Greg Auman, St Petersburg Times, Take On The

[MizzouTigers]

I was in no way, shape or form a expert on the Leavuitt firing before he became a candidate for out HC job, and I still am not. But I can tell when something smells funny, and this entire situation, IMHO, is starting to appear pretty trumped up.

Now add in the fact Doug Woolard is an athletic director that is in only his second stint as an AD and the first with a football program. Before he was at a basketball school, St Louis University. He is also friends with Slimy Lew Perkins at Kansas who had just fired Mangino, except Slimy Lew at least had the cajones to come to the table and negotiate a settlement. Not only has Dirty Doug Woolard refuse to negotiate a settlement,he has refused to even pay Leavitt's one month salary if he is fired for cause.

[TheTastyGreek]

I was in no way, shape or form a expert on the Leavuitt firing before he became a candidate for out HC job, and I still am not. But I can tell when something smells funny, and this entire situation, IMHO, is starting to appear pretty trumped up.

Free Mumia?

[wardly]

The problem here, again, is that the school found that Leavitt interfered with the the investigation and intimidated some of the witnesses. He was fired on three counts.

Joel Miller did admit to fearing for his position on the team, as did others, and originally tried to cover to Leavitt. He stopped doing so in January of 2010.

Leavitt and his attorney are fighting the windmills of their minds. He'll probably begin to realize this even moreso as schools question him and his agent, and he remains unemployed.

As an athletic director, I'd be hesitant about hiring a guy in a pending lawsuit with student abuse as the main issue being led by an ambulance chaser. Bad publicity isn't worth it. Plenty of team win without coaches choking or hitting their players then lawyering up with doctor baiters.

So, the official record - until such time as a trial court find differently, or Leavitt wises up and settles with the University under a no liability admitted term - remains that he grabbed a player by the throat and hit him twice for missing a block.

Besides, we're not so desperate now that we've got to resort to hiring guys with unresolved legal problems. We're proving that an assistant with no prior head coaching experience can take a team rife with injuries and players he didn't recruit and win here. And, each win makes us less desperate.

Hire us a guy who wants to coach football. Let Leavitt and Leach go play Ally McBeal.

good post.

[MizzouTigers]

good post.

You can't be serious.

[eulessismore]

You can't be serious.

He's a faithful supporter of our athletic programs, and will be here a long time after you're gone. Have you ever even been a student, employee, or otherwise associated with the University of North Texas? Can't us North Texas guys just fight among ourselves without a bunch of outsiders? I'm serious.

[MizzouTigers]

He's a faithful supporter of our athletic programs, and will be here a long time after you're gone. Have you ever even been a student, employee, or otherwise associated with the University of North Texas? Can't us North Texas guys just fight among ourselves without a bunch of outsiders? I'm serious.

Please define "faithful supporter."

[FirefightnRick]

Please define "faithful supporter."

He was recognized at the basketball game last night during a timeout for his contribution to the school, although unfortunately it happened right at a critical time in the game and you couldn't hear yourself think from the crowd noise and we missed what exactly it was for.

I never got a chance to say after our win over the Red Raiders, so Congrats Wardly for the recognition.

Rick

[wardly]

He was recognized at the basketball game last night during a timeout for his contribution to the school, although unfortunately it happened right at a critical time in the game and you couldn't hear yourself think from the crowd noise and we missed what exactly it was for.

I never got a chance to say after our win over the Red Raiders, so Congrats Wardly for the recognition.

Rick

thanks for the good words. unt wants to recognize a mean green booster at each basketball game, and were down to the w's in the directory when they called me. one of the strengths of gomeangreen.com is that while we may agree to disagree , we all want whats best for our university, and hopefully can respect each others opinions when we differ. our passion for north texas is our common denominator, and sometimes it causes us to post coments[aka little d...s] that in the light of day might of been better left unsaid. as long as we don't take ourselves too seriously, this board can be a lot of fun and informative.

[wardly]

Please define "faithful supporter."

you know. like a faithful old dog.

[VideoEagle]

you know. like a faithful old dog.

Hope NT treats all of us better than Old Yeller.

[MizzouTigers]

He was recognized at the basketball game last night during a timeout for his contribution to the school, although unfortunately it happened right at a critical time in the game and you couldn't hear yourself think from the crowd noise and we missed what exactly it was for.

I never got a chance to say after our win over the Red Raiders, so Congrats Wardly for the recognition.

Rick

Not wardly, The Fake Lonnie Linch. It was TFLL's post wardly said was a good post. I thought maybe wardly was being sarcastic. Surely wardly doesn't believe the tripe TFLL puts out?

Edited November 17, 2010 by MizzouTigers

[PlummMeanGreen]

Hope NT treats all of us better than Old Yeller.

Now you done gone and done it VideoEagle.

As a kid, my late sis' took me to see that Walt Disney horror movie of a dog that has to get shot-gunned down due to rabis and to be honest, I have not been the same since. (I have 3 dogs who are my most spoiled kids who get Greenies for treats "and bad breath" every day of the year).

[wardly]

at this point in my life, i will believe about anything. i am not going to debate levitts guilt or innocense. he did an excellent job from all reports building a program from the ground up. however, i just don't think s.fla. would fire him without cause. regardless,and this is just based upon my business career, i personaly would not hire anyone who is sueing his previous employer. once the smoke clears in a year or so he could be able to return to coaching depending upon the outcome of his lawsuit. north texas should not put themselves in a position of having to defend the termination of their new head coach at his last program. i will leave it to our armchair attornies to debate the right and wrong of his situation, but as we enter into our new stadium , he just brings baggage that we don't need right now. again, just as opinion.

[untjim1995]

at this point in my life, i will believe about anything. i am not going to debate levitts guilt or innocense. he did an excellent job from all reports building a program from the ground up. however, i just don't think s.fla. would fire him without cause. regardless,and this is just based upon my business career, i personaly would not hire anyone who is sueing his previous employer. once the smoke clears in a year or so he could be able to return to coaching depending upon the outcome of his lawsuit. north texas should not put themselves in a position of having to defend the termination of their new head coach at his last program. i will leave it to our armchair attornies to debate the right and wrong of his situation, but as we enter into our new stadium , he just brings baggage that we don't need right now. again, just as opinion.

Wardly, I want to say two things. First off, thank you for being a great fan of UNT and for your support. I have both agreed and disagreed (probably too strongly) with you on several of your thoughts over time here at GMG.com, but this post is your best ever. I feel like Leavitt will be a fine coach and I wouldn't mind seeing him hired here. But to think he is just purely innocent in all of this just seems naive. Not saying he is purely guilty either, so don't get mad FFR!! But to have some guy come over and shamelessly promote Leavitt as the best hire for our opening and then demean other posters is what bothers most of us. And, I will say this, to add to your point wardly, if the university decides not to stir up this mess with Leavitt because of his lawsuit, I am just fine with that.

[rcade]

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.

[forevereagle]

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.

If you felt that someone was ruining your good name and the only way to get them to take back what they are saying is through court, would you give up so easily? I wouldn't. As long as it is not only about the money, then I don't see how his judgment is bad.

[Cerebus]

If you felt that someone was ruining your good name and the only way to get them to take back what they are saying is through court, would you give up so easily? I wouldn't. As long as it is not only about the money, then I don't see how his judgment is bad.

Really? You guys would be fine if you current employer promised to pay you then decided to fire you just to not fulfill the payment? You should just shrug your shoulders and forget about it?

If so, I have some work that needs to be done around my house, how open are your weekends?

[Monkeypox]

If I had someone tell me they didn't care why I got fired and would hire me right now regardless, I'm not sure I would care enough to give up a year or two's worth of income to continue to fight that battle. Doesn't mean I don't care. Just means it's not worth it.

[forevereagle]

Really? You guys would be fine if you current employer promised to pay you then decided to fire you just to not fulfill the payment? You should just shrug your shoulders and forget about it?

If so, I have some work that needs to be done around my house, how open are your weekends?

I said only.

[Cerebus]

You guys are forgetting the allegations are also depressing the amount he can command on the market. He needs to clear his name to be afforded the opportunities and pay he was making before.

So unless you are ok with your employers not paying you, then creating a situation where you can never earn as much as you did before, then you have to see why Leavitt is fighting this.

Besides, even if we are talking "only about the money", it's still almost 10 Million Dollars.

[Monkeypox]

You guys are forgetting the allegations are also depressing the amount he can command on the market. He needs to clear his name to be afforded the opportunities and pay he was making before.

The lawsuit itself is also depressing the amount he can command on the market. There are a number of teams that won't touch him with a 10-ft pole right now. There's a number that, win or lose, aren't going to take someone who's sued their former employer, worried he's a guy who'll hold a grudge if fired for ANY reason.

As far as clearing his name, it's a pipe dream. No matter what happens, those that believe him will go on believing him. Those that don't, won't. The only group that gains strength from this are those that just want him to move on. That's how a court trial works. Both sides end up looking uglier to the public than they did before, and everyone tires of hearing it.

I think Jim Leavitt is an outstanding coach. I believe something DID happen, but that Leavitt's been railroaded. But at this time, he's not doing anything to help himself get his next job. He clearly has no interest in moving on at this point in time. That's his decision, but I think it's a poor one. In the end, it very well could benefit a team willing to take a chance on him now. On the other hand, it could also provide an unnecessary distraction for the first year or two he's at that next stop.

[Green Mean]

at this point in my life, i will believe about anything. i am not going to debate levitts guilt or innocense. he did an excellent job from all reports building a program from the ground up. however, i just don't think s.fla. would fire him without cause. regardless,and this is just based upon my business career, i personaly would not hire anyone who is sueing his previous employer. once the smoke clears in a year or so he could be able to return to coaching depending upon the outcome of his lawsuit. north texas should not put themselves in a position of having to defend the termination of their new head coach at his last program. i will leave it to our armchair attornies to debate the right and wrong of his situation, but as we enter into our new stadium , he just brings baggage that we don't need right now. again, just as opinion.

I am just not sure about that. AD's and administrations tend to get VERY knee jerky and the motives could be panic, money etc. Just my thought.

[gangrene]

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.

It hasn't even been one year since he was fired on January 8, 2010. He didn't file the lawsuit until March 15, so it's been two days over eight months. And...how many FBS head coaching positions have become available since January 8, 2010? Aside from the frenzy created when Lane Kiffin left Tennessee on January 15, 2010, I count three, including ours, and all three are still open....not exactly what I'd call "killing his attempts to get another head coaching job."

[gangrene]

You guys are forgetting the allegations are also depressing the amount he can command on the market. He needs to clear his name to be afforded the opportunities and pay he was making before.

So unless you are ok with your employers not paying you, then creating a situation where you can never earn as much as you did before, then you have to see why Leavitt is fighting this.

Besides, even if we are talking "only about the money", it's still almost 10 Million Dollars.

Yes, and yes. If not for these factors, we'd wouldn't even be mentioned as a credible possibility for Leavitt.

[rcade]

If you felt that someone was ruining your good name and the only way to get them to take back what they are saying is through court, would you give up so easily?

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.