Former USF Coach Jim Leavitt Wins Early Battle In Lawsuit Over Firing

The Jim Leavitt firing lawsuit is, alas, still going on. The former South Florida head coach, fired after an alleged physical confrontation with one of his players, won a victory recently in his fight against the university.

For now, all that’s actually being released are non-redacted versions of investigative files, but there are also 800 other pages that the judge is still weighing whether to release. Which means this is likely to go on for a while.

It’s been coming for a while now, but today Jim Leavitt formally filed suit against the University of South Florida for what the 43 page lawsuit says was a “biased, flawed and legally unsupportable” dismissal. Since Leavitt’s job is now occupied by former

coach Skip Holtz, the suit seeks to go after the $9 million or so left on Leavitt’s seven year contract in addition to attorney’s fees incurred in the suit.

The nearly three-month old saga that started with Jim Leavitt allegedly assaulting walk-on Joel Miller, which resulted in South Florida firing the program’s only coach, has reached somewhat of a conclusion: Miller has decided not to pursue any legal action against his former coach.

This ends a story that was full of bizarre events with lying, changing stories, and Leavitt fighting to get his job back.

The story goes on to discuss other statements that may exonerate Leavitt:

Through a spokesman, South Florida said, “We stand by our decision regarding Coach Leavitt.”

Jim Leavitt, the only coach the South Florida football program has ever known, is now gone (the school made it official), leaving SB Nation’s Sean Keely left wondering where the Bulls go from here, and what the firing means for the Big East as a whole: