New Oregon DC Jim Leavitt has loophole in contract for specific head-coaching job
New Oregon defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt has an oddly specific loophole in his contract.
Leavitt’s four-year deal pays him $1.15 million annually and has a pretty standard buyout clause. Per The Oregonian, if he’s fired without cause the school owes Leavitt his full salary. If he leaves his position before Jan. 31, 2018, he would owe the school $500,000. If he leaves after Jan. 31, 2018 but before Jan. 31, 2020, he’d owe $250,000.
However, if he opts to “voluntarily terminate this agreement to become the head football coach at Kansas State University,” Leavitt wouldn’t owe the school a cent.
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How about that?
Leavitt was an assistant at Kansas State under Bill Snyder from 1990-1995 before becoming the head coach at USF from 1996-2009. Snyder, 77, just finished his 25th season as Kansas State’s head coach and the prospect of his inevitable retirement comes up each offseason. The two apparently are still close, and Leavitt clearly has an eye on the KSU job — whenever it may open.
Leavitt’s tenure at USF ended under tumultuous circumstances. He was fired in January 2010 after being accused of player mistreatment and lying to school officials about it. Leavitt has long denied the allegations and sued the school. The sides eventually reached a settlement in January 2011.
From there, Leavitt spent four seasons as linebackers coach of the San Francisco 49ers on Jim Harbaugh’s staff. When Harbaugh left the 49ers for Michigan, Leavitt landed the defensive coordinator job at Colorado. He helped lead the program’s turnaround before taking a spot on Willie Taggart’s new staff at Oregon earlier this month.
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With former Michigan coach Brady Hoke as defensive coordinator, Oregon allowed 518.4 yards per game this season — third-worst in the country (No. 126 overall).
For more Oregon news, visit DuckSportsAuthority.com.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
