General

Jim Leavitt Should Just Go Quietly

Jan 14, 2010, 7:35 PM UTC

â†µâ†µThe days immediately following Brett McMurphy’s FanHouse article that accused Jim Leavitt of thwacking walk-on special teamer Joel Miller were a crazyâ†µswirl of allegations, retractions, and contradictionsâ†µthat had members of Miller’s family at odds with each other and, in certain special cases, even themselves. What exactly happened in that locker room was a mystery, and remained so even after Leavitt was fired for people who didn’t read the report too closely. After all, even the victim-type substance said it wasn’t that big a deal.â†µ

â†µâ†µNot so much, anymore: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Miller, dressed in a black suit, said that he and his father lied to the media, then to university investigators — “I covered it up,” he admitted — because he wanted to protect his coach and assistant coaches and the team as it prepared for its bowl game.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“I’m here to tell you the truth about what really happened,” Miller said. “He grabbed me by the neck and he hit me twice.”â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µâ†µSince Miller and his family were the original sources on the story, someone might want to offer him a copy of Nixonland or Frost/Nixon or Nixon, or really, anything involving Richard Nixon in any way. PROTIP: when covering up a story, do not start said story by talking to the press about it. â†µ

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â†µThis is the point where the lawyers get involved, unfortunately. â†µLeavitt is suingâ†µfor his job and Miller's guys are looking for money or an apology or something. In fact, the apology is backed by threats of civil and criminal lawsuits: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“It’s time to stand up now, coach, and do the right thing,” Cohen said, “because if you don’t Steve Romine (Cohen’s partner) and I might not know much about football, but we know a lot about hardball. ...”â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“Go look in the mirror and see a coward who wouldn’t man up, which is what he told Joel to do since he was 12 years old.”â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µâ†µWait, how old is this walk-on and how long has he been in school? And what’s with lawyers in these high profile cases being evenâ†µmore ridiculous than your average lawyer?â†µ

â†µâ†µFor Leavitt’s part, his lawyer says Leavitt has no intention of apologizing for “something he didn’t do” no matter howâ†µmany South Florida players saw it go down and how strenuously Leavitt’s lied about it in the interim. This is a bad idea. Leavitt’s lawyer should put him in a room and counsel him to mumble out an insincere apology, dye his hair, and grow a mustache. This, like every South Florida game after midseason, is a losing battle.â†µ

â†µâ†µNow that Miller has recanted his recantation and stands against Leavitt (again), he’s got nothing. The report is damning. It contains testimony from a dozen South Florida players and concludes that Leavitt both hit Miller and lied in the aftermath. There is no document that opposes that, and there won’t be one. The onlyâ†µcounterweight Leavitt’s got is the father of another walk-on who’s acting as a “volunteer assistant” with USF. In this corner: â†µguy who didn’t speak up until Leavitt, and this guy’s opportunity to play football coach, was out the door. In the other corner: the 29 people cited in the report. Right. Moving on.â†µ

â†µâ†µA court fight might turn up some wrongful termination cash but could expose Leavitt to further reputation-damaging revelations and suits from the Millers. Meanwhile, his employment prospects are deteriorating from “coordinator somewhere” to “angry janitor somewhere.” Sometimes you just have to know when you’re licked.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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