Coach Leavitt wants his job back

TAMPA - Fired University of South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt said he wants his job back, and he's not going to back down.

"I'm gonna fight for it, y'all," he said during an emotional news conference at his attorneys' office at noon.  "Because I know what's right, and I know what's right in my heart."

The university fired Leavitt Friday after an investigation into allegations that he choked and hit a student during a game in November. The university concluded that the allegations were true and that Leavitt had inappropriate contact with players who were part of the investigation.

Leavitt has consistently denied the allegations, and adamantly did so again.

"You've got to stand up for what you believe in and you have to fight adversity every day, and that's what I'm doing," Leavitt said.

Before Leavitt spoke, his attorneys said his termination was unwarranted, wrong ,and illegal, and he deserves to be immediately reinstated.

Leavitt, the only coach the 13-year-old program has ever known, was expected to meet with university officials this afternoon -- his contract gave him 48 hours from his termination to request such a meeting -- but the sit-down has been postponed to give Leavitt's attorneys time to review the case.

Already, the coach's attorneys have said the university legally violated the terms of his contract by refusing to speak with Leavitt at a pre-termination meeting to confront the evidence and present his case.

Thomas D. Roebig, Jr. said USF denied the meeting due to wat they called "emergency circumstances."

"We have learned that the emergency circumstances are recruiting efforts," Roebig said. "These are not emergency circumstances. This is a legal, contractual, fairness issue."

Roebig also talked about what Leavitt's dedication to the team.

"Over the past 14 years Jim Leavitt built the USF football program from a vacant trailer in an empty lot into something this whole community can be proud of," he said. "And that takes a special dedication and a special kind of person.

Leavitt said he wants to go home to his players.

"I want to put my arms around all of them so bad," Leavitt said.

Meanwhile, prominent Tampa attorney Barry Cohen has announced that he is representing Joel Miller, the student athlete at the center of the controversy.