Colleges

USF offers Leavitt deal with 70 percent raise

By Greg Auman, Times Staff Writer
Published February 1, 2008

Jim Leavitt, the only football coach USF has had, would average $1.8-million and have an increased buyout if he accepts a new contract through the 2014 season.
	[Atoyia Deans | Times]

TAMPA - Athletic director Doug Woolard is taking a major step to help ensure that Jim Leavitt stays the only football coach in USF history, offering 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, 51, 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 total compensation, it would pay Leavitt $1.5-million in 2008, nearly triple the $537,680 he made in 2005, two contracts ago.

A copy of the contract 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 assistants, as the pool for their salaries over the next five seasons would increase by $200,000 a year from his current contract. Leavitt lost four assistants after the 2006 season, but he has yet to lose one this year, despite unprecedented success on the field.

The contract would also increase the buyout required for another school to pry Leavitt from the Bulls. It was $400,000 through the end of 2011 under his old deal. It 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 in the fall, with the average at Raymond James Stadium up more than 22,000. The Bulls opened 6-0, were ranked as high as No. 2 in the BCS standings, but finished 9-4 and unranked in the Associated Press and coaches polls after a 56-21 loss to Oregon in the Sun Bowl.

[Last modified February 1, 2008, 01:06:55]