Report: DC Jim Leavitt not with Oregon anymore

[GrandpaDuck]

* Leavitt was invisible during in home visits, and recruiting at large this season.

* He and Mario have reportedly had a feud.

* Leavitt tried to get every HC job under the sun.

* He wasn't mentioned by name at the NSD press conference.

If I had to take a guess, I would say it was mutual. Leavitt probably agreed to take a lower buy-out and wanted to move on, and Cristobal didn't want him around the program anymore.

I'm confident in Heyward. He hasn't been a DC, but it seems like he's our best young coach and recruiter.

I Hoke you're right.

[DuckMastaFunk]

* Leavitt was invisible during in home visits, and recruiting at large this season.

* He and Mario have reportedly had a feud.

* Leavitt tried to get every HC job under the sun.

* He wasn't mentioned by name at the NSD press conference.

If I had to take a guess, I would say it was mutual. Leavitt probably agreed to take a lower buy-out and wanted to move on, and Cristobal didn't want him around the program anymore.

I'm confident in Heyward. He hasn't been a DC, but it seems like he's our best young coach and recruiter.

I Hoke you're right.

Nice one!

But seriously, being a good recruiter and position coach ≠ being a good coordinator.

[Duck24]

* Leavitt was invisible during in home visits, and recruiting at large this season.

* He and Mario have reportedly had a feud.

* Leavitt tried to get every HC job under the sun.

* He wasn't mentioned by name at the NSD press conference.

If I had to take a guess, I would say it was mutual. Leavitt probably agreed to take a lower buy-out and wanted to move on, and Cristobal didn't want him around the program anymore.

I'm confident in Heyward. He hasn't been a DC, but it seems like he's our best young coach and recruiter.

Pretty much everything JHop is and has been saying. He’s been invisible on the recruiting trail and has been difficult since getting passed over for the job. Hope MC knows what he’s doing here.

[Hoagduck]

Leavitt is a great coach, nobody’s disputing that, but he’s dead weight when it comes to recruiting. If he doesn’t want to be here, then that’s all I need to hear.

[shoparound]

I guess all of JL's tweets about loving coming back to Eugene was all PR? And also I guess he wasn't coming back from recruiting trips lol

[Duck24]

Leavitt is a great coach, nobody’s disputing that, but he’s dead weight when it comes to recruiting. If he doesn’t want to be here, then that’s all I need to hear.

I always wondered how committed to UO he was if he kept his family in Colorado. Never gonna hate on the guy, he brought Oregon from the literal bottom of the barrel to respectable defensively. Would have loved to see how much better the recruiting could have been with an engaged JL this year.

[greenyellow]

The way they recruited this past year seems to indicate that Cristobal knew Leavitt wasn't going to be around long. Heyward, Salave'a, Dennison, and Donte Williams were everywhere while Leavitt was almost nowhere until like the last few weeks of the recruiting cycle. Just looking at the official visit photoshoots shows that Leavitt was hardly involved on those visits.

[AshlandDuck]

In the end I hope it was amicable and mutual. I have great respect for both of these guys as coaches and human beings. Some relationships aren't meant to work out for whatever reason. This one was probably timing. Leavitt probably felt like he had redeemed himself as a coach in his coordinator and assistant jobs and after all, he did have prior success as a head coach. The Oregon opportunity was a great one and after Cristobal got the gig and no one else seemed interested in him as a HC, he signed on again for a raise. This is the major disappointment I have in Leavitt. I can understand his disappointment, but he was given a RAISE which means higher expectations or at least the same effort and intensity with regard to coaching duties. It's not just a reward for prior work, it's an expectation going forward. If reports are true, and I would believe they are evident if one takes the time to follow recruiting, it does seem there is some validity to performance issues. Cristobal IMHO would be in the wrong to fire Leavitt without conversation. It is my hope that they both came to a mutual understanding that Leavitt's heart wasn't in it and no animosity was left behind. Sometimes disappointing performances are understandable and if given the chance to one might redeem themselves again. I believe that if it was a possibility that Leavitt felt was possible that Cristobal should've given him another chance. My guess is that they both mutually agreed that it's just not possible because sometimes something dies. In this case, it might be Leavitt's passion for coaching.

[Duck24]

Unless he agreed to a reduced payout, Ducks are on the hook for $5.1M over the next three seasons. Yikes, must have been desperate to move on from him.

[thomas time]

do we know why Leavitt is gone or are they keeping it quiet?

[desertfan]

I can live with Leavitt leaving at this point, there's been enough smoke on that fire that I've been bracing for this reality for awhile now....

But to replace him with an unproven position coach with zero DC experience is a massive fucking mistake. I really hope I'm wrong but this feels like Pellum all over again...

[alxtw]

I feel that if you do a good enough job in any occupation and have results to show for it, then people will come lining at your door for your expertise and services. Who know what type of strides JL's defense would have made this year, if he was as tuned in and enthusiastic as his first year. Then if he continued to make steady improvements to our D for another 1-2 years, there could have been many school knocking on his door for a HC position. That would give him alot more leverage and higher possibility of landing a HC position.
In opposed to JL having to go knocking on every schools' door, that has HC opening. Unfortunately at his age, not many schools are going to give him a solid look and consideration at HC unless he is a top DC, which he hadn't achieved yet at Oregon.

[FlDuckFan]

Small unsubstantiated rumor on reddit is that there was ultimately a pissing match yesterday.

My insider is telling me that Cristo and Leavitt got into a huge fight today and had to be separated. Cristobal said he was close to getting fired and Leavitt responded saying F*** you fire me, no, F*** you, im gone.

[DuckMastaFunk]

Small unsubstantiated rumor on reddit is that there was ultimately a pissing match yesterday.

My insider is telling me that Cristo and Leavitt got into a huge fight today and had to be separated. Cristobal said he was close to getting fired and Leavitt responded saying F*** you fire me, no, F*** you, im gone.

If true, I assume telling your boss “F you, I’m gone.” allows the university to let you go without paying the balance of your contract.

Also, if true it would explain why there were leaks earlier in the day before the actual meeting.

Anyone have any insight into the reliability of this poster?

[maxduck]

That rumor makes the most sense to me. It is obvious the AD wasn't prepared and Hopkins tweeted the termination "has not been executed at this moment". That points to an explosion of some type.

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