Jim Leavitt will not return as Oregon's defensive coordinator
Oregon will have a new defensive coordinator in 2019.
After multiple outlets reported the news late Wednesday, Oregon confirmed Thursday that Jim Leavitt will not return next season. According to The Register-Guard, Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal made the decision not to retain Leavitt, who was entering his third season with the program.
In a brief press release, the school said it “mutually reached an agreement to part ways” with Leavitt. In doing so, the school will pay out “a maximum of $2.5 million, payable over multiple years and subject to reduction based on future employment.”
Leavitt was hired away from Colorado by former Oregon head coach Willie Taggart and retained by Cristobal, who was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach (Cristobal was chosen over Leavitt) after Taggart left Eugene for Florida State. According to 247Sports.com, which first reported the news, Cristobal plans to promote safeties coach Keith Heyward to defensive coordinator, replacing Leavitt. Heyward also had a co-defensive coordinator title in 2018.
Leavitt could have followed Taggart to Tallahassee after the 2017 season but he ended up agreeing to a contract extension — with a substantial raise — to stay at Oregon. Leavitt’s $1.7 million salary made him the sixth-highest paid assistant in the country in 2018.
In his first season with the Ducks, Leavitt helped engineer quite a turnaround on that side of the ball. In 2016, the Ducks were No. 126 nationally in total defense, giving up an average of 518.4 yards and 42.6 points per game. Under Leavitt, the Ducks jumped all the way up to No. 46 at 369.2 yards per game while allowing an average of 29.7 points in 2017. In 2018, the Ducks gave up 25.4 points per game and were No. 55 in total defense, allowing 385.9 yards per game in a 9-4 season.
Leavitt has interviewed for head-coaching jobs
At 62 years old, Leavitt is one of the more experienced assistants in the country. He was an assistant under Bill Snyder at Kansas State from 1990-95 before becoming the first head coach at South Florida. His tenure at USF lasted 13 seasons and ended under tumultuous circumstances. He was fired after being accused of player mistreatment and lying to school officials about it. Leavitt has long denied the allegations and sued the school, eventually reaching a settlement in January 2011.
He landed in the NFL as the linebackers coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-2014 before returning to the college level as defensive coordinator at Colorado for two seasons. All along, Leavitt has been after another shot at being a head coach.
When Leavitt arrived at Oregon, there was even a loophole put into his contract that said he would not owe the school any money if he became the head coach at Kansas State. And when Taggart left for FSU, Oregon brass chose Cristobal over Leavitt for the school’s opening, a move that “disappointed” Leavitt, according to The Oregonian.
When the K-State job finally came open with the retirement of Bill Snyder, Leavitt interviewed for the opening. He also was connected to openings at Colorado and Texas Tech during the most recent hiring cycle, but was passed over by all three schools.
Expectations are high at Oregon in 2019
With quarterback Justin Herbert, viewed by some as the possible No. 1 NFL draft choice, deciding to return for his senior season, expectations are high for Oregon in 2019. The Ducks are coming off a 9-4 record in Cristobal’s first season and could be viewed by some as the favorite to win the Pac-12. The team returns a slew of playmakers on both sides of the ball in addition to Herbert, and also brought in a top-10 recruiting class.
And if Leavitt’s departure was indeed the decision of Cristobal (and not Leavitt leaving for another job), this news should not change that hype whatsoever. But it’s a bold play by Cristobal nonetheless.
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