USF offers Leavitt lucrative extension

TAMPA -- USF athletic director Doug Woolard is taking a major step to help ensure that Jim Leavitt stays the only football coach in Bulls history, offering him a new contract that would pay him at least $12.6-million over the next seven years, a 70 percent pay raise over the next five seasons.

Leavitt agreed to a seven-year, $7-million deal in November 2005, but after two successful seasons, his new deal would average $1.8-million and extend his contract through the 2014 season.

In all, the new contract would pay him $1.5-million in 2008, nearly triple the $537,680 he made in 2005, two contracts ago.

A copy of the contract offer was obtained Thursday through public records requests; Leavitt and Woolard could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

Leavitt, who has coached the Bulls since before their first game in 1997, will also be better equipped to keep his assistant coaches, as the annual pool for their salaries would increase by $200,000 from his current contract. Leavitt lost four assistant coaches to other schools after the 2006 season, but he’s yet to lose one this spring, despite unprecedented success on the field.

The new contract would also increase the buyout required for another school to pry Leavitt from the Bulls, which had been $400,000 through the end of 2011 under his old deal. The buyout now stands at $1-million for 2008, dropping by $100,000 each year until it stops at $500,000 in 2013.

USF had the highest increase in attendance in the nation last fall, with the average crowd at Raymond James Stadium rising by more than 22,000 fans. The Bulls opened the season 6-0, rising to No. 2 in the BCS standings, but finished the season 9-4 and unranked after a 56-21 loss to Oregon in the Sun Bowl.

Comments

[Ari Hinkelberger]

Another solid move by Woolard.

Really hard to say anything but postive about Woolard.

Kinda shocked that Genshaft hasn't stepped up and given him the pay he deserves.

She needs to get on it. He doesn't really make much from an industry standard.

Guy deserves a raise.

[Dave W]

I'm pretty upset about the timing of this. The school is cutting $13 million from nowhere (the impact has been profound- unbelieveably overcrowded classes, crappy adjuncts teaching 4000 level classes, and no more supplies) and a guy who isn't going anywhere gets a raise. He didn't threaten to leave as leverage.

Leavitt is a great coach and an institution in his own right at USF. But the school (and SUS as a whole) is in dire straits right now. That $800,000 per year would be really helpful elsewhere on campus.

For alums and non-students, before you lambast me, take heed as to the mission of USF: to educate students. Since we're failing in that regard, secondary expenses, like athletics, should be tabled until the current crisis is over.

I would have supported a raise in a more favorable fiscal climate. But not right now.

[E.T. Thomas]

USF, as with all schools is to make money also - simple fact.

Leavitt is a big reason USF is making money.

Much of this money for his proposed raise is from Football; Under Armor, The Sports Co.(Greg will help me) that is paying us about $2.2 million and a huge increase in attendance alongg with a bowl payout the past 3 seasons.

Go BULLS !!!

[BasketBull]

Yo! Athletics money has nothing to do with university money: Athletics is not funded by tax dollars.

[The Truth]

Dave,

If you are so irritated about the fiscal crisis at USF and the SUS, then contact your state congress, state senate and smiling governor about the issue.

USF does not use state money to pay for the coaches.

The reason the state has less money for education is because everyone is greedy, wants less taxes but more services. Something has to give, and education always loses out first.

Everyone wants lower taxes because they do not have enough money to fuel their super sized SUV's, and do not have enough money to pay the mortgage, insurance, taxes, and utilities to own their super sized McMansions in the suburbs. Maybe if the realized that they do not need such excess, then they can afford the modest taxes that benefit all of society.

Before the "government is evil" people chime in, if a private corporation ran the SUS, the would have downsized a few campuses by closing them down, hiked up tuition rates so only the wealthy could attend, and outsourced local jobs from American citizens to foreigners overseas.

Remember who pushed for the creation of USF? That progressive thinking congressman named Sam Gibbons. The conservatives at the time did not want to expand the SUS at the time, but they were not in power. Remember that fact as you head to the polls in November. Which candidates for state positions actually support proper funding of education and have a history of that in their voting record.

[JP]

Dave, I hear your comments, but what you fail to recognize is that Leavitt brings much more money into the school than what they pay him. The Univeristy doesn't fund the football program, more the other way around. Keep Leavitt around and the money keeps coming.

[Mike Lakeland]

Dave, if you voted Yes on Amendment 1, then you have NO room to complain. USF uses tax dollars for academics and not athletics. The athletics fund themselves.

Back to the topic at hand, this is a great move by USF. We need to keep CJL at all costs. I hope he never leaves.

[Jim]

Dear The Truth;

If you want I will spend all your money for you because aparently you need someone to control your life and make decisions for you. The government is to big, and University's are examples of government. The pay the Leavitt receives is due to his work in turning this program into a success. Therefore, hardware gets reward. Downsize I agree, it needs to happen. USF is still a very very inexpensive education.

I hope that Leavitt drops his pay by a couple hundred thousand and puts that money into the assistant coaches because he can not coach the team by himself.

[Jim]

Well said Mike from Lakeland.

[G.A.]

I like that outsourcing somehow made it into this conversation. I neglected to mention that USF's new special teams coach is working by phone out of Kuala Lumpur. I think he was at Tulane last year.

[Tad]

I think both sides have great arguments, however to paraphase cee,"show him the mony"!

[SailingBull]

Dear Communist... err Socialist... err "the truth"? Remember that Sam Gibbons direction was to have a University that was more integrated with local private corporations than any other university. Making money is the key to the success for USF and is why it flourished in such a short amount of time. Like it or not Leavitt makes money.

As for your diatribe against the "evils" of consumerism... well I'd rather choke myself on Big Macs in a super sized SUV, guzzling gas by the gallons while snorting the exhaust well before handing ANY of that money over to any wasteful government... How would my excessive spending be any more evil than the government spedning it in excess on useless crap. At least I have an idea of what is better for me and my community and family than some government bureaucrat.

For the record, I do not drive a large SUV, I have a very small home in the city, I walk or bike to work whenever possible and I think my lifestyle reflects more Americans than you would like to recognize. And guess what, WE DON'T WANT A BIG GOVERNMENT!!! That includes more taxes for "services" that aren't necessary and sometimes hurtful.

As for affording school, take it from this former poor boy... get a loan and go get a degree that will give you enough of a payback to pay off that loan. If people treated school as an investment, we wouldn't have thousands of starving Social Studies and Art majors wailing about class sizes. If you can't use your degree to make more money, then it is a WASTE of money.

How about getting some sort of technical competency from a trade school... ohh yeah there's a big vacuum in this country for qualified / skilled technical labor.

[Windbane]

Dave, I expect that argument from people that don't like or follow university athletics, but it disappoints me to see your comments here. A successful football program not only pays for itself but the rest of the sports at the university. Now, this isn't true for all universities, but clearly we are getting into the top half of Div 1 that does make money. Most of the time, men's basketball is the only other sport that can make money at a University. Giving more money to football and basketball is an investment, and we are already seeing the returns in football. If you want to know more about athletic spending I suggest you take "Issues in Sport" offered by USF. It's a great class that discusses a lot of ethical topics related to sports.

This is a great move and insures that both Leavitt and his assistants are more likely to stay.

[Windbane]

There's no need for political debate here. The topic has nothing to do with politics. Go to politico.com

[Ari Hinkelberger]

Dave,

Athletic money and Education money is totally seperate. The only real funds that is drawn from the university as whole and given to the Athletic Department is the Athletic Fee that is tacked on a students tuition payment.

This whole contract reneg isn't really that complicated. From what I have read, all Wollard is really doing is taking the under armor money and a little bit of the left over money from the bowl and rolling it into CJL's contract.

This really isn't that big of a deal. Woolard needs to make sure that CJL is around because of his success and also most importantly.. CJL allows Woolard to BUILD a donor base for the athletic department. That is something that USF has never really had. They always had a smaller donor class, but what CJL and the football teams success allows Woolard to do is created a much larger donor class. If USF goes 10-2 next year I can assure you that season tickets to football will require a minimum 500 dollar donation..

WOolard is following Jeremy Foley's lead in Gainesville.. Build up the football program -- which allows you to build up the donor base -- which allows you to build up the other programs -- which eventually allows you to have a top rated athletic departmnet.

THe guy is doing a great job -- he just needs to make sure that we aren't spending more then we take in -- just in case the football team tanks over a few years and the donor dollars dry up and we end up way in the red.

[DELdaBULL]

I really think Leavitt should have won won the Big East before Woolard gave him another contract.