Leavitt must go? Alum's site seeks firing

As USF has dropped four of its last five games, you've probably heard that a site has been launched calling for the firing of USF coach Jim Leavitt. We tracked down the founder of JimLeavittMustGo.com, speaking by phone and trading e-mails with Adam Goldman, a 33-year-old USF alum who lives in Coral Springs.

It's impressive, first, that the site was registered before the current three-game losing streak. Goldman registered it Oct. 3, the day after USF's first loss of the season, against Pittsburgh. Goldman said he's been a Bulls fan since his college days, making it up to Tampa for the Kansas and Syracuse games and watching the Bulls in Miami against Florida International.

"The site just came out of weekly conversations with my buddies, of our frustration, seeing the team start out well then having things falling apart," Goldman said. "When I looked up USF's conference record (8-8 in Conference USA, 13-13 in Big East), that's what put me over the edge. To see a .500 record, the wins agaisnt Kansas and Auburn don't mean anything if you're losing to Cincinnati and Rutgers. You should own those schools."

The likelihood of Leavitt getting fired is likely very low, not only because he's the only coach in the program's history, signed to a seven-year contract earlier this year, but also because his contract would call for USF to pay for 75 percent of his remaining salary if fired without cause, which would work out to about $8.3-million after this season.

Goldman, who graduated from USF in 1998 with a degree in communications, stressed that he appreciates what Leavitt has done in bringing USF to national rankings and prominence in a BCS conference.

"It's nothing against Coach Leavitt," he said. "I'm thankful for where he's taken the program. I'm just not sure he can take it to the next level."

Asked who he would like to see coaching in Leavitt's place, Goldman said he doesn't have the knowledge to know the best person, but wrote that "I would want the school to go after someone who would recruit players with good character and discipline. Right now, some of the kids we get lack a little bit of those qualities."

Goldman's site had a poll asking if Leavitt should be fired -- after 750 votes, 50 percent had answered "no," with 43 percent saying he should. The poll has since been taken down, though the site has added a message board.

Again, public sentiment to have Leavitt fired is only so strong -- the domain FireJimLeavitt.com is registered to a company that has more than 20 similar sites for sale -- the Leavitt one has an asking price of just $100, and still no takers. For comparison, it's the same price as FireWillMuschamp.com, which refers to the Texas defensive coordinator recently named as coach-in-waiting behind Mack Brown at Texas.

"I want to stress, though, that I love Leavitt and am very happy with what he has done," Goldman writes. "I just want what is best for the program."

Comments

[DJL]

I do have to say this, ... I will definitely disappointed if there are not wholesale changes on the offensive side of the ball. I think I have a lot of Bulls with me on this, ...
Nothing personal against GG.

[Blake]

I agree with you DJL, many changes to the staff need to be made, but calling for the firing of Leavitt at this point in time is asinine. People like this guy, are why our fanbase has such a difficult time getting respect.

[Scott]

If Leavitt doesn't make changes during this off season then I agree that it's time to make a change.

[Stephen]

We need a New Offensive Coordinator ... Our players move the ball great up and down the field, but we can't score inside the 10. We will never be a championship team if we can't score consistently while in the red zone.

I first called for a new offensive coordinator back in 2005 when we lost to Connecticut in the final seconds of the game because we could not get in the end zone from the one yard line. Its happened many times since then, we get to the one yard line and we have to settle for a field goal.

Many of the plays on offense are so predictable, nothing fun or different; except for the occasional razzle-dazzle double reverse that almost always ends in a tackle for loss.

Keep Leavitt, Ditch Gregory

[NickLurby]

Keep Leavitt. He's first rate, period.
Learn from mistakes and make changes.
Simple.

[Unix Pimp]

Did this guy hire a 3rd grader to design his website?

To quote this website, you know what is "immature and undisciplined"? The person who designed this website.

That is the ugliest website I have seen in a long time.

Tell these clowns their 15 minutes of fame are over. I hope this putz loves living in Coral Springs, where the speed limit of every major road is 35 MPH. Dork!

[G.A.]

Stephen, you understand that USF has changed offensive coordinators since '05, right?

[Offensive changes]

i think the sentiment is unanimous, the offense has become far to antiquated. Everyone can point fingers- play calling, substitutions, personnel usage, schemes, adjustments (lack of). At the end of the day the offense is broke, and you can tell when you face opponents that are familiar like conference foes. They're reading us like a book, and at the end to make games respectable it comes down to Grothe running around and trying to create.

The defense is fine, and overall program is fine. Mr. Goldman needs to look in the mirror about making cracks on player 'character' because he's displaying such a limited amount himself. This is BCS football, look at UF, look at FSU, how many arrests or off-field issues? USF has had none the past 18 months....Leavitt IS IMPROVING THE CALIBER OF HIS TEAM's CHARACTER.

[Tom]

Leavitt can take us to next level IF he is willing to make changes. He has loyalty issues that hinders him from allowing the most talented players to play the most (i.e. Mike Ford). Sad to say but I don't think the OC will be replaced in the offseason (loyalty issue). There's a reason Gregory never had a high profile job...

[Usf4Life]

I happen to agree with what Goldman is saying. Its not about off field carracter issues, i think people are missing the point. How many times do we have a bad penelty to stop a drive or keep a drive alive for the oppononent. Thats the lack of discipline i think he is refering to. I dont think Jim should be fired, but he does need to take some control and improve his team.

[Bull Daly]

This guy just wants to make some money of the website. For the most part, Leavitt's team has good character this season as they have no off the field issues like some of the programs such ast Penn St, FSU, and UF. You have to look at this year as being hurt with so many injuries. Our OL has not been good whether that has to do with injuries or just the lack of depth. When you cant run block, you are going to be in trouble trying to score when you are inside the 10 yard line. It is much harder to have to pass for a TD when you are that close because the defense does not have to cover as much ground. Face it folk, not having Ford and Taylor healthy has really put our season down the drain. Grothe cant do it all himself. We cant just put the blame on Gregory as there were a lot of dropped passes in that Cincy game.

[Jess]

GO BULLS, but Leavitt must go!!!!!

Every year its more excuseses.

Who is the last player to actually improve under this coaching staff?

Where is Mike Ford?

Dropped passes, offside penalties, personal fouls, bad decisions by QB, bad clock management... Glad I am not the only one to notice whats going on. Kudos to the site for having guts to say what a lot of us have been thinking.

[JR131]

I agrree he should go but who would be a better choice?

[fontata711]

Offense sucks, defense sucks in big games, players making to many mental mistakes, team playing down to competition, it all leads to one thing. Jimleavittmustgo

[cjackson]

It seems we can beat anyone in week 2 of the season but when the games really matter (ie conference games) we can't beat anyone except Syracuse.

We are far from being a top 25 team and the sooner we all realize this, the happier we all will be with the job Coach Leavitt is doing just to get us in the conversation.

go bulls!

[bullrunner]

WE SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN IAA AND DOMINATED :)

[Ari Hinkelberger]

Leavitt must go huh??

What a total moron.

Jim Leavitt could have gone to just about any place he wanted last year and he stayed. How about some loyalty to the guy that put USF Athletics on the map??

Shameful. The built the program from the weeds up and you want to kick him off the bus because our secondary sucks and we don't have a decent reciever.

He had an assistant pool of about 500k for 10 years and everyone is mad that he can't bring in high price talent to runt he offense.

His assitant pool wasn't even as big as what the University of Texas pays Will Muschamp - their defensive coordinator.

Totall freakin clueless these people.

Jim Leavitt must GO??! who do you think is going to replace him. YOu guys act like USF is Notre Dame or something. We are damn lucky to even have Jim Leavitt. The guy could have bailed for Bama, K-State, Iowa, Indiana and prob upcoming Tenn.

You don't even know who butters the bread around here.

Laughable. The Guy is all we got!

[AnhVu Nguyen]

Leavitt has done a lot but he will not take us any further. He can build a program but he is not a champion maker. Fire him and the rest of his staff, hire the offensive coordinator from Texas Tech and let B.J. Daniels take over. Grothe makes too many mistakes and dumb plays.

[Ari Hinkelberger]

The University of Texas pays Will Muschamp 900K BUCKS!

FSU pays Jimbo Fisher over a million dollars!

Burnham makes like 200k. 400% less then Muschamp.

You guys are idiots.

Leavitt is the man! He just needs some decent reciever, a CB to dump Tyler Roberts, and Offensive Coordinator who has been around championship teams to intill some vison and discipline.

I think he should go woo Josh Heupel the QB Coach at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops! Guy would be a perfect fit to call the plays.

[Ari is spot on]

Ari speaks many truths...I am only advocating some offensive staff moves....particularly now that Leavitt has dollars sufficient enough to attract capable talent. The offense is stale, and predictable. Leavitt and his defense does not deserve to be held out to dry waiting for the offense and it's staff to 'get it'.

A change or two at the key offensive staff, maybe even move Canales to coordinator, and we should be right back on track. Especially with the talent infusion coming in...wait until guys like Pupello, Ford, Stirrups, and Anthony Hill really get going.

[MichaelBarrow]

Leavitt = Schottenheimer

he cannot get us to the promised land, lets face it. Great guy and great coach but cant get it done!!!!!

[MexicanAvenger]

I guess if Leavitt should stay because he built the team...shouldn't Larry Rothchild still be managing the Rays? Anyone still want that?

Ari good call on Huepel, I still believe Canales could do it too. He was OC at Zona in the initial lean years under Stoops, was unfairly thrown under the bus.

Nguyen is an idiot...one of those ignorant know nothing college sports fans. Hey Nguyen where were you the past 6-7 years when Texas Tech and Leach's teams proverbially went 8-4/7-5, and the offense always sputtered against good teams. TT fans had patience, and sense and were handsomely rewarded. Especially when Leach recognized his weakness and fired his defensive coordinator last year, the difference is a better TT defense, and a better TT team. Texas tech, and Leach's offense were not always the world beaters you see today.

[RR]

I absolutely LOVE the old injuries excuse cropping up from our fans, and yes, EVEN OUR HEAD COACH.

Now THAT is shameful, Ari.

What, did all you excuse makers (including you, Coach Leavitt) think we were playing badminton here? It's FOOTBALL for crying out loud! You anticipate injuries...KEY injuries going into the season!! If you can't handle them, you are either:

a) Severely lacking depth
b) Lacking discipline as a team
c) Not worth your salaries as coaches
d) All of the above

The correct answer, boys and girls, is "D."

[rjossefer]

The site sucks and is stupid, but does make a valid point.

[Jeez not again]

Hey Mexican that's a stupid analogy.

Rothchild is in the pros, he's given luxury's college coaches like Leavitt couldn't dream about. Leavitt worked out of trailers, did you know that 2/3'rds of his assistants the first year didn't even make a dollar. Just 3-4 years ago his highest paid assistant was making less than Equipment Trainers at most major Universities. What he was forced to be saddled with were guys like Gregory, a flunky from UofOhio, Army, and Richmond. He'd be a fine MAC coach, but here....

If Leavitt was even given the facilities of his conference brethren from day one you could call him out, but he is not, not the same budget, not the same assistant coaching pool, and yet he still keeps us competitive.

Imagine how competitive that fiery guy could get us if he had a coordinator that would have capitalized on the numerous scoring opportunities in the first quarter of the Cinci, Pitt, UL, and RU games. In all four games we had shots to go up big early, if we do, the complexion changes and the defense can play different- more aggressive. Think about it.

[Rich]

why do all fans think the answers can be found in the backups. Canales was fired from AZ because they averaged 19ppg. their offense is now ranked #11 in the country and averages 39 ppg. ask their fans if they want him back.

Mike Ford(4.0) isn't the answer either. He has the lowest ypc of any of our RBs. I do think we need to run more but Plancher (4.7),Williams (4.6), Kelly (5.0) and Taylor(5.1)all average more ypc. Please give it a rest!!

[561]

I agree that we should own teams like Rutgers year in and year out.
Outside of maybe Britt and Davis their isn't a player on that roster that could play for us....fact!!!
I feel a new O.C would utilize the athletes this team has better than were currently doing. As far as defense goes, the state of Florida will ALWAYS put out defensive players..
P.S.- Just get Theo the damm ball!!!
Next year get Baker and Theo the damm ball!!!

[Rich]

Jeez,

Leavitt is the 2nd highest paid coach in the BE. If he needed a few extra dollars to hire quality assistants maybe he should take a pay cut. After all the 2nd highest paid coach has gotten us a 7th place record. He's not exactly earning it.

[Bull Daly]

All Leavitt has every done for USF is produced winning football. Only two losing seasons at the helm when building this thing from scratch. Losing two of your stud RBs in Taylor and Ford for basically the whole year is going to hurt any team. Especially when your offense is in the redzone. All Cincy had to do was blitz and let their excellent secondary stop USF. If Ford and Taylor were healthy, that game could go USF's way. Folks, Cincy is the top team in the BIG EAST, yet USF had their chances on the road with a beat up team. And people forget that Rutgers was supposed to be pretty strong this season, but they just went through a slow start. What if Rutgers would have fired Coach Schiano after that 1-5 start??? Teams go through bad stretches, and USF is having one right now. We will be fine in the longrun.

P.S. When did Rothchild have a winning season for the Rays?? Stupid point.

[Rich]

Ari

when we start competing with Texas head to head, I'll start to be concerned with our measly budget. Cincy brings in as much revenue as we do. pays their HC (who has been there 2 years!1) $300k less than we do and can still win this crappy conference.

[Bull Daly]

Another thing that people seem to forget is that the BIG EAST has 7 teams that can beat you if you are not on. The only team that is a gimme is Syracuse. No other conference can really clam that as they have more bad teams to beat up on. The BIG EAST can have 7 of the 8 teams bowl eligible. That is a pretty competitive conference, so a 7th place finish is not that far fetched when you have all these injuries.

[RR]

Yeah Daly....the Big East is a really top-notch conference this year.

If one lame excuse for a crappy season doesn't work, just through another one out, eh Daly?

[Bull Daly]

Rich,

Brian Kelly inherited a good Cincy team that was built by Mich St Coach Mark Danatonio. He built that team with defense, so Kelly comes in as the offensive guru and he has it made. Cincy is losing a lot of talent on defense this year due to graduation, and Kelly will be gone. Cincy wont be strong next season, so I dont expect them to beat USF down in Tampa.

[Sailingbull]

"It's nothing against Coach Leavitt,"

Nothing against Leavitt, you just want him fired ehh?

Mr Goldman, you are a *&ck$#@ tool.

[Bill from Clearwater]

USF Football = Jim Leavitt. USF would not even be in a BCS conference if it was not for him. If you can't get through a tough season once in a while, you might as well jump on the Gator bandwagon.

[Rich]

man you guys have more excuses than Leavitt. injuries, depth, budget, AND A TOUGH CONFERENCE. really??

Pitt could win this conference. they lost to freaking bowling green.

[Rich]

Daly,

how many starters are we losing this year?? How long has Leavitt had to build this defense??

I could understand a down season if we were young and showed improvement. We're not. We are loaded with junior and senior starters and we imploded AGAIN!!

[leeroy65]

just heard him on 1010 great interview

[forestsmoke]

Its not coaching, he just recruits morons so they play stupid.

[JohnnyKnights]

At first I didn't agree with the site, but the facts do add up. USF dropped UCF and they are playing Wofford next year. Even if they win out and finish 6-6, keep in mind that 1 of those wins was over Tennessee-Martin.

[BullSpit]

If we are trying to be the "Big 4" then we need to act like it.

I did not agree with the site at all until I just heard him on the radio and he did make some sense. We should be tired of being a .500 conference team. Well Done!

[politically incorrect]

All I know is I am making 9pm dinner reservations at Roys for Sunday nite. If we play the way we did last saturday,I'll leave at the end of the first quarter and I will at least have a nice dinner instead of the crappy $7 pizza at Ray Jay!

[smokeydabull]

Love the site!!! The pic is classic

[RR]

"Me No Likey!"

That is great, indeed.

[Bull Daly]

Rich,

You are proving nothing by saying Bowling Green beat Pitt at the beginning of the year. Teams get better as the season goes along. USF just had too many injuries this season. I have been following this program since day one, and I cant remember a year with so many ankle injuries. We were pretty much thin at depth on the OL, so it hurt bad when we lost anyone on the OL. I guess you can put the blame on the offensive line coach the most because that to me has been the biggest disappointment this year. This was supposed to be the best OL in USF history. We really do miss Coach Frey on the OL. I know Terry can vouch for me that 'BIG SWEAT' was a great OL coach. It was too bad that Rich Rodriguez stole him from USF because we could not afford to keep him. Coach Simmonds has not impressed me during his first two years as OL coach. He was a high school coach at Jefferson, I believe, but I dont think he has what it takes for this program.

[UMUSFFAN]

How bout Hire Mario Christobal from FIU?

[Michael K.]

It amazes me how many people are ok with Leavitt’s conference record. Since when has anything average ever stood as a monument to progress? Something has to change.

[Rich]

Daly,

Injuries happen to every team. UConn and Cincy have played 3 different QBs due to injury. Much more vital position but they managed. If we have depth concerns then doesn't that fall on Leavitt? Isn't he the one who signs these guys? By the way, most teams improve throughout the year except USF. We have gotten worse as the year goes on , this year and last. I have been here since day 1 as well. I'm just ready for a change. I don't think we should fire Leavitt but I really wouldn't miss him if he left for another job. 4-3 in a conference with Brohm, Rice, Slaton, etc is one thing but a team loaded with juniors and seniors at 1-4 in this conference this year is a joke.

[Marty]

USF is currently 13-13 in four years of Big East play. Unless we end up 15-13, Leavitt should resign.

[Bull Daly]

I think Mario Christobal is a good coach. I just dont think he is ready yet though. I am surprised that non of you fans that want Leavitt gone have not mentioned Terry Bowden for a replacement. I know he was interested in being the next WVU coach, but that didnt work out. He also lives in the Orlando area, I believe.

[Bull Daly]

Rich,

Lets be honest about UCONN. Their vital position is RB in Donald Brown. If UCONN had no Donald Brown, they would be in big trouble. USF needed both Taylor and Ford healthy this year. USF would have lost to Kansas if not for Taylor's running. You cant deny that we are not that good without a running game to open up the pass. Our OL has been terrible most of this year. The OL did play well against NC ST, and you can see what happened in that game. If I were USF, I would recruit more OL. You can never have enough of them especially in a spread offense. Also, I would move Coach Simmonds out, and try to get back Coach Frey with more $$$

[MG8]

this site is the best thing to happen to USF football since being ranked #2 in the country.

[YborKing]

It is amazing we are even having this discussion; it truly does show how far we have come in so little time. Who would have thought we ever want to get rid of Leavitt, but the records, penalties and stupid mistakes speak volumes.

[dirtdogg]

Thank you Mr. Goldman for doing this. This was needed to get this conversation going. We should not and will not stand for .500 conference records anymore. Mazel Tov!

[Marty]

As does the APR, YborKing, which still ranks near the bottom of the FBS schools!

[GatorGreat88]

F the Bulls....Go Gators

[jimmy]

Love Leavitt but site is right. We need something to change.

[Bull Daly]

YborKing,

I can tell you that there were a lot of USF fans wanting to get rid of Leavitt after the 4-7 2004 season which included a homecoming loss to Army. That was a very tough year to handle as we had all the hurricanes to deal with. The one bright spot was that we beat TCU on the road that yeat.

Anybody have some St. Pete Bowl tixs avail since that is where we are heading. Orange Bowl a month ago, St. Pete Bowl today. Next stop toilet bowl. Run the freakin ball already.

[farmboy72]

stupid players = stupid mistakes = stupid loses.

Leavitt can coach but please give him something to work with

[Marty]

"Please give him something to work with?"

Jim Leavitt is personally responsible for each and every recruit. No one goes on the recruuitment board that Jim doesn't personally approve. And, he routinely overrules Franks and the position coordinators who've tried to bring in some smarter athletes. So, blame Leavitt for the losses and the low APR!

[Bulliever]

We were on TV ...ESPN... a lot this year. That I believe makes us quite a bit of $$. With that said that should be able to increase our budget of hiring decent OL and OC coaches...

Don't fire Jim, I think he has had his hands tied financially ... but we need to fire a few of the Asst. coaches (as mentioned above)...

USF MUST make some big changes, failure to do so will set us back and I believe we will lose the interest of the fans we have and ESPN.

[Bulliever]

GA,
Do you know how much $$ USF brings in for each ESPN Nationally televised game?

[Ari Hinkelberger]

Leavitt needs to take a flight to Norman and big a champion like Josh Heupel to come down to tampa and show them what its like to play for a championship.

This dread lock wearing thugs need to tuck in the shirt (grothe) and start looking like a top ranked team. We look like a thug version of the wildcats.

Leavitt needs to go get Heupel. Let him come to Tampa turn this ship around and move on to a big time coaching job.

Lets go hire somebody who has won a championship!! Josh Heupel for OC.

[Don G]

I've been a critic of OC Greg Gregory for a long time and I think the easy solution to getting to root of the problems at USF is to make a change at OC. With that said, if Gregory is dismissed after this season, his replacement will not be in an very enviable position next season with the loss of so many starters and lack of depth we're seeing. However, if that change isn't made now and a new OC isn't allowed to install his new offense in what will be an off-year next season, 2010 will not be as successful as it should under new QB, B.J. Daniels. I want to be fair to Gregory, but unless USF beats either UCONN or WVA and also ends with a St. Pete Bowl win over a C-USA team, sorry, but anything less warrants Gregory's dismissal.

[Pierre Roche]

Real sports fans...remember Larry Coker? Won a National Championship. But... got banished a few years later. WHY?? Forward thinking insiders at UM saw what was around the corner. And that Peach Bowl loss for the might UM ... which rates close to but not worse than our Sun Bowl blowout...sealed the deal. Again - Coker has a conference and national champ ring. Leavitt...his only ring is for beating a ConfUSA team at the Pizza Bowl.
USF --- NEEDS ALUM SUPPORT and SPONSORS to stay competitive. LOSING games and LOSING fans will only make our weak budget worse.
G.A. is on the inside...I won't make calls from the outside looking in. Mr Beat Writer - what is the future for this program??? And what do you think should happen?

[Reality]

I am glad to see Cee get his own website!

[AnhVu Nguyen]

The anonymous post at 2:55pm. Who is undefeated and rank in the top 5. I have been following USF since they started. Before you call someone an idiot, look at what kind of education you have, you moron!

[sailingbull]

I'm going to start a site

adamgoldmanisamoron.com

or

adamgoldmanisanidiot.com

or how about

adamgoldmanisaretard.com

[Marshall]

what an idiot. every team usf plays has at least 50 more years of football history. ucf has been playing football for decades and they havnt had half the success usf has had

[Atrain40]

That is stupid, who cares how long a program has played for. You think thats the reason or kids are undisciplined? Please can we stop using that as an excuses. Its people like you that probably were happy with the bucs losing all those year because they were so young. ITS TIME TO GROW UP

Bottom line. A good coach would never give up like we did against Rutgers. Shame on Leavitt for that.

[axlfoley]

perhaps he should coach the team since he knows so much.

[jadakiss]

Is it to late to bring back Seth Greenberg?

[2kegger]

If we lose to UConn then maybe ill jump on the sites bandwagon. Until then i ride or die with Jimbo.

[Cat]

It's great to see that people care about the direction of USF football. Even if the base idea is a bit off. Fire Jim L.? Whatever. OK, we lost a few games and we played undisciplined at times. These are kids, some playing thru injury. Did everyone see UM (#23) get beat on Thurs. night? Not many thought that would happen yet upsets do occur every week. Let's win a few more games and close this season strong. Is it too late to bring back the FINISH STRONG mentality?

[Rich]

Cat,
Let's bring back finish strong! that worked out so well for us last year! I like the "dig ourselves a hole" motto this year. gold shovel and all. Maybe we can change the last half of the season motto to "bury us" now that we are in our hole. cheap motivational tactics are dumb.

Miami was not an upset. GTech was favored in that game. We have the 3rd longest streak in the nation as favorites. We have been favored in the last 16 games and are 8-8 over that time. Only Ou and BYU have longer streaks.

[Rich]

Daly,

If UConn lost Brown then they have Dixon to back him up. Remember the guy who ran for like 190 yards against us last year. Kelly redesigned his offense when he was down to his #3 QB. He made adjustments to protect his weaknesses. Something we know nothing about.

By the way, GG and Leavitt gave up on the run this year. Kelly, Williams, and plancher all average better than 4.7 ypc this year. I agree on Simmonds and leavitt should be held responsible for all his hires. Please don't bring up the budget as the reason. We pay Leavitt $1.5M per year. That's 2nd in the BE. Maybe he needs to learn to spread some around to his assistants instead of hoarding it all himself.

[Don Corleone]

CJL must go? Please find something better to do with your spare time. The disappointment of this season breaks down to a few factors:
1-The loss of Coach McCartney to UF. The D-line has been awful this year. Aside from a few sacks, the offsides and the vulnerability to screen and draws in long yardage (mostly 3rd down) has killed this team all season. Has any one noticed how dominant the Gators D has been this season?
2-The lack of pressure by the D line has exposed weak play at the corners.
3-The defense, once the best unit on this team has given up late scores even the Bulls were winning: 2TD's in the 4th to UCF and Kansas, 2 late scores to FIU before stopping them, a 3 play TD drive to Pitt after taking the lead, and a total meltdown to Rutgers
4-No running game. The injuries to Ford & Taylor has left Grothe the main running threat again.
5-Grothe's play the second half of the season has regressed to the level of his freshman season
6-A coach should display a confidence under fire, but I think he conveys panic when becomes too animated on the sidelines.
7-As Bill Parcells said, “you are what your record says you are”. I surmise that this team was over hyped and has under-performed.
Firing Leavitt is hardly the answer.

[Cat]

Rich,
The "Finish Strong" mantra by USF last year was somewhat successful with wins after the 3 game losing skid (up until the Sun Bowl loss). Plus, motivational tactics have been effective for many teams (ala "win one for the Gipper").
And UM was the ranked team Thurs. night and thus an upset as per the ESPN announcers.
Anyway, just win USF!

[RR]

The only thing I need to know:

13-13

Leavitt's Big East record.

Not good.

I think it was vince lombardi who said the fans are behind you win or tie and USF fans are proving that to be true every week

[BullsAlum2]

While I disagree with Leavitt's leaving/firing, I fully support this type of website. You're not a top program unless you have a number of websites dedicated to firing/hiring someone. USF has taken a huge step back from last season. I'd give Leavitt another year to turn around the sloppy play.

[Don G]

I have to agree with many who've noticed that while most teams improve over course of a season, USF seems to go in the opposite direction. I guess we can give Leavitt a break due to the large amount of injuries this year and factor-in all of the fumbles & INTs that are the player's fault, but there's one area where Leavitt has to take blame: huge number of penalties. Since NCAA has kept records (last 8-yrs), USF is the only team in 1-A to finish in the top-10 in penalties in those 8-yrs. During that time, players have come & gone and OC & DC have changed, however, the only common factor is Leavitt. That's a pattern and a problem that is obviously and undeniably a coaching problem and that falls on Leavitt. Unless CJL takes another job, he's here for the next few years due to the large contract payout it would cost USF. Maybe a new OC will mitigate what I think is sub-par, overall coaching at the 1-A level from Leavitt?

Leavitt isn't qualified to coach High School and he shows it every week.

The only way Leavitt can win is to drop down to a weaker conference, oh yeah were already in the weakest conference the Big LEAST.

[jerseybuc]

"I love Leavitt", says Goldman,but he puts together a website to get him fired after they lose ONE game? I agree that the wheels have fallen off the Bulls bandwagon, but come on Adam what is your real motivation here? We should own Rutgers and Cincinnati? I live in New Jersey, and they have been trying to run Schiano out of town here as well, but last time I looked, they beat us three straight. Maybe we could switch coaches. Adam, do your homework! You can't START a website to get rid of the coach and have NO IDEA on whom to replace him with.

[Gary S.]

Adam Goldman should be ashamed of himself. And anyone who thinks USF football is better off without Jim Leavitt should tear up their Bulls tickets and buy season tickets to FAU, or FIU, or UAB or UCF. Because without Jim Leavitt, that's what USF football would be.

[RR]

ADAM GOLDMAN IS MY HERO.

Gary S. is the Commandant of the USF Fan Gestapo.

[RR]

Gee....watching this Pitt @ Cincy game tonight makes me think about how fun it would be to watch OUR team in a meaningful game at the end of the season.

But, alas....

[Eric]

Firing Leavitt does nothing to improve our offense. The only way that Leavitt is fired is if we start having a .500 record for years. Leavitt can coach, Gregory just isnt set up for BCS calibur coaching. How many times has he admitted that he has made a wrong call the past couple of years. Thats not something that O.C. usually do. Grothe is having to make too many plays which now is causing him to be rediculously careless with the ball. Unfortunately I am not sure who would replace him. Canales? The coach from Tulsa? We arent going to get someone like norm chow or jimbo fisher.

[Rob]

Look...everybody respects what Leavitt has done here. But its obvious our team is undiciplined.

All you have to do is watch our sideline to find out why. The absolute confusion of the coaches is embarrasing.

In all honesty, the whole program is over-hyped.

Jim, do the bay area a favor and hire some new assistant coaches.

[Matt]

Even if they win tonight, the conference record still stinks!

[Frankie G.]

Hey Gary S -

FAU, FIU, UAB & UCF all have better conference records than USF this year.. USF is more like those schools and less like Florida, FSU and Miami. It sucks to think the last 2 games of the season really don't mean anything, unless you really care about going to St. Pete Bowl.

[Don G]

Frankie G, yeah, I'll agree that the possibility of playing Memphis or UTEP or possibly a Sun Belt team is certainly not very appealing, but any bowl should help with recruiting. USF can tell those prospects that they can join a team that has played in four straight bowls - which has its' appeal. Re: conference records by FAU, FIU, UAB & UCF, I don't think anyone can make argument that USF, with a 1-4 conf record, is not better than those 4 teams. Bulls are playing bad, but not at that level - at least, not as yet.

Bulls Suck, Site Rocks. Goldman is dead on when he says we keep losing the same way over and over again. Instead of slamming him for registering the site after one loss, he should be applauded for having the foresight to see what was blatantly obvious to anyone who has ever played big time college ball like myself. You need discipline in the huddle and on the sidelines if you want to win.

[Gary S.]

I wouldn't mind the FIRE LEAVITT stuff so much if the people saying it weren't saying such colossally stupid things to justify it.

"The Big East is the worst conference"? No, there's also C-USA, Sun Belt, MAC, WAC, and arguably some others. It's revealing that our alleged fans can't even acknowledge the non-BCS-world, or even have any clue how fortunate USF was to escaped it. Anyone remember "quality not quantity"? That was only 7 years ago.

To further the above point, Frankie's response shows he has no damn clue why the histories of UAB/UCF/FAU/FIU might be comparable to the history of USF.

Comparing Leavitt to Larry Coker? Hellooooo, Randy Shannon is 12-11, and his team just got blown out on a Thursday night because they couldn't stop the run and couldn't play with discipline. Sound like any team we know?

Mike Canales as head coach? When he was OC, he got the same abuse Greg Gregory is now. And Rod Smith, come to think of it. Hey, I think I've found a pattern!

"Most teams improve over the course of a season"? No, equal numbers of teams improve and regress, because every game has one winner and one loser.

Anyone who would throw Jim Leavitt under the bus over a four-game skid, after 11 years of nothing but up up up, is either totally ignorant, or a complete ingrate. Don't break your legs jumping off the bandwagon, guys.

[Dave W]

Adam Goldman- come over to my blog at the Bulls Pit after the bowl game (presuming we'll get one- given a lack of eligible SEC and Big 12 teams, even a 6-6 team should make one) and we'll debate it. I don't have time right now, but I've got a lot of ammo.

Syracuse is case #1 of why you don't fire a succesful coach.

This is the first year we've underachieved. Even the most irrational schools like Clemson, South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Arkansas wait until they've underacheived for about 6 years before they fire a coach. This year is a failure, but next looks pretty darn bright for us, especially considering that Kelly probably will be gone from Cincy and Pat White, Mike Teel and Scott McKillop will be gone, and Donald Brown, LeSean McCoy, and Kenny Britt will all probably be gone.

[Jordan]

It was ugly last night, but a win is a win. Same stupid mistakes and same penalties. What was the deal with the gatorade bath at the end of the game? So lame! They must have been celebrating the fact that Leavitt is now 1 game over .500 in Big East play.

[AnhVu Nguyen]

hey 2:55 post
I forrow usf since i come usa you moron! We need to get a new Tet Offensive Coordinator and imprement Agent Orange Spread Offense!

[BPaschael]

People forget this is not about 1 losig streak this season. It is a pattern of play that is what makes people upset with Leavitt.

Even in the win last night he made a couple blunders managing the clock.

Leavitt has underachived 2 years in a row now, not just 1

[BennyBull]

Dave W,

How does next season look promising? Will it take another round of conference losses to prove the sites point?

[Rocky 813]

We won a game we were supposed to win. Leavitt for President!

[Martin]

Did you see this?

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigeast/0-2-207/West-Virginia-South-Florida-game-dud-on-arrival.html

[Norman]

Everyone still love Jim? He is back to .500