Jim Leavitt, USF can’t reach deal on settlement

Attorneys for USF and former Bulls football coach Jim Leavitt met for nearly six hours in mediation Saturday, though no resolution has been reached between the university and its coach of 14 years, his attorney said Monday. Leavitt was fired by USF on Jan. 8, after the university concluded that “serious violations” of its conduct code had occurred when an investigation ruled that Leavitt grabbed walk-on Joel Miller by the throat and slapped him twice in the face during halftime of USF’s Nov. 21 game against Louisville, then lied to investigators and interfered with USF’s investigation into the incident. USF has moved on, with new coach Skip Holtz now on the job more than a month, but Leavitt’s attorneys argue that the three-week investigation, which included interviews with 29 people, was not thorough enough. “USF represented to the entire nation that their investigation was ‘fair and thorough,’ ” attorney Wil Florin said Monday. “Suppressing the full eyewitness account of an on-duty law enforcement officer favorable to Coach Leavitt is not fair. Not interviewing and then ignoring the eyewitness account of another eyewitness only a few feet away (Mike Durakovic) is not thorough.” – St. Petersburg Times