What The Firing Of Jim Leavitt Means For USF, And The Big East

Jim Leavitt, the only coach the South Florida football program has ever known, is now gone (the school made it official), leaving SB Nation’s Sean Keely left wondering where the Bulls go from here, and what the firing means for the Big East as a whole:

Now? A giant wrench has been thrown in the USF machine. It’s late in the coach hiring season so any “quality” candidate is gone (here’s some possibilities). The already volatile Florida recruiting game just got a lot shakier as those who committed to play for Leavitt might think twice. If an offer still stands from Miami or FSU, they may think twice.The Bulls will be losing a decent amount of talent, especially now that Jason Pierre-Paul is out.

What really concerns me though is the impact it could have on the Big East. The conference needs elite teams. And it needs them yesterday. USF was moving, slowly but surely, on an upward trajectory to possibly become one under Leavitt. Now? Who knows, but there’s going to be more questions than answers going into next season, a season that sees road games against the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Gators waiting for USF. From a football standpoint, USF probably took a couple steps backwards today. Not that I’m condoning what Leavitt did, just looking at the truth of the situation.