Jim Leavitt
Jim Leavitt went 95–57 as a head coach, 1997–2009, at South Florida. Share
Three seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1997–99 at South Florida (on file under another coach). They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 95–57 career
- Seasons
- 13
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Dec 5, 1956
- Alma mater
- Missouri
- Best season
- 2002 9–2
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | South Florida * | 5–6 | ||||
| 1998 | South Florida * | 8–3 | ||||
| 1999 | South Florida * | 7–4 | ||||
| 2000 | South Florida | 7–4 | ||||
| 2001 | South Florida | 8–3 | ||||
| 2002 | South Florida | 9–2 | ||||
| 2003 | South Florida | 7–4 | T–3rd | |||
| 2004 | South Florida | 4–7 | T–6th | |||
| 2005 | South Florida | 6–6 | T–3rd | Meineke Car Care Bowl L | ||
| 2006 | South Florida | 9–4 | T–4th | PapaJohns.com Bowl W | ||
| 2007 | South Florida | 9–4 | T–3rd | Sun Bowl L | ||
| 2008 | South Florida | 8–5 | 6th | St. Petersburg Bowl W | ||
| 2009 | South Florida | 8–5 | T–4th | International Bowl W |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 20 | 7–13 | 35% |
| Against top-10 teams | 7 | 3–4 | 43% |
| Against rivals | 6 | 6–0 | 100% |
| Conference games | 51 | 25–26 | 49% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 5 | 3–2 | 60% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 35 | 19–16 | 54% |
| At home | 60 | 47–13 | 78% |
| On the road | 54 | 25–29 | 46% |
| At neutral sites | 5 | 3–2 | 60% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 75 | 59–16 | 79% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 44 | 16–28 | 36% |
His own 119 games on file, 2000–2009, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randy Edsall 2000–2009 | 4–3 | UConn | 7 | |
| Tommy West 2001–2008 | 3–2 | Memphis | 5 | |
| Dave Wannstedt 2005–2009 | 2–3 | Pittsburgh | 5 | |
| Greg Schiano 2005–2009 | 1–4 | Rutgers | 5 | |
| George O’Leary 2005–2008 | 4–0 | UCF | 4 | |
| Greg Robinson 2005–2008 | 4–0 | Syracuse | 4 | |
| Bobby Petrino 2003–2006 | 2–2 | Louisville | 4 | |
| Jeff Bower 2000–2004 | 1–3 | Southern Miss | 4 | |
| Rich Rodriguez 2005–2007 | 2–1 | West Virginia | 3 | |
| Steve Kragthorpe 2007–2009 | 2–1 | Louisville | 3 |
Jim Leavitt’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| UConnseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Louisvilleseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Pittsburghseries | 7 | 3–4 |
| Cincinnatiseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| Syracuseseries | 5 | 5–0 |
| Memphisseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| West Virginiaseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| Rutgersseries | 5 | 1–4 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–79 | Missouri | Graduate assistant | |
| 1980–81 | Dubuque | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 1982 | Morningside | Special teams coach | |
| 1983–87 | Morningside | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1988 | Iowa | Intern | |
| 1989 | Iowa | Graduate assistant | |
| 1990–91 | Kansas State | Linebackers coach | |
| 1992–95 | Kansas State | Co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 1997–2009 | South Florida | Head coach | |
| 2011–14 | San Francisco 49ers NFL | Linebackers coach | |
| 2015–16 | Colorado | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2017–18 | Oregon | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2019 | Florida State | Analyst | |
| 2020 | Florida Atlantic | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2021 | SMU | Defensive coordinator |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Warren PowersMissouri
- Tim McGuireMorningside
- Hayden FryIowa
- Bill SnyderKansas State
- Jim HarbaughSan Francisco 49ers
- Mike MacIntyreColorado
- Willie TaggartOregon, Florida State, Florida Atlantic
- Mario CristobalOregon
- Odell HagginsFlorida State
- Sonny DykesSMU
Assistants who became head coaches
- Kevin PatrickSouth Florida
- Mike CanalesNorth Texas
- Nigel BurtonPortland State
- Rod SmithIllinois, Jacksonville State
- Carl FranksDuke
- Bernard ClarkRobert Morris
- Larry ScottHoward
- Dan McCarneyIowa State, North Texas
- John HendrickBenedict, Jackson State
- David BlackwellEast Carolina
Worked under (10)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Powers | Missouri | 1978–79 | Graduate assistant | |
| Tim McGuire | Morningside | 1982 | Special teams coach | |
| Hayden Fry | Iowa | 1988–89 | 1988: intern; 1989: graduate assistant | |
| Bill Snyder | Kansas State | 1990–95 | 1990–91: linebackers coach; 1992–95: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Jim Harbaugh | San Francisco 49ers NFL | 2011–14 | Linebackers coach | |
| Mike MacIntyre | Colorado | 2015–16 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Willie Taggart | Oregon | 2017 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Mario Cristobal | Oregon | 2017–18 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Odell Haggins | Florida State | 2019 | Analyst | |
| Willie Taggart | Florida State | 2019 | Analyst | |
| Willie Taggart | Florida Atlantic | 2020 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Sonny Dykes | SMU | 2021 | Defensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (10)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Patrick | South Florida, 1997–98, 2008: defensive ends coach; 2009: defensive line coach | South Florida | |
| Mike Canales | South Florida, 1997–2000, 2009: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2007–08: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach | North Texas | |
| Nigel Burton | South Florida, 2000: graduate assistant | Portland State | |
| Rod Smith | South Florida, 2001–04: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2005–06: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Illinois, Jacksonville State | |
| Carl Franks | South Florida, 2004–09: running backs coach | Duke | |
| Bernard Clark | South Florida, 2006: defensive line coach | Robert Morris | |
| Larry Scott | South Florida, 2006: graduate assistant; 2007–08: tight ends coach; 2009: offensive line coach | Howard | |
| Dan McCarney | South Florida, 2007: assistant head coach and defensive line coach | Iowa State, North Texas | |
| John Hendrick | South Florida, 2008–09: defensive line and special teams coach | Benedict, Jackson State | |
| David Blackwell | South Florida, 2009: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | East Carolina |
Other assistants under him (8)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Calvin Magee | South Florida, 1997–98: running backs coach; 1999–2000: running game coordinator and running backs coach | |
| Rick Kravitz | South Florida, 2000: defensive coordinator; 2001–05: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Mike Hobbie | South Florida, 2001–04: offensive coordinator | |
| Wally Burnham | South Florida, 2001–05: co-defensive coordinator; 2006–08: defensive coordinator | |
| Lawrence Dawsey | South Florida, 2004–06: wide receivers coach | |
| Greg Gregory | South Florida, 2007–08: offensive coordinator | |
| Joe Tresey | South Florida, 2009: defensive coordinator | |
| Marquel Blackwell | South Florida, 2009: quality control coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Oregon | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $100,000 | $1,150,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Colorado | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $59,423 | $511,900 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Colorado | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $57,692 | $541,667 USA Today | |
| 2009 | South Florida | head coachbonuses up to $350,000 | $1,600,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2008 | South Florida | head coach | $1,500,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2007 | South Florida | head coachbonuses up to $175,000 | $1,000,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2006 | South Florida | head coachbonuses up to $175,000 | $1,117,500 USA Today via Leeds |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Leavitt’s teams went for it on 18% of fourth downs and on 32% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 43% of plays and took 25.6 seconds a play, 2004–2009.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 3 g | 4 of 27 15% | 13% | 48% | 25.2 | −0.32 | |
| 2005 12 g | 20 of 103 19% | 36% | 37% | 26.0 | −0.15 | |
| 2006 13 g | 23 of 97 24% | 42% | 46% | 25.9 | −0.05 | |
| 2007 12 g | 16 of 100 16% | 32% | 45% | 23.4 | −0.07 | |
| 2008 13 g | 14 of 84 17% | 28% | 47% | 25.0 | −0.02 | |
| 2009 13 g | 14 of 89 16% | 27% | 42% | 27.5 | +0.01 | |
| All 66 g | 91 of 500 18% | 32% | 43% | 25.6 | −0.07 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.