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Could You Have Imagined? These Coaches Sure Could

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By Joey Johnston, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 28, 2007

Updated: 09/28/2007 12:22 am

TAMPA - It's arguably the biggest college football game ever played in Tampa - No. 5-ranked West Virginia at No. 18 South Florida. As the scene plays out tonight at Raymond James Stadium, it's tempting to observe with sheer wonder.

Who imagined this happening?

Well, two people, for sure.

USF coach Jim Leavitt and West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, visionaries, program molders, men who share a similar belief.

Two guys who listened to their hearts.

Two guys who turned down Alabama.

Alabama!

Can you imagine?

Actually, you can.

'Twenty years ago, you wouldn't dare turn down Alabama, a job like that,' Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. 'But now you see it happening here, you see it happening there. I'm so impressed with guys like Leavitt and Rodriguez.

'They aren't thinking stepping stones. They want to build the mountain right where they're standing. I decided the same thing about Florida State and went about it here, so it's nice to see those guys trying to do the same thing.'

They Can Have It All

When Alabama came hard after Rodriguez in December, offering a blank check and all that tradition, he fell back on home-grown instinct.

'I wasn't looking for reasons to go,' said Rodriguez, a West Virginia native who once played for the Mountaineers. 'I was looking for reasons to stay.'

When Alabama chased Leavitt in 2003 - he still has the unsigned contract - he looked past the money. It was about the personal investment, working in his hometown, building something out of nothing, all those years working in trailers, seeing the possibilities.

'I really, honestly, don't know where there is a better job for Jim Leavitt,' Leavitt said. 'You can have big things here.'

You can have West Virginia at USF, maybe the biggest game in the Big East Conference this season, a sellout crowd, national television, the catapult to a top-10 ranking.

'Coach Leavitt started this program,' Bulls quarterback Matt Grothe said. 'It wasn't like he took over from someone with a big-time name. It makes perfect sense. He'd be dumb to leave here.'

Grothe thought about this week's college football excitement in Tampa and chuckled.

'I know he's not saying, 'Man, I wish I would've left USF!' ' Grothe said. 'He's happy.'

The emotions are similar for Rodriguez.

Enjoying The Process

West Virginia once played for a national title (the Major Harris-led Mountaineers of 1988) and were 11-0 heading into the 1994 Sugar Bowl (where they lost to Florida, 41-7). History already had proven West Virginia's occasional power.

But top 10 consistency? That was another matter.

Rodriguez took over a program at its lowest ebb and has it rolling again.

'Rich knows where West Virginia was, where he has taken it, and he thinks he can get it to yet another level,' Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said. 'It's not just a matter of the heart. Rich knows what he has. That's why he elected to stay. I think that's why Jim elected to stay, too. What a great statement for our league.'

Leavitt, perhaps understandably, hasn't been in a reflective mood this week. He has been immersed in preparations for the Mountaineers. It's difficult to see the big picture when the Big Game is at hand.

Leave the sentiment for others.

'That first year early 1996, we didn't have offices, we didn't have a practice field, we didn't even have a team,' said USF passing game coordinator Mike Canales, a member of the inaugural staff. 'But we came in after the Super Bowl and we had a meeting until midnight, 1 o'clock.

'There was structure, a foundation. I didn't think it would happen this fast, but I knew it would happen. Because of the structure. That's the consistency that Coach Leavitt brought to this program. The plan never changed.'

Neither has Leavitt's focus.

'We need to do some more things,' Leavitt said. 'But I love this process. The great thing is that you know it can happen.'

Listen to the water-cooler talk today. Glance around the environment at Raymond James Stadium. Feel the buzz.

And you'll be reminded that Leavitt and Rodriguez made the correct decision.

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