TAMPA, Fla. -- University of South Florida fired coach Jim Leavitt Friday for striking a player and repeatedly lying to investigators, FanHouse has learned.USF fired the only coach the Bulls have had in the program's 13-year history following an investigation initiated after a FanHouse report that stated Leavitt grabbed sophomore walk on Joel Miller by the throat and hit the walk-on twice in the face Nov. 21 at halftime of the Louisville game.
The investigation found that Leavitt "inappropriately grabbed the throat and slapped the face of a student athlete," and that his denials were "consistantly uncorroborated by credible witnesses ... [and] contradicted by a number of credible witnesses."
The 33-page investigative report, obtained first by FanHouse, shows Leavitt regularly lied during his interview with the investigator. It shows that Leavitt told Miller that he should "choose his words wisely" because Leavitt was "the most powerful man in the building," as reported in FanHouse's initial report.
One student athlete, identified as Student Athlete C told investigators that Leavitt "flat out lied" in his denial of the incident and "every word in the FanHouse article is accurate."
The investigative report, conducted by Thomas Gonzalez, found several instances where Leavitt lied to the investigator.
Among them that Leavitt "denied grabbing or slapping [Miller]" during the game.
The findings also indicate "Leavitt was told not to discuss the review with any Student Athlete" ... "nevertheless, he admits having spoken to [Miller] immediately after [Miller's] first interview."
The university announced his firing at a press conference Friday afternoon. Leavitt, who was fired for cause, will receive one month's salary as severance, or $133,333.33. Leavitt was in the second year of a seven-year, $12.6 million contract.
Running backs coach and former Duke head coach Carl Franks was named interim coach.
Despite Leavitt's denials, the reviewers found that he "placed his hand on Miller's throat and slapped him twice," which led to his dismissal.
"Sadly, at the end of his time at USF, Coach Leavitt committed a serious violation of our standards of conduct regarding the treatment of students," athletic director Doug Wollard said in a statement.
Investigators interviewed 21student athletes and nine non student-athletes, including USF staff members and Miller's high school coach, David Mitchell.
According to investigators, Miller initially denied the report to investigators, but provided the names of five other student athletes. Two of the five athletes had seen the event and described it as, "involving Coach Leavitt grabbing [Miller] by the throat with one hand and 'slapping' or 'striking' [Miller's] face with his other hand."
Another student athlete remembers that [Miller] looked "shocked" and definitely was "shook up" after it.
A third student athlete warned of the coach, "When Leavitt's doing his thing, I stay away."
In the report, Leavitt claimed he "didn't know [Miller] had had a bad first half," nor did he remember Miller's penalty, an illegal block on a punt return. Leavitt said he knelt so he could make eye contact with Miller, but the player did not respond. Leavitt says he shook [Miller's] knees, and asked "what's wrong [Miller], what's wrong?"
Leavitt says he grabbed [Miller's] shoulder pads and told him he would do better. Leavitt denied grabbing his neck and said there was "no way" that his hand could have slipped or that he touched Miller's face.
However, several student athletes described the event differently.
According to a player identified as Student Athlete B, Miller was looking up at the coach as Leavitt came quickly toward him and that Leavitt grabbed Miller by his throat and then struck Miller's head twice with an open hand.
The same student athlete told investigators that he "knew he had witnessed a crime." He said he felt "betrayed." He also said he was unable to sleep or eat because of we had witnessed and categorized it as "an assault."
Miller reported that when he spoke with Leavitt, the coach advised that Miller should "choose his words wisely, because he, Leavitt, was the most powerful person in the building," according to the report.
Miller's position coach, Franks, told investigators that when he spoke to Miller's parents after the Louisville game, they told him they were "concerned" about what had taken place in the locker room.
An athlete identified as Student Athlete C also had a "line-of-sight" view of the incident Nov. 21. He also described it as Leavitt grabbing Miller by the throat and striking him twice. Student Athlete C said Miller was bothered by the incident, asking "Did you see that s---? Did you see what he did to me."
Miller's former high school coach, David Mitchell, told investigators that he spoke to Miller over the phone and Miller described the incident "exactly as it was reported in FanHouse."
FanHouse first reported details of the incident Dec. 14. Five witnesses, USF players and staff members, said that Leavitt was upset by a mistake Miller made on special teams during the first half against Louisville, and subsequently struck Miller twice.
"You do something like that [on the street], you put them in jail," Paul Miller, Joel's father and a former Tampa police officer, told FanHouse at the time. "Somewhere [Leavitt] crossed the line."
When reached for comment Dec. 14, Leavitt would neither confirm nor deny the incident.
"Things that happen or don't happen usually are kept within the team -- whether they happen or don't happen. If you want to talk about recruiting, I'll talk about recruiting."
Wednesday, wide receiver Colby Erskin, who was not present int he locker room at the time, told FanHouse that Miller told him about the incident and asked for his advice on what he should do, a few days after the Nov. 21 incident.
Erskin also said Leavitt cleaned out his locker and threw his personal effects into a trash bin. Erskin said he believed that Leavitt suspected him of leaking the story to the media.
Leavitt, who is 95-47 overall at South Florida and 17-18 in the Big East, is completing the second year of a seven-year contract worth $12.6 million. He made $1.6 million this year, plus incentives.
He guided the Bulls to a 27-3 International Bowl victory over Northern Illinois in what would be his final ഗെയിം
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