Oregon signed defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt to a contract extension through 2021 that will pay him $1.7 million per year on average, Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman reported Sunday night.
Oregon’s paying a bunch of money to keep defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt. That’s great news for new coach Mario Cristobal.
Leavitt reportedly has a new deal in Eugene.
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The reported extension is for one year and includes a bump in pay from $1.15 million per year, under the terms of Leavitt’s initial agreement with Oregon. If he made $1.7 million this year, Leavitt would’ve been the country’s third-highest-paid assistant, after LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and Clemson DC Brent Venables, per USA Today.
The Ducks have had a weird year. They hired Willie Taggart from South Florida to be their head coach about 53 weeks ago, on Dec. 7, 2016. Taggart brought on Leavitt, the former USF head coach who’d spent the last few years turning around the defense at Colorado. But Taggart left for Florida State after one year, and the Ducks promoted co-offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal to replace him as head coach.
Cristobal’s pay to be Oregon’s head coach is $2.5 million per year. That’s a lot of money, but it’s relatively little for a head coach in a job of Oregon’s stature. (Taggart was slated to make more than $3 million per year at Oregon, had he stayed.) It appears Oregon’s using some of those savings to beef up pay for Cristobal’s assistants.
Taggart’s exit and Cristobal’s promotion left Leavitt’s status uncertain, which was bad for Oregon. Given the 61-year-old’s ties to Taggart and his experience coaching in the state, FSU seemed like a natural fit for him if he decided to leave Oregon.
The Ducks went from an embarrassing 126th in the country in scoring defense in 2016 to a bad but much better 82nd in 2017. But they went from 119th to 58th in Defensive S&P+ and from 115th to 32nd in yards allowed per play.
Oregon went 7-6 in 2017, finishing up with a Las Vegas Bowl loss to Boise State. That’s not great, but it’s a lot better than 2016’s 4-8. The defense got better, and Oregon has the country’s No. 11 recruiting class on the verge of college football’s Early Signing Period that runs Wednesday for Friday.
This is a good time for Oregon to have continuity. The Ducks have taken a big step toward that end by keeping Leavitt in town.
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