FSU Football: Why Jim Leavitt staying at Oregon is good for FSU
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU football missed on Jim Leavitt as defensive coordinator, but it may have been a blessing in disguise.
The news broke late Sunday night FSU football would not be hiring Jim Leavitt as its next defensive coordinator under Willie Taggart.
He agreed to stay in Oregon under the same title because they threw an obscene amount of money at him. The amount was an average of 1.7 million per year through 2021.
I think this is a calculated gamble on Leavitt’s part.
One one hand he got a nice raise to stay at somewhere he’s familiar, and on the other hand he could be banking on becoming the head coach at Oregon.
He has made it clear he wants to be a head coach again, but Oregon chose to hire offensive line coach Mario Cristobal instead.
If Cristobal hasn’t righted the ship at Oregon in a couple of years, Leavitt could be next in line and play the loyalty card by not bolting to FSU with Willie Taggart.
Leavitt is a proven defensive coordinator, but I’m not sure he’s worth the price tag he would have made had he come to FSU. Not to mention Oregon looked a lot like Charles Kelly was coaching them Saturday against Boise State, giving up third down conversions at a 50 percent rate (10 of 20).
Let’s look at three reasons why it’s good for FSU that Leavitt is staying at Oregon.