Former South Florida head football coach Jim Leavitt was arrested Monday evening on charges of simple battery, grand theft, and domestic battery. He was booked at 8:41 p.m. and remains in custody as of this writing, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. He's scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Tuesday afternoon
According to multiple reports, Leavitt is accused of grabbing an ex-girlfriend by the arm and taking her purse, clutch and wallet. He's also been accused of pushing a man at the St. Petersburg apartment complex where the incident occurred. Leavitt told police the man walked into his outstretched arm, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Tampa Tribune.
Leavitt served as the first head coach in USF history, founding the program in 1997 as an FCS independent and leading the Bulls into the Big East by 2005. His teams reached five consecutive bowl games from 2005-09. At one point in the 2007 season, USF was the No. 2-ranked team in the country.
However, USF fired Leavitt in January of 2010 after an investigation found he struck a player in the locker room during a game the previous November. The investigation also found Leavitt was not truthful about the incident when asked, and obstructed USF's investigation into the incident by instructing players and assistants to mislead investigators.
Leavitt spent the 2010 season out of football before returning as the San Francisco 49ers linebackers coach in 2011. He would later serve as the defensive coordinator for Colorado, Oregon, Florida Atlantic and SMU. The 68-year-old last coached in 2021.
Leavitt is slated to be inducted into the USF Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 2. The family of Joel Miller, the walk-on running back Leavitt was accused of grabbing and slapping, has asked USF to reconsider putting Leavitt in its hall of fame. Miller died in 2017.