FSU Football: Fans react to Jim Leavitt staying at Oregon
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU football is still on the market looking for a defensive coordinator.
FSU football fans were waiting on the Oregon Ducks to play their bowl game Saturday but it wasn’t to see who won the game.
It was because many fans thought Oregon’s defensive coordinator would be joining FSU’s staff once that game was completed.
Oregon defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt had to coach the bowl game because it was in his contract.
It had been reported by Tomahawk Nation that he would be joining the staff, but that’s not the case as Leavitt was giving a huge raise by Oregon.
SOURCES: DC Jim Leavitt has signed a new deal tonight with #Oregon. The contract will take him thru the 2021 season & pay him an average of $1.7 million per year. Here is my report: https://t.co/bSmHMZF5pj
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 18, 2017
Fan Reaction
After seeing Saturday's defense we at FSU will live 🤷
— #4 FSU 3-0 (1-0) (@NoleMafia) December 18, 2017
Go Ducks!!! Best news of the day today!!
— Michelle Taylor (@scullygirl4) December 18, 2017
But I thought the FSU deal was done....😂😂😂😂
— Bootsy Calico (@tytracy) December 18, 2017
Jim Leavitt has already said that "I'm looking for a head coaching job of my own soon" so he probably won't last more than 2 years. @oregonfootball and @Seminoles would be replacing him more sooner than later.
— Rick (@CommonSenseHQ) December 18, 2017
Good for him! Time for us to set our sites somewhere else. Good luck coach!
— Jrock4fsu (@JohnSceals) December 18, 2017
Thoughts
That’s an incredible amount of money for a defensive coordinator and frankly I believe they overpaid for him. It’s also not the end of the world as a defensive coordinator job at FSU is an attractive job that can catapult a coach to a head coaching job after a couple of good years.
The key will be if Willie Taggart was given a head’s up that Leavitt would potentially not be coming and have a plan B in place.
The ‘Noles were already paying Charles Kelly nearly $900,000 a year. They have options to go with someone with defensive coordinator experience or the up and coming route they could get for a more affordable price.
Tony Pecoraro could be someone to lookout for. He’s been the defensive coordinator for Southern Mississippi the past two years and has FSU ties. FSU will face his defense in the upcoming Independence Bowl on December 27th.
Derrick Ansley was thought to be the odds over favorite to come on board Jimbo Fisher’s staff before he left for Texas A&M. Ansley is the defensive backs coach at Alabama under Nick Saban.
Taggart’s last two defensive coordinators prior to Leavitt at Oregon were Tom Allen and Raymond Woodie. Allen is currently the head coach at Indiana University and Woodie is currently the special teams coordinator at Oregon.
Next: 3 Phases of Willie Taggart's Recruiting
Many thought Woodie could join Taggart’s FSU staff prior to the Leavitt news so we’ll need to see how that shakes out.
Taggart has put together excellent staffs at all of his stops, so I’m confident he’ll make a great hire when it comes to the defensive coordinator.