Texas Tech football: Breaking down the candidates for head coach
Jim Leavitt – Oregon defensive coordinator
One name Texas Tech fans may not be familiar with is Jim Leavitt but it would be wise to get to know him because he is a prime candidate to be the next Texas Tech football head coach. Fiery, controversial and a life-long defensive coach, Leavitt would be the anthesis of what Tech had in Kingsbury.
His ties to Kirby Hocutt date back to Hocutt’s days as a player at Kansas State in the early 1990’s when Leavitt was Hocutt’s position coach. In other words, Leavitt is old. He will turn 62 in early December.
But with age comes experience and Leavitt has tons of it. The Harlingen, Texas native has been coaching since 1978 and has twelve years experience as a defensive coordinator at the college level including stops at Kansas State, Colorado and Oregon.
However, let’s focus on his time as head coach of the South Florida Bulls because it is fascinating. In 1995, Leavitt was hired to be the first ever head coach for the school where he would remain until 2009.
Upon his arrival in Tampa, he and his staff were operating out of a trailer but their fortunes quickly turned. After four years at the FCS level, the Bulls moved up to the FBS in 2001 playing as an independent for two years before joining Conference USA in 2003 and the Big East in 2005.
By 2007, USF was ranked in the top-25 marking the fastest any program had earned a national ranking after joining the FBS. That season, the Bulls made it all the way to No. 2 in the BCS rankings thanks in large part to a stunning upset of No. 5 West Virginia on the road.
But in 2008, Leavitt’s time in Tampa came to a controversial end. He was fired after punching one of his own players at halftime of a game.
Out of coaching until 2011 when he resurfaced with the San Francisco 49ers as a linebackers coach, Leavitt is back in the college ranks which is somewhat surprising given the culture surrounding the sport these days. He was the DC at Colorado in 2016-17 before joining the Oregon Ducks’ staff this season.
Another odd circumstance Leavitt was involved in happened just last year. He was reportedly hired to be the coach-in-waiting to replace Bill Snyder at Kansas State. However, Snyder pulled the ultimate power play to derail the agreement in hopes that his son would be handed the job.
There is no question Leavitt can coach. He has a 95-57 record. But there are several red flags. Obviously, the incident at USF is concerning as well as is his age. There are legitimate concerns about his ability to recruit and relate to high school and college age kids.
This is a hire that would be very unpopular with many Texas Tech fans (myself included). Hocutt has spent tons of time praising Kingsbury for doing things the right way and saying how much he appreciates Kingsbury’s class so it would be hypocritical for him to bring on a coach that once punched a player at halftime, even if there is a personal connection already in place.
But Hocutt may look at Leavitt’s head coaching experience, defensive expertise and his intense demeanor and be intrigued with the idea of brining in someone who is completely opposite of Kingsbury. However, that would be running the risk of alienating the fan base in a similar way that the Tommy Tuberville hire did prior to Hocutt’s arrival in that this could be a hire that divides the fan base.