Leavitt must be in USF's future

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© St. Petersburg Times
published November 8, 2002

At a time such as this, it is easy to think of tomorrow.

USF's football program has spent much of this week strolling around the future. It has released plans of a new athletic administration building, one that will be even better than the glorified trailer park where the coaches now work. There is talk of extending the contract of the head coach, which is a wise decision that is somewhat slow in arrival.

At a time such as this, it is easy to think of yesterday.

		[Times photo: Bill Serne]
		Single-minded barely describes Jim Leavitt, who has gotten USF national attention.

It was 15 minutes ago, maybe 20, when USF had this wacky little idea to begin college football. It was eight minutes ago, maybe 12, when it brought in Jim Leavitt to be the coach. It was born as a program in a hurry, and already it is further along than you might have believed.

Leavitt, on the other hand, thinks about today.

All day.

You sit in his office, the big room in the grand trailer, and you ask him questions about growth and destinations, about journeys and accomplishments, and he looks at you as if you have asked him to give directions to Mount Fuji ... in Japanese.

Ask him about the Memphis special teams. Ask him about the red zone tendencies. Ask him whether his backup guard is still having a problem with his pass-drop techniques. Ask him anything, as long as it's in present tense.

This is the way Leavitt approaches the world, with a lot of todays strung together. He is a guy consumed by the hour on his watch, and everything is a whirling ball of blur.

For the rest of us, it is a good time to take stock of a program that plays older than it has a right.

In another world, this week's game could be huge. This was supposed to be USF's second season in Conference USA, and as it plays its ninth game, you can imagine it in a stretch drive toward a title. Suppose Louisville was on the other side of Memphis. And TCU was on the other side of Cincinnati. Suppose ...

"You're going to hate me, but I haven't thought about that, either," Leavitt says. "Honestly. I'm just not capable of it. I get so overwhelmed with the game at hand that it's all I think of. I'm trying to figure out how we're going to beat Memphis."

Football coaches are that way. They aren't hired because they're well-rounded, and they aren't rewarded because they make dandy Trivial Pursuit partners.

Ask Leavitt about the last movie he saw.

"I don't remember. It was last Friday, the team movie."

No, not that one. The last one you paid to see in a theater.

"I have no idea," Leavitt said, grinning.

What's the last CD you bought?

"I have never bought a CD in my life."

What's the last TV show you taped that wasn't sports?

"Let's see. It was about 12 years ago. The Thorn Birds. Someone told me it was good. I don't have it anymore. I taped a football game over it."

How about that Winona Ryder case?

"I know about that," he said. "She took some money or something. See, I'm not as bad as you thought. But I only know that because the article was next to the picture of our new facility. I thought it was about Ryder trucks. To tell you the truth, I don't know who she is."

And whom did Jeb Bush beat for governor?

"The Democrat. The guy who was for education. I ought to know his name."

Bill McBride .

"Yes. Him."

This is what the Bulls have in Leavitt, an obsessive, single-purpose coach who has brought a degree of fight to his program. Frankly, it's time they make sure he doesn't go anywhere. There has been talk of extending his contract since early this year. What's taking so long?

Do you want to know who Leavitt is? Flash back to the aftermath of the Oklahoma game, a 31-14 defeat. You might have expected Leavitt to be proud of a defense that held the Sooners to 45 yards rushing. You might have expected him to find satisfaction in growth.

Hah. Leavitt was furious in the defeat. He dismissed any thought of moral victories, any comfort in his team making a game of it.

"I thought we could get into the fourth quarter with a chance to win," Leavitt says.

That's what Leavitt has brought to USF, and shame on anyone who fails to recognize it. He has not settled, he has not stopped to take his bows.

Whether Leavitt has the time to appreciate where USF has come, the rest of us should take a moment. It was only last season the Bulls became a Division I-A team, only last season when their game against Memphis was the first-ever against a Conference USA team.

Today? USF is 6-2, and it is starting to get some attention.

Take the BCS rankings for what they are, but for comparison's sake, look at the power rankings of those whose computers are involved. USF is the 24th best team in the country according the Colley Matrix, ahead of Maryland and UCLA. Richard Billingsley has USF No. 32, one slot behind Florida State. Richard Massey also has the Bulls 32nd, just ahead of Boston College and Nebraska.

Anderson-Hester has USF No. 34, Peter Wolfe No. 45 and Jeff Sagarin No. 52. Then there is this. The only team in Conference USA, the league that made USF wait, with a higher average rating than USF is TCU.

Not bad for a 6-year-old.

All this, too, is lost on Leavitt, who would prefer to discuss possible game temperatures for the Memphis game. Hey, somebody has to worry about that stuff.

That's Leavitt's job. He's in charge of today. The rest of us can measure yesterday.

As for tomorrow?

Sounds like a good day for a new contract, doesn't it?

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