Sports: 'Bama turns toward Leavitt

'Bama turns toward Leavitt

South Florida coach becomes one of top candidates to replace Dennis Franchione.

By PETE YOUNG, Times Staff Writer

TAMPA -- South Florida coach Jim Leavitt was thrust to the forefront of the Alabama coaching search Tuesday when he met with Crimson Tide representatives in Tampa.

Leavitt told the Times late Tuesday he had "casual conversations with some Alabama officials, and that's all." Leavitt declined to say with whom he spoke, but the Mobile Register reported today that Alabama athletic director Mal Moore was among the representatives.

Leavitt's acknowledgment concluded a day of rampant reports by multiple media outlets in Alabama that Leavitt had gone from a backup to leading contender to replace Dennis Franchione, who left Tuscaloosa last week for Texas A&M.

Leavitt, 46, joins New Orleans Saints assistant Mike Riley, an Alabama graduate, as the top candidates. The Register said Moore flew to New Orleans to meet with Riley after visiting Leavitt.

USF athletic director Lee Roy Selmon and president Judy Genshaft have said they are renegotiating Leavitt's contract, which runs through 2005 and had a base salary of $140,000 this season.

"Lee Roy Selmon and I are working together to ensure Jim Leavitt will be a Bull for a long, long time," Genshaft said through a university spokesman.

Leavitt said he exchanged voice mail messages Tuesday with Genshaft and Selmon.

"I think they're aware that something might be going on here, but we haven't talked, so I don't know that," Leavitt said.

Leavitt said he has been renegotiating his contract for about 10 days. Selmon and Genshaft did not return phone calls Tuesday.

However, Selmon told USF sports information director John Gerdes at about 7 p.m. Tuesday no schools had contacted him for permission to speak with Leavitt, which is protocol when a coach is under contract. Selmon spent Monday and Tuesday in New York City and returns to Tampa today.

The Crimson Tide likely would offer Leavitt a contract package of about $1-million annually, including an apparel contract, football camp, TV and radio money and incentives, far more than the approximately $200,000 total he earned at USF this season. Franchione made $1.1-million annually at Alabama. Leavitt's base salary escalates to $220,000 in 2005.

Alabama, with seven national titles, is the most tradition-laden school intrigued by Leavitt's resume. He is 44-22 in six seasons at USF, including 9-2 this season with a No.23 ranking in the BCS. After last season Leavitt interviewed at Indiana, and he has drawn interest from other schools in the past, including Vanderbilt and Missouri.

Last week Leavitt was reported to be a candidate at Michigan State -- his parents are graduates -- and Tuesday he was listed in the Lexington Herald-Leader as one of seven possible candidates at Kentucky. Several other schools, including UCLA, East Carolina, Utah and Houston, have openings.

Riley was considered Alabama's top choice Monday, and the Birmingham News reported Tuesday that Riley is atop UCLA's wish list. Leavitt was listed among a few candidates at Alabama, along with Green Bay Packers running backs coach Sylvester Croom, West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez, Oklahoma State's Les Miles and Pittsburgh's Walt Harris.

Leavitt's salary is considerably less than the Division I-A and Conference USA average. UAB coach Watson Brown, whose program began six years before USF, in 1991, is 11-12 the past two seasons and earns $200,000 in base pay. Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower makes about $400,000 total annually, and Louisville's John L. Smith earns upward of $800,000.

In January, after he interviewed at Indiana, Genshaft and Selmon said Leavitt's contract would be renegotiated but it has not.

Alabama was 10-3 this season, its second under Franchione, who cited NCAA sanctions as his primary reason for leaving. The Tide lost 21 scholarships over three years -- eight last year, seven this year and six next -- and is ineligible for a bowl this season and next.

Leavitt, a St. Petersburg native, said Monday he is happy at USF. He has said it would take a "no-brainer" for him to leave.

If he is hired by Alabama, it would be another impressive accomplishment. The co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State from 1990-95, he has coached USF from inception to earning votes in both national polls this season despite having no tradition or conference affiliation until it joins C-USA next season.

The Bulls are 17-5 in two seasons in I-A, have won seven in a row and 19 straight at Raymond James Stadium, the nation's second-longest home winning streak.

-- Staff researcher John Martin contributed to this report, in which information from other news sources was used.