the UNT job.

We don't know that. It's great that Canales and his wife are fighting hard for the job, but we can't assume that he's the only one who would do that. UNT settles too quickly in coaching hires. We have a new stadium and a not-too-distant run of success in our conference. We are in a major media market in a football-mad state. These are selling points that make us attractive to coaches. I'm OK with Canales being considered, particularly if he wins two more games, but we are not the ugly stepsister of the FBS anymore. We should weigh our options.

They are probably the worst FBS team in the past five years. They may eventually put things together at this level, but for now they are so hopeless UNT fans feel sorry for them. Seven people voted down my comment, but none of them gave a rebuttal. Canales will not fill seats. He will not excite the media or casual fans. It would be a mistake to hire him as head coach when name coaches are out there looking for an opportunity.