Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Leavitt's Energy Will Be Boon For Buffs 'D'
February 11, 2015 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Among the San Francisco 49ers coaches over the last four years, the easiest guy to spot was Jim Leavitt. No, that might be wrong. The easiest to hear was Jim Leavitt.
In football at most levels, linebacker coaches are usually seen and heard - and Leavitt was both with the Niners. In fact, Vic Fangio, the team's former defensive coordinator, said this of Leavitt:
"Yeah, he's got a little cheerleader in him. He's got some pompoms hanging in his locker . . . that's just who he is. He's a bubbly guy."
Oh, he's bubbly . . . kind of like a tall flute of champagne sporting a CU logo. But sitting in Dal Ward Athletic Center's Varsity Room on Wednesday morning, Leavitt chuckled at Fangio's description and (sort of) disputed it - mainly the "cheerleader" tag. It might fit his personality, but it wasn't the label he would have applied.
"Let's put 'college' in there, you know what I'm saying? It's just that Vic doesn't (have it). I do, he doesn't," Leavitt said with a laugh, explaining that after spending as much office/film room time as assistant coaches do, finally getting on the field makes a guy - or some of them - very vocal and animated.
Again, Leavitt was both with the Niners.
"I like being out there . . . that's what (Fangio) meant by that," he said. "I know he was digging me. Vic always tried to dig me. He's got the pro in him, I've got the college in me. To me that's more of the deal (than) the NFL guys . . . but I have the college in me, you know what I'm trying to say? I was the college guy."
True to his roots and personality, Leavitt is back in the college game. After a drawn-out search, Mike MacIntyre hired him last week as Colorado's defensive coordinator - a move that received national attention mostly due to Leavitt's defensive resume and expertise but partly for the circumstances that clouded his departure from South Florida after 13 seasons as head coach (95-57 record).
LEAVITT, 58, RETURNED to college coaching - specifically to CU - because it was the right place at the right time, the right fit for reasons ranging from a love for college football to MacIntyre "being such a good man" to the job being a Longs Peak-sized challenge to simply feeling "this is where I was supposed to be."
"I don't want to be religious and all that, but I just felt this is where I was supposed to be," Leavitt said. "OK, can I just say that? Because that's my life. I'm just being honest. I just felt like this is where I was supposed to be. That's it. I spent a lot of time in prayer about it, thinking about it. Again, I'm just talking about it from my life, why I'm where I am . . . late-night thinking about a lot different things and I thought God wants me here, OK? That's it. I don't mean to offend anybody."
MacIntyre described his spring goals for the Buffs, who begin their 15 practices on Monday, like this: "Defense, defense, special teams and keep our offense going in the right direction." You'll notice that defense was important enough to be mentioned twice, and that's where Leavitt enters the picture.
Right away, he'll be charged with infusing some bite and swagger to a CU defense that has been mostly slapped around for the last several seasons. The Buffs have been defensive bottom feeders in the Pac-12 since they joined the conference for the 2011 season. MacIntyre believes Leavitt can lead the climb out, but it might not be as immediate as most CU fans want. Then again, with MacIntyre entering his third season on the job, the wait time on a defensive climb and overall improvement needs to be reduced.
Leavitt is still feeling his way around, but he does know about his new job: It's a challenge and he "loves (it) . . . this is a great one, you know that. Nobody's kidding themselves. I know all about it," he said. "It's going to take some time; it's going to be a process. As you go through this, you just don't know how much you're going to be able to do your first year, to be honest with you . . .
"I couldn't tell you what we're going to run yet. I've got an idea of where I want to go, but I don't know if I can get to that. It might be a little while before we get there. We have to wait and see . . . it might start in one direction and curve it a little bit."
But any curve has to culminate on March 15 in the game that signals the end of spring work. The Buffs are likely to show a four-man front (4-3), a three-man front (3-4) and whatever weekly variations that MacIntyre, Leavitt and the defensive staff deem suitable. Personnel, namely the quick assimilation (or not) of a trio of junior college defensive linemen and returning letterman Samson Kafovalu, will dictate CU's look.
Asked if he'd like to leave spring ball with that look in place, Leavitt said, "We have to . . . we have to have an idea of where we want to go. I don't want to be changing this summer. No, sir. We have a course that I want to go schematically but I might have to tweak it."
THE STARTING POINT, of course, will be evaluating personnel in the 15 spring practices and spending time with them in position meetings. With only tape and position coaches' summations, Leavitt doesn't want to rush it.
"It's tough, really tough," he said. "I want to be careful in making evaluations; it's going to be a process. I have to get to know the people. Does this guy really care? Does he have the passion to play on the Saturdays or Fridays or Wednesdays or whatever? Does he have a real desire to do the right things and have the discipline and the work ethic . . . to make it happen? You really don't know until you get the pads on on the field."
MacIntyre has been through a pair of Pac-12 seasons and seen the offenses he's asking Leavitt to slow down. Tweaking CU's defense likely would have done even if MacIntyre didn't have a change in coordinators; predictability is to be avoided like running out of Gatorade.
"With these hybrid offenses today you'd better be a little hybrid (on defense) or forget it," MacIntyre said. "I think with all of our knowledge in there we're going to be able to have a defense that can work week in and week out that has enough tools that it's not confusing to our guys and be better . . . we've got to find another edge."
So, call Leavitt "The Edge." He arrived last Friday, and his view of Boulder since then has been limited to what he sees en route from his hotel to Dal Ward and what he can see from his office in the building's southeast corner. It looks out over Folsom Field, and that inspires memories. Long ago memories.
He played safety at Missouri (1974-77) and coached at Kansas State (1990-95) under Bill Snyder, the most impactful figure on his career. He and Snyder are "very, very close . . . he's the guy that influenced me most." Leavitt remembers K-State's lean years under Snyder and trailing CU 42-0 at halftime on one Boulder visit.
He was a little fuzzier on his mid-70s visit as a Mizzou player, referring to a two-pick game at Folsom that actually produced one interception in 1977. Believing he was about to intercept another Buffs pass on an outside screen and run it back, he was clocked by an offensive lineman's forearm to the jaw. He lost part of a rear molar and gained a gold crown.
For the record, his two-pick game against the Buffs occurred the previous season in Columbia. Bottom line: he made three career interceptions against his future employer.
Who knew? Certainly, way back then, not Jim Leavitt. Now, he's back on a college campus and feeling good about it. His next step is to make the Buffs finally feel good about their defense.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
