Three Big Reasons For Leavitt

Pen Yan Fan · October 22, 2010

-Jim Leavitt is intensely loyal. While he was a head coach at USF, he was reportedly courted by Alabama, Miami, and Kansas State. Each time he decided to stick with USF.

-Leavitt is a defensive minded coach. The last four head coaches hired at UNT have all been offensive minded and all failed to produce wins. Dennis Parker, Matt Simon, Darrell Dickey and finally Todd Dodge. Defense wins championships. Hiring Leavitt will instantly make the UNT defense better.

-Leavitt is an outstanding recruiter. He routinely sent players to the NFL and his defensive line was incredibly talented which is the reason USF beat teams such as #5 West Virginia among others. In December of 2008, USF had 15 former players in the NFL.

Edited October 22, 2010 by Pen Yan Fan

Harry · October 22, 2010

Good post Pen Yen - I too like Leavitt and the thing about it is I love is his energy and passion for the game. He is also as you point out an outstanding recruiter. He's a guy that is going to give you 120% of everything he has.

He's also delegates and can attract outstanding assistants like our current HC.

The coaching possibilities this time around with the improvements to facilities make this fun! There are quite a few outstanding possibilities but to me Leavitt has got to be right up there on the list.

MizzouTigers · October 22, 2010

-Jim Leavitt is intensely loyal. While he was a head coach at USF, he was reportedly courted by Alabama, Miami, and Kansas State. Each time he decided to stick with USF.

-Leavitt is a defensive minded coach. The last four head coaches hired at UNT have all been offensive minded and all failed to produce wins. Dennis Parker, Matt Simon, Darrell Dickey and finally Todd Dodge. Defense wins championships. Hiring Leavitt will instantly make the UNT defense better.

-Leavitt is an outstanding recruiter. He routinely sent players to the NFL and his defensive line was incredibly talented which is the reason USF beat teams such as #5 West Virginia among others. In December of 2008, USF had 15 former players in the NFL.

He wasn't just courted by Alabama and Kansas State, he was offered both jobs and turned them down flat. Mal Moore was absolutely stunned and could not believe someone would turn down by gawd Alabama!

It could be said that Hurricane Wilma may be to blame for Kansas State not getting Leavitt. USF's first homegame was postponed until the end of the season because of Wilma, so this caused their season to end late. Bill Snyder offered him the job before the season was over and Jim told him he wanted to focus on his last couple of games before he wanted to make a decision. Snyder kept pressing him so Jim finally told him no. I walked into his office a few days later and he said, "I just turned down $7,000,000.00." I told him that wasn't such a big deal because the government would take half of it and leave him with only $3,500,000.00 anyway.

Tom Osborne flew to Tampa to interview Jim for the Nebraska job after they ran that NFL coach out of town, but he pretty much knew Bo Pelini had the inside track on the job. Osborne said he wanted to come down and meet Jim in person to see what all the buzz was about.

To say Jim Leavitt is intense about football would be an understatement.

Edited October 22, 2010 by MizzouTigers

gangrene · October 22, 2010

He wasn't just courted by Alabama and Kansas State, he was offered both jobs and turned them down flat. Mal Moore was absolutely stunned and could not believe someone would turn down by gawd Alabama!

It could be said that Hurricane Wilma may be to blame for Kansas State not getting Leavitt. USF's first homegame was postponed until the end of the season because of Wilma, so this caused their season to end late. Bill Snyder offered him the job before the season was over and Jim told him he wanted to focus on his last couple of games before he wanted to make a decision. Snyder kept pressing him so Jim finally told him no. I walked into his office a few days later and he said, "I just turned down $7,000,000.00." I told him that wasn't such a big deal because the government would take half of it and leave him with only $3,500,000.00 anyway.

Tom Osborne flew to Tampa to interview Jim for the Nebraska job after they ran that NFL coach out of town, but he pretty much knew Bo Pelini had the inside track on the job. Osborne said he wanted to come down and meet Jim in person to see what all the buzz was about.

To say Jim Leavitt is intense about football would be an understatement.

Leavitt has my vote. There aren't many coaches who can claim the #2 BCS ranking; to have two of them currently out of work (Leach - 2008 and Leavitt - 2007) and on our coach's wish list is great. To actually hire one of them would be a dream come true.

FirefightnRick · October 22, 2010

I walked into his office a few days later and he said, "I just turned down $7,000,000.00." I told him that wasn't such a big deal because the government would take half of it and leave him with only $3,500,000.00 anyway.

That is some major green. If true Leavitt, like Leach, may be out of our price range.

Rick

bstnsportsfan3 · October 22, 2010

That is some major green. If true Leavitt, like Leach, may be out of our price range.

Rick

Actually this is good for us....it shows that he doesn't care about the money! If he wants to come here and we offer...i think he will.

NM Green · October 22, 2010

He strikes me as a leader who loves a challenge and UNT sure is a challenge with huge upswing. You get a chance to bring your expertise and game to one of the richest recruiting grounds in the country. You get to share the headlines with June Jones and the #4 team in the country. You are in the home of the Dallas Cowboys and World Series bound Rangers. You get to open a brand spanking new palace, the newest in college football, get the Mean Green back into SBC contention and get us moved up to a bigger league or into one of the Big 6. It screams Awesome Opportunity! Do not underestimate how appealing this opportunity is. It is an opportunity to create a national program in a new nest, with a massive fanbase waiting to erupt.

GOMEANGREEN!!!!!

MeanGreenHoops · October 22, 2010

Leavitt is the answer. However, I agree with what harry said on another thread. The university needs to step up and pay. If the university finally does this, then things at UNT will be forever changed.

It's easy to take shots at our alumni for not giving, but really why should we. When the university has never shown that it cares why should we. I don't know about you but I work hard for my money and NT is my sole outlet for giving back in the form of financial support. But if the university doesn't care, it would be like me giving to someone who may just throw my money away. I know countless guys who follow what's going on but don't care because it doesn't seem like the university is serious. I think this is a bigger hurdle to clear than the conference we are in. The opportunity is there to get a do over with the new stadium, put some money behind a cauch and you make alums start thinking, hmm maybe they are serious and I should give it a second chance. Because even with the improvement in season tickets and attendance it's a slow grow. We need a kick start and this would be it.

I actually hope that when we do hire Leavitt or whomever that the contract comes out and people go whoa. It would do more than the stadium to create a change in culture.

akriesman · October 22, 2010

Leavitt is far and away at the top of my wish list (agree with Pen). USF is exactly the kind of school that UNT should be following by example right now. Plus, already having Canales here would certainly help with the transition.

Something else.....

A lot of guys here keep going on about needing somebody that has Texas recruiting ties. Well, Leavitt has Florida recruiting ties, another football hotbed state. He might be able to bring in a quality player ot two from Florida as a bonus.

I don't know if Leavitt will be taken seriously by RV. And, Leavitt may not have any interest in the job. But, he is the guy that I am crossing my fingers and hoping for.

MizzouTigers · October 22, 2010

That is some major green. If true Leavitt, like Leach, may be out of our price range.

Rick

Jim will be the first to tell you it's not about money, but he also wants to live a certain lifestyle and be paid what he's worth. He started working at USF for $75,000 but grew the program and his salary to $1.8 million per. UNT has some incredible potential lying dormant and Jim is a cash cow that will earn enough to get his salary where it should be in a few short years.

Green Mean · October 22, 2010

If Leavitt wants to come here then there should be no hesitation in giving him a contract to sign on the dotted line. He is tailor made for this job because it will be like starting from the ground up but with a brand new stadium and athletic center and facilities all around. What he did at USF was amazing and he is the reason they are in a BCS conference. If he can do that there then certainly he will excel in the Sunbelt and improve our chances at a much better conference.

MeanGreenTexan · October 22, 2010

I think a big reason that many of us consider Leavitt (aside from what he did at SF) is his working relationship with coach Canales, and the assumption that if he came here, coach Canales would also stick around.

I really hope this doesn't happen, but: What if coach Canales loses the team over the next few weeks? Would we really want him to stick around? More importantly, would the players want him around anymore?

I think if coach Canales can get the team playing well, then Leavitt would move up to a clear-cut #1 for me assuming he would keep Canales as his OC. If the team loses their will to win under Canales, then give me the Franchione father-son duo over the Leavitt-Canales duo.

Green Mean · October 22, 2010

I think a big reason that many of us consider Leavitt (aside from what he did at SF) is his working relationship with coach Canales, and the assumption that if he came here, coach Canales would also stick around.

I really hope this doesn't happen, but: What if coach Canales loses the team over the next few weeks? Would we really want him to stick around? More importantly, would the players want him around anymore?

I think if coach Canales can get the team playing well, then Leavitt would move up to a clear-cut #1 for me assuming he would keep Canales as his OC. If the team loses their will to win under Canales, then give me the Franchione father-son duo over the Leavitt-Canales duo.

I don't know if Canales will lose the players because it is quite possible that the season has lost many players. Even if we go 0'fer the rest of the season under Canales, getting Leavitt here will be refreshing and he will be the guy in charge and assuming he keeps Canales, there wouldn't be a problem with him being the OC next year under Leavitt.

MeanGreenHoops · October 22, 2010

I think a big reason that many of us consider Leavitt (aside from what he did at SF) is his working relationship with coach Canales, and the assumption that if he came here, coach Canales would also stick around.

I really hope this doesn't happen, but: What if coach Canales loses the team over the next few weeks? Would we really want him to stick around? More importantly, would the players want him around anymore?

I think if coach Canales can get the team playing well, then Leavitt would move up to a clear-cut #1 for me assuming he would keep Canales as his OC. If the team loses their will to win under Canales, then give me the Franchione father-son duo over the Leavitt-Canales duo.

By play well do you mean win? Because there aren't many wins left on the schedule with the injuries we've had.

MeanGreenHoops · October 22, 2010

Something else interesting though, what if Canales wants the job? Canales would be a good resource for RV to find out what what Leavitts really all about but if he wants the job too, it would be difficult to go there. Hopefully he doesn't and can help recruit Leavitt on both sides.

MeanGreenTexan · October 22, 2010

By play well do you mean win? Because there aren't many wins left on the schedule with the injuries we've had.

I understand that.

I think we all can recognize when the players give up on the team. It is apparent, even after all of the injuries that the guys had a will to win (except maybe for the Army game). If Canales can keep that spirit going (I think WKU and ULM are definitely winable games), then I would be fine with him staying around. BUT, if we see the guys start to give up on the year and play without that will to win, it will probably be reflected in the score and by the play on the field.

I don't want to see that, but if it happens, I wouldn't want to bring Canales back either.