Funny Skip Holtz article

[nystateofmind]

Leavitt had to go. Parents weren't going to send their kids to play for him after what happened.

 

[CaneInHeelCountry]

Leavitt had to go. Parents weren't going to send their kids to play for him after what happened.

Doesn't seem to be stoping kids from wanting to play for the Pirate at Wazzu, and kids still went to Indiana to play under Bobby Knight.

USF just didn't play the PR game very well. They could have easily stood up for Leavitt and dismissed it as a once-in-a-career mistake, but they didn't. It happened too soon after Leach had his mishap at Texas Tech, and the country/media was all over that ****. So the USF admin sacrificed Leavitt, and in so doing they killed their own program.

 

[nystateofmind]

Leavitt had to go. Parents weren't going to send their kids to play for him after what happened.

Doesn't seem to be stoping kids from wanting to play for the Pirate at Wazzu, and kids still went to Indiana to play under Bobby Knight.

Different situations, Leach didn't place his hands on a kid. And if I'm not mistaken, Knight was fired a few months after the choking incident became public.

Side note: Bob Knight is a scumbag.

 

[Dan E. Dangerously]

Leavitt had to go. Parents weren't going to send their kids to play for him after what happened.

Doesn't seem to be stoping kids from wanting to play for the Pirate at Wazzu, and kids still went to Indiana to play under Bobby Knight.

USF just didn't play the PR game very well. They could have easily stood up for Leavitt and dismissed it as a once-in-a-career mistake, but they didn't. It happened too soon after Leach had his mishap at Texas Tech, and the country/media was all over that ****. So the USF admin sacrificed Leavitt, and in so doing they killed their own program.

Exactly. They became ranked under Leavitt and in their hubris, thought they had "arrived" as a program. Skip Holtz was propagated as THE hot young coach for what he did at ECU. They figured this was an easy way to dump him and get a new young coach with a decent resume and to go the next level. They deserve everything that happened to them, including getting left behind in that awful conference.

 

[CaneInHeelCountry]

Leavitt had to go. Parents weren't going to send their kids to play for him after what happened.

Doesn't seem to be stoping kids from wanting to play for the Pirate at Wazzu, and kids still went to Indiana to play under Bobby Knight.

Different situations, Leach didn't place his hands on a kid. And if I'm not mistaken, Knight was fired a few months after the choking incident became public.

Side note: Bob Knight is a scumbag.

Do you really think those were the first incidents for either Leach or Knight? Both were known as hotheads way before any formal complaints were lodged. Leavitt, OTOH, was highly respected and never known to be a jerk.

Additionally, Leavitt filed a wrongful termination suit and USF settled for around 3 mil; that would tell me that they didn't necessarily have a rock-solid case against him. Leach filed a similar suit that was dismissed...

 

[nystateofmind]

Leavitt had to go. Parents weren't going to send their kids to play for him after what happened.

Doesn't seem to be stoping kids from wanting to play for the Pirate at Wazzu, and kids still went to Indiana to play under Bobby Knight.

Different situations, Leach didn't place his hands on a kid. And if I'm not mistaken, Knight was fired a few months after the choking incident became public.

Side note: Bob Knight is a scumbag.

Do you really think those were the first incidents for either Leach or Knight? Both were known as hotheads way before any formal complaints were lodged. Leavitt, OTOH, was highly respected and never known to be a jerk.

Additionally, Leavitt filed a wrongful termination suit and USF settled for around 3 mil; that would tell me that they didn't necessarily have a rock-solid case against him. Leach filed a similar suit that was dismissed...

Leavitt lied and interfered with the investigation, that's what doomed him.

 

[CaneInHeelCountry]

Leavitt had to go. Parents weren't going to send their kids to play for him after what happened.

Doesn't seem to be stoping kids from wanting to play for the Pirate at Wazzu, and kids still went to Indiana to play under Bobby Knight.

Different situations, Leach didn't place his hands on a kid. And if I'm not mistaken, Knight was fired a few months after the choking incident became public.

Side note: Bob Knight is a scumbag.

Do you really think those were the first incidents for either Leach or Knight? Both were known as hotheads way before any formal complaints were lodged. Leavitt, OTOH, was highly respected and never known to be a jerk.

Additionally, Leavitt filed a wrongful termination suit and USF settled for around 3 mil; that would tell me that they didn't necessarily have a rock-solid case against him. Leach filed a similar suit that was dismissed...

Leavitt lied and interfered with the investigation, that's what doomed him.

Again, dude filed a wrongful termination suit and USF paid up 3 mil. If he truly interfered with the school's investigation and/or lied outright, the school would have him dead to rights and wouldn't be on the hook for 3 mil.

 

[nystateofmind]

Doesn't seem to be stoping kids from wanting to play for the Pirate at Wazzu, and kids still went to Indiana to play under Bobby Knight.

Different situations, Leach didn't place his hands on a kid. And if I'm not mistaken, Knight was fired a few months after the choking incident became public.

Side note: Bob Knight is a scumbag.

Do you really think those were the first incidents for either Leach or Knight? Both were known as hotheads way before any formal complaints were lodged. Leavitt, OTOH, was highly respected and never known to be a jerk.

Additionally, Leavitt filed a wrongful termination suit and USF settled for around 3 mil; that would tell me that they didn't necessarily have a rock-solid case against him. Leach filed a similar suit that was dismissed...

Leavitt lied and interfered with the investigation, that's what doomed him.

Again, dude filed a wrongful termination suit and USF paid up 3 mil. If he truly interfered with the school's investigation and/or lied outright, the school would have him dead to rights and wouldn't be on the hook for 3 mil.

Who knows what truly happened. My point remains, some parents would be hesitant to let their kids play for him.

 

[CaneInHeelCountry]

Different situations, Leach didn't place his hands on a kid. And if I'm not mistaken, Knight was fired a few months after the choking incident became public.

Side note: Bob Knight is a scumbag.

Do you really think those were the first incidents for either Leach or Knight? Both were known as hotheads way before any formal complaints were lodged. Leavitt, OTOH, was highly respected and never known to be a jerk.

Additionally, Leavitt filed a wrongful termination suit and USF settled for around 3 mil; that would tell me that they didn't necessarily have a rock-solid case against him. Leach filed a similar suit that was dismissed...

Leavitt lied and interfered with the investigation, that's what doomed him.

Again, dude filed a wrongful termination suit and USF paid up 3 mil. If he truly interfered with the school's investigation and/or lied outright, the school would have him dead to rights and wouldn't be on the hook for 3 mil.

Who knows what truly happened. My point remains, some parents would be hesitant to let their kids play for him.

And mine remains that if USF had stood behind him instead of conducting a half-assed "investigation" and firing the man as quickly as possible, there would have been no reason for parents to be hesitant. In light of their apparently weak case that led to them paying for wrongfully terminating the man, it seems they made the wrong choice.

 

[nystateofmind]

Agree to disagree.

 

[CaneInHeelCountry]

Agree to disagree.

I guess.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not condoning coaches roughing up their players. I'm just saying that it appears USF may have rushed to judgement in the Leavitt case. To this bystander, it looks like USF got spooked by all the bad publicity that Texas Tech was getting because of Leach, and decided that they'd fire Leavitt without conducting a proper investigation--which is what led to the wrongful termination suit, which Leavitt won.

 

[nystateofmind]

Agree to disagree.

I guess.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not condoning coaches roughing up their players. I'm just saying that it appears USF may have rushed to judgement in the Leavitt case. To this bystander, it looks like USF got spooked by all the bad publicity that Texas Tech was getting because of Leach, and decided that they'd fire Leavitt without conducting a proper investigation--which is what led to the wrongful termination suit, which Leavitt won.

My point was the stigma he would've had if they kept him would've spooked recruits. Maybe they did rush to judgement, but I think they ultimately did what they had to do. Now, hiring Skip Holtz, that was a HUGE mistake.

 

[CaneInHeelCountry]

Agree to disagree.

I guess.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not condoning coaches roughing up their players. I'm just saying that it appears USF may have rushed to judgement in the Leavitt case. To this bystander, it looks like USF got spooked by all the bad publicity that Texas Tech was getting because of Leach, and decided that they'd fire Leavitt without conducting a proper investigation--which is what led to the wrongful termination suit, which Leavitt won.

My point was the stigma he would've had if they kept him would've spooked recruits. Maybe they did rush to judgement, but I think they ultimately did what they had to do.

I guess that's the root of our disagreement. I don't think they did what they had to do at all. I think they should have conducted a thorough investigation which may have exonerated Leavitt, and if so, they should have stood by him. That certainly would not have had any lasting negative effect on recruiting.

But yes, we shall agree to disagree.

 

[GrozDozer]

Seriously wtf?

 

[BoroCane83]

If USF would have kept Leavitt, they could have been the next Boise St, and a tough opponent on our schedule the past few years. They would have been pulling solid South Florida recruits and it could have been the "Big 4". Because of their decisions, the program has gone potato and is now no better than FAU, FIU, and UCF.