Former South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt was arrested on Monday evening in St. Petersburg, Fla., on a felony grand theft charge and misdemeanor charges of simple battery and domestic battery.
Leavitt, 68, grabbed his ex-girlfriend by the arm as she tried to walk away and took her Louis Vuitton purse, clutch bag and wallet and would not give them back as she attempted to leave, according to arrest affidavits filed in Pinellas County, Fla. Leavitt admitted to authorities that he withheld the items, which are valued between $5,000 and $10,000.
According to a separate affidavit, Leavitt shoved a man in the chest a few minutes later. Leavitt told authorities that the man “walked into his right hand, making contact with the victim’s chest,” per the affidavit.
Leavitt was USF’s first football coach, hired in 1996 and leading the Bulls for 13 seasons (1997-2009). His teams went 95-57 — including the first four as an NCAA Division I-AA independent (1997-2000) before moving up to Division I-A — and went 3-2 in bowl games. The Bulls were ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation (2007).
USF fired Leavitt in January 2010 after its investigation found that during halftime of a game against Louisville, he grabbed one of his players by the throat, slapped him in the face and later lied about it.
Leavitt at the time called the allegations “absolutely false” and later sued the university for wrongful termination. The lawsuit was settled for $2.75 million, per an ESPN report.
He is scheduled to be inducted into the USF Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2025 on Oct. 2.
Leavitt served as linebackers coach with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers (2011-14) before returning to the college ranks. He was the defensive coordinator at Colorado (2015-16), Oregon (2017-18), Florida Atlantic (2020) and SMU (2021), as well as a defensive analyst at Florida State (2019).