If the speculation making the rounds comes to fruition, Mike Leach and Mark Mangino might not be the only coaches to lose their jobs over alleged “mistreatment” of their football players.
According to Tom Dienhart of Yahoo!/Rivals.com, South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt could find himself on the unemployment line following the Bulls’ International Bowl game against Northern Illinois this afternoon.
“The hot rumor in coaching circles is South Florida may change coaches after its bowl,” Dienhart stated on his Twitter account.
Leavitt is the subject of an internal investigation following a story that alleged he grabbed a player -- Joel Miller -- by the throat and slapped him a couple of times during halftime of a November game. Leavitt has vehemently denied the report.
According to Greg Auman of the St. Petersburg Times, the probe is still ongoing and no decision has been made either way in regards to Leavitt continuing as USF’s head coach.
Speaking of the Bulls’ bowl game, they are currently leading NIU 27-3 with less than six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. So, if this were to indeed be Leavitt’s final game -- doubtful -- at least it looks like he’d go out as a winner.
