Jim Leavitt - South Florida

South Florida

On December 12, 1995, Leavitt was hired as head coach for the new football team at the University of South Florida. Leavitt signed his first class in 1996 for the first varsity season in 1997; all players redshirted in 1996. The South Florida Bulls football program began play as an independent at the NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) level. After four seasons the program moved up to I-A (now FBS), also as an independent. After two years as an Division I-A independent, the Bulls joined Conference USA, but stayed for only two seasons. The Bulls landed in their current home, the Big East Conference, prior to the start of the 2005 season. In December 2005, after the team's first season as members of the Big East, Leavitt led the Bulls to their 100th game and first ever bowl game at the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina. One year later, Leavitt led the team to its first ever bowl win in the PapaJohns.com Bowl against the East Carolina Pirates in Birmingham, Alabama on December 23, 2006.

Even before Leavitt led the Bulls to a bowl game, there was a rumor that he was heavily courted by the University of Alabama, where officials thought so highly of him that they sent him an offer and a contract to sign. He was also pursued by Kansas State after his mentor there, Bill Snyder, stepped down. On both occasions, Leavitt chose to stay with the program he had created. The success of South Florida's 2006 season spawned yet another round of interest in Leavitt's services, as his name was mentioned in national publications as a candidate to replace Larry Coker at the University of Miami and Mike Shula again at Alabama. Again, Leavitt expressed his desire and intent to stay with the program he established at South Florida and removed himself from consideration for those positions.

On September 16, 2007, Leavitt's Bulls team cracked the top 25 in both major polls, entering the AP Poll at #23 and the Coaches' Poll at #24, for the first time in the program's 11-year history. On September 28, Leavitt's Bulls stunned the #5 West Virginia Mountaineers at Raymond James Stadium for, perhaps, the biggest win thus far for the South Florida football program. South Florida's ascension into the top 25 from entry into I-A/FCS is the fastest in NCAA history, surpassing Boise State's rise by a mere seven weeks. The Bulls achieved another record on September 30 when they became the fastest program of the modern era to reach the top 10, landing at #6 in the AP Poll and #9 in the Coaches' Poll.

On October 14, South Florida received its first ever BCS ranking as the #2 team in the nation behind only the Ohio State Buckeyes. That week the team was also ranked #2 in the AP Poll and #3 in both the Coaches' and the Harris Interactive Poll. That ranking lasted only one week as the Bulls lost to Rutgers, 30–27, on October 18 in Piscataway, New Jersey.

On March 11, 2008, Leavitt signed a two-year extension to his original seven-year, $7 million contract that he signed in 2006. The new contract paid Leavitt $12.6 million for the 2008–14 seasons, with an annual starting salary of $1.5 million increasing by $100,000 each contract year. Leavitt's teams have consistently ranked among the national leaders in penalties.

On January 8, 2010, Leavitt was fired after an investigation by USF officials found that he had struck a player in the locker room during halftime of a game against Louisville the previous November 21. Leavitt claimed he was merely trying to console the player and never struck him. School officials found that Leavitt was not truthful about what happened, and also found that he had interfered with the investigation. ESPN's Ivan Maisel reported that Leavitt's interference, which included telling several players and coaches to change their stories, was the biggest factor in the decision to fire him. The Tampa Tribune reported that school president Judy Genshaft and athletic director Doug Woolard felt they had no choice but to fire Leavitt after he refused to admit he had done anything wrong. Running backs coach Carl Franks was named interim coach of the Bulls until January 14, 2010, when Skip Holtz was hired as head coach.

On January 2011, a settlement of $2.75 million was reached between USF and Jim Leavitt. The settlement includes $2 million for "salary and benefits" as well as a payment of $750,000 "acknowledging Coach Leavitt's contributions to building USF's nationally respected football program."