New Head Coach?

[gangrene]

Don't get me wrong, I think it should be a non-issue, but in the world of college recruiting, I'm sure someone will try to use that against Leavitt at his next job. I don't pretend to have any idea whether it would be an issue with recruits are not. I would think that many have been slapped on the helment by their high school coach on many occasions (hell, my pee wee coach used to do this to get our attention), but who knows.

Right, I'm agreeing with you. That last paragraph was really the only part that was in response to your quoted post. The first part was just me venting, really. To me, a hit and a slap are two totally different things and should be differentiated as such. It's something that's been bothering me the more I read about Leavitt's lawsuit. Every story about I read about the lawsuit had numerous reader comments about how horrible it was for him to "hit" a player and "grab" him by the throat. Obviously, I wasn't there so I can only speculate, but it certainly doesn't sound like Leavitt had a choke hold on the kid, nor does it sound like he threw a punch in the manner most think of when they hear the word "hit."

[Harry]

Look again this was not a court of law guys it was a internal investigation against a guy that had been there for 12 years and done nothing but good things. USF owed Leavitt a lot of money and frankly for them not to give him the benefit of the doubt given his employment record was just wrong. Knight repeatedly did things that were wrong and Leavitt really has this one issue in which he maintains his innocence. I would really be interested to know how much this kid who changed his story got paid. I know USF saved millions of dollars by reaching this verdict...quite convenient no?

[FirefightnRick]

Look again this was not a court of law guys it was a internal investigation against a guy that had been there for 12 years and done nothing but good things. USF owed Leavitt a lot of money and frankly for them not to give him the benefit of the doubt given his employment record was just wrong. Knight repeatedly did things that were wrong and Leavitt really has this one issue in which he maintains his innocence. I would really be interested to know how much this kid who changed his story got paid. I know USF saved millions of dollars by reaching this verdict...quite convenient no?

Here's the original FANHOUSE report by Brett McMurphy, that first broke the story of the incident.

Here is the follow up second report in FANHOUSE by Brett McMurphy.

Here's an interesting part of the above second report:

But the incident's impact continued to grow. "Student Athlete N," who was injured and did not travel to Louisville, learned of the incident following the game and said that the entire team was aware of it.

So a player who didn't even make the trip and couldn't have possibly seen the incident was included as one of the credible witnesses in Woolards' investigation? And what about the other 10 to 15 witnesses who were interviewed? Surely one of them said it didn't happen or in the very least that they did not see it at all? But you don't read about those in FANHOUSE because their opinions don't agree with the reporter's agenda. In fact the FANHOUSE report admits the omission:

Two of the five athletes had seen the event and described it as, "involving Coach Leavitt grabbing [Miller] by the throat with one hand and 'slapping' or 'striking' [Miller's] face with his other hand."

Two of the five? What did the other three witnesses say happened?

By the way, here is Brett McMurphy's bio on FANHOUSE.

# Brett McMurphy

# FanHouse NCAA Writer

# Brett McMurphy joined FanHouse as a senior college football and basketball writer in October 2009. Previously he spent 22 years at The Tampa Tribune and has been reporting on college athletics since 1992. He has covered the Big East Conference since 2005 and was the University of South Florida beat writer from 1999-2009. A graduate of Oklahoma State University, McMurphy also worked two years at the Odessa (Texas) American. He lives in Tampa.

Interesting isn't it that someone approaches the FORMER beat writer of the team they play or work for FIRST about an incident they witnessed? I got ten dollars say's that Brett McMurphy was fired from the Tampa Tribune for one reason or another and had a beef with Leavitt or the school's athletic department?

This whole thing was a sham. Someone in that locker room had a beef with the coach for one reason or another, and went to the first person they could think of who could start the biggest stink about it.

Rick

Edited October 25, 2010 by FirefightnRick

[gangrene]

Here's the original FANHOUSE report by Brett McMurphy, that first broke the story of the incident.

Here is the follow up second report in FANHOUSE by Brett McMurphy.

Here's an interesting part of the above second report:

So a player who didn't even make the trip and couldn't have possibly seen the incident was included as one of the credible witnesses in Woolards' investigation? And what about the other 10 to 15 witnesses who were interviewed? Surely one of them said it didn't happen or in the very least that they did not see it at all? But you don't read about those in FANHOUSE because their opinions don't agree with the reporter's agenda. In fact the FANHOUSE report admits the omission:

Two of the five? What did the other three witnesses say happened?

By the way, here is Brett McMurphy's bio on FANHOUSE.

Interesting isn't it that someone approaches the FORMER beat writer of the team they play or work for FIRST about an incident they witnessed? I got ten dollars say's that Brett McMurphy was fired from the Tampa Tribune for one reason or another and had a beef with Leavitt or the school's athletic department?

This whole thing was a sham. Someone in that locker room had a beef with the coach for one reason or another, and went to the first person they could think of who could start the biggest stink about it.

Rick

That's a pretty good theory there Rick. In fact, I think it has some merit to it. Here's what the USF forum has to say about Brett McMurphy....not exactly a smoking gun but seems to indicate the idea is not far-fetched. It's late now, but I'll definitely look into this angle a bit more tomorrow.

Title: Re: Brett McMurphy

Post by: dudesweat on January 08, 2010, 02:05:02 PM I'm sorry but this one "truth" doesn't exonerate him from the fact he's made of a ton of bullshit stories and most recently the one regarding a bogus NCAA investigation for basketball that was picked up nationwide. That false accusation into basketball should show everyone that just because Leavitt is gone, he will not stop.

He still uses everything in his power to harm our school, so **** that guy right in the face.

Title: Re: Brett McMurphy

Post by: macphisto on January 08, 2010, 02:09:41 PM Quote from: Joe on January 08, 2010, 01:58:49 PMMac,

what lawsuit?! Please.

It's hardly unprecedented to file suit for unnamed sources. Prior to the firing I didn't think anything would happen, but if Leavitt says that McMurphy's story impugned his character and also hurt his career then he can file suit and it will get to court unless settled.

McMurphy published no eyewitness accounts that were verified and Paul Miller says that his quotes were taken out of context. In civil court, McMurphy would have to out his sources and prove he didn't manipulate the quotes or suppress things that contradicted them.

It's up to Leavitt if he wants to file suit, but he can. If memory serves, I believe he has two years from publication to file suit due to the statute of limitations.

[gangrene]

One more before I sign off: mulliganslist.com

Coach Leavitt’s Firing Unnecessary and without Due Process

Posted on: Wednesday, 13 January, 2010 15:40

Updated On: Thursday, 23 September, 2010 05:13

Expires On: Wednesday, 14 January, 2037 15:40

Reply to: (Not Shown)

by Mike Mulligan

The coach of the University of South Florida, Jim Leavitt was fired on Friday, Jan 8th, for allegedly slapping a player during halftime of a game. It could go down as landmark decision in college athletics as many issues may come out of this legal battle. Leavitt’s attorneys had a news conference today at noon stating that Leavitt was not granted an opportunity for a hearing to fight the allegations, and the firing was unnecessary and unwarranted.

There is considerable background to this story. First of all the reporter who broke this story, Brett McMurphy, was fired from Tampa Tribune for his unscrupulous reporting and his ongoing dispute with coach Leavitt. His reporting of this story from Fanhouse Blog, his new employer, was simply to get back at Coach Leavitt, and create readership for Fanhouse. Coach Leavitt decided to close the practices to all media because of Brett McMurphy’s unscrupulous and unwarranted reporting when he worked as a beat writer for the Tampa Tribune.

Apparently Brett was trying to tell Leavitt how to coach and criticizing him at every turn. There were other allegations that Brett continually tried to stir up and were unfounded, simply to create a story and get back at the Coach for closing his practices to the media. The other media were upset with Brett as well since they could not get their stories because of the closed practices.

[Got5onIt]

One thing we're missing here....

Leavitt apparently did put his hands on one of his players. Punch, slap, whatever it was, something happened.

I'm all for Leavitt as the next HC for NT, the guy is a proven winner. Let's not wash his hands of all wrong doing just yet. If he is hired here, as a supporter of NT, I would want a clear story directly from Jim.

[FirefightnRick]

One thing we're missing here....

Leavitt apparently did put his hands on one of his players. Punch, slap, whatever it was, something happened.

But he wasn't accused of simply putting his hands on someone. One individual claims he saw Leavitt hold Miller around the throat and hit him in the head twice with an open hand. And some here say the only reason they have a problem with this entire thing is that Leavitt lied about it and tried to cover it up. What I'm taking from his side of the story is that he denies hitting the player in an abusive way but because he's being accused by a report created by a disgrunteld ex beat writer turned blogger, and hasn't had a chance to tell his side of the story, nor has any of the witnesses who sided with him either, then I understand him denying that the event has been misreported. If I missed this let me know as there has been a lot to read on all of it and the school and the blog's stories don't seem to match up well at times?

Rick

[Censored by Laurie]

But he wasn't accused of simply putting his hands on someone. One individual claims he saw Leavitt hold Miller around the throat and hit him in the head twice with an open hand. And some here say the only reason they have a problem with this entire thing is that Leavitt lied about it and tried to cover it up. What I'm taking from his side of the story is that he denies hitting the player in an abusive way but because he's being accused by a report created by a disgrunteld ex beat writer turned blogger, and hasn't had a chance to tell his side of the story, nor has any of the witnesses who sided with him either, then I understand him denying that the event has been misreported. If I missed this let me know as there has been a lot to read on all of it and the school and the blog's stories don't seem to match up well at times?

Rick

So...

[meangreanmick]

One thing we're missing here....

Leavitt apparently did put his hands on one of his players. ....

Let's not wash his hands of all wrong doing just yet.

Know how I know he is gay?

[untjim1995]

None of the other three candidates built a program from nothing like Leavitt did. Hell, Franchione and even Mike Leach couldn't claim that.

Rick

Here's my $.02 on Leavitt. I would be ecstatic if we hired him, just as I would a Coach Fran or Kragthorpe for the HFC position. The difference is that the latter two took over dormant losing programs and almost instantly turned them into winners. Leavitt did wonders starting up the program at USF, but he always had "promise" to sell to recruits. Leavitt knew that USF, once they were about to become a Division 1 school, was already in CUSA and that their location, Tampa, would be intriguing to other BCS leagues if "movement" occurred. He also saw the administration show an amazing commitment to moving upward in a Metro Area that had no major university to support and really only 4 other FBS schools in-state to recruit against. Maybe none of that matters and he would be a great coach here, too. But, what I fear is that Leavitt did great at USF because he literally built the thing up from the ground. Here, at UNT, we already have stuff (i.e., losing, poor conference, media apathy) that he has to come in and deal with circumstances that are completely different from his tenure at USF. Again, Coach Fran and Kragthorpe have shown the ability to come into situations that are similar to ours currently and immediately move the needle. Leavitt probably would do just fine here because he is an outstanding coach, but I worry that his previous head coaching job was completely different from anything he will jump into in his next endeavor.

Edited October 25, 2010 by untjim1995

[NT80]

Here's my $.02 on Leavitt. I would be ecstatic if we hired him, just as I would a Coach Fran or Kragthorpe for the HFC position. The difference is that the latter two took over dormant losing programs and almost instantly turned them into winners. Leavitt did wonders starting up the program at USF, but he always had "promise" to sell to recruits. Leavitt knew that USF, once they were about to become a Division 1 school, was already in CUSA and that their location, Tampa, would be intriguing to other BCS leagues if "movement" occurred. He also saw the administration show an amazing commitment to moving upward in a Metro Area that had no major university to support and really only 4 other FBS schools in-state to recruit against. Maybe none of that matters and he would be a great coach here, too. But, what I fear is that Leavitt did great at USF because he literally built the thing up from the ground. Here, at UNT, we already have stuff (i.e., losing, poor conference, media apathy) that he has to come in and deal with circumstances that are completely different from his tenure at USF. Again, Coach Fran and Kragthorpe have shown the ability to come into situations that are similar to ours currently and immediately move the needle. Leavitt probably would do just fine here because he is an outstanding coach, but I worry that his previous head coaching job was completely different from anything he will jump into in his next endeavor.

Kragthorpe ruined Louisville after doing well at Tulsa. Watching the Louisville Cincy game a couple weeks ago the announcers commented on how the fan atmosphere around Louisville is great again and so much better than when Kragthorpe was there. He would not be on my list to take over here.

[UNTLifer]

Joey Florence?

[buff64]

Once again , why is everyone promoting coaches that are out of work ? It appears that no one thinks UNT can hire anyone that still has a job. I don't believe that, UNT has a lot to offer and would be a great opportunity for many coaches. I think we should pursue coaches that are sucessful in their present position.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Once again , why is everyone promoting coaches that are out of work ? It appears that no one thinks UNT can hire anyone that still has a job. I don't believe that, UNT has a lot to offer and would be a great opportunity for many coaches. I think we should pursue coaches that are sucessful in their present position.

Throw out a name/names. We'll banter about him/them. Heck, Bellotti has a thread with 6 replies.

I think the simple fact is, the successful coaches who are out of work are the ones who would consider us and may be more affordable. Usually hiring a coach away from a successful program includes buyout clauses and such, and unless we hear a leak from a reputable source that we are going to be offering upwards of $1mil, then I doubt we're luring away any successful coaches right now (unless you're looking FCS or below).

[FirefightnRick]

Once again , why is everyone promoting coaches that are out of work ? It appears that no one thinks UNT can hire anyone that still has a job. I don't believe that, UNT has a lot to offer and would be a great opportunity for many coaches. I think we should pursue coaches that are sucessful in their present position.

All coaches get fired. There's nothing wrong with that. And there have been several coaches who are currently working(lower division or assistants) that have already been listed including some from Oklahoma and TCU. It's just this one time we have a chance to go after someone who previously had their backs against the wall and turned that into success on their own at this level.

This is too important of a hire for North Texas to rely on the usual On The Job Training as we have in the past. And going after an assistant who has never been a DI head coach, or a head coach from a lower division who also had never been a DI head coach would be doing exactly that, On The Job Training. We can't afford that now and the administration knows it.

Rick

Edited October 26, 2010 by FirefightnRick

[EagleMBA]

Once again , why is everyone promoting coaches that are out of work ? It appears that no one thinks UNT can hire anyone that still has a job. I don't believe that, UNT has a lot to offer and would be a great opportunity for many coaches. I think we should pursue coaches that are sucessful in their present position.

We made the decision to terminate the coach and timed it so that we can openly recruit and hire a coach to be on the ground here ASAP. We need recruiting NOW...YESTERDAY! Failure to get in gear will result in another minimal recruiting class and the consequences of that down the road. Coaches with the character we demand are not going to bail on their teams before the end of the season, and if they are really successful that might be after the bowls. We must act decisively now on what is available...and there is a lot of coaching expertise available and ready to hit the ground running. Git 'er done!!

[NT80]

This is too important of a hire for North Texas to rely on the usual On The Job Training as we have in the past. And going after an assistant who has never been a DI head coach, or a head coach from a lower division who also had never been a DI head coach would be doing exactly that, On The Job Training. We can't afford that now and the administration knows it.

This.

[kj86]

I essentially knew nothing about any of the candidates that have been mentioned on here, so I did a little research on my own and my three favorites are...

John L Smith - name recognition, head coaching experience at big-time programs, good record.

Terry Bowden - see John L Smith.

Mark Stoops - name recognition, has older brother to mentor him, might keep Canales on to run offense.

Also, all 3 are currently employed as coaches, which I prefer over some of these guys who've been out of coaching for a while.

[Aquila_Viridis]

My impression from what I read about Leavitt is, I was more concerned about his reported active efforts to cover up the incident.

[Green Mean]

Once again , why is everyone promoting coaches that are out of work ? It appears that no one thinks UNT can hire anyone that still has a job. I don't believe that, UNT has a lot to offer and would be a great opportunity for many coaches. I think we should pursue coaches that are sucessful in their present position.

I don't like this argument. I got laid off when the economy's bubble bursted and couldn't find a job for about 6 months and so many companies questioned me and didn't hire me because I had a long gap from working so to speak. So just because they are out of work doesn't mean they wouldn't be the best candidate for the open position here. Everybody deserves a shot no matter if they are working or not. And besides a guy like Leavitt or Fran aren't suffering being out of jobs. They are proven coaches with skins on the wall.