The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Jim Leavitt

Jim Leavitt held SMU at Regional Program I for 1 season.

Peak, then fade
75–44
2000–2021 · 2 stints
South FloridaSMU
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerSOUTH FLORIDASMUNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelSouth Florida, 2000: 7-4, Regional Program I2000South Florida, 2001: 8-3, Regional Program I2001South Florida, 2002: 9-2, National Program III2002South Florida, 2003: 7-4, National Program III2003South Florida, 2004: 4-7, Regional Program I2004South Florida, 2005: 6-6, Regional Program I2005South Florida, 2006: 9-4, National Program III2006South Florida, 2007: 9-4, National Program II2007South Florida, 2008: 8-5, National Program II2008South Florida, 2009: 8-5, National Program II2009+0.0SMU, 2021: in progress, Regional Program I2021+3.1One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 3rd career season — faster than 25% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #454 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

South Florida, 10 seasons
+0.0
Regional Program I → National Program II.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

50%SMU2021–2021– 0.0pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

4–0 against his rivals. Just 1–4 against Greg Schiano.

Rivalry record
4–0
100.0% · 1 rival
One-score games
18–16
52.9% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
1–3
25.0%
Rivalry ledger
UCF4–0100%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Greg Schiano1–4
5 meetings, 2005–2009
’05 W’06 L’07 L’08 L’09 L
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
1–3 25.0%
Power Program
6–7 46.2%
National Program
16–19 45.7%
Regional Program
31–14 68.9%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
+0.41
#38 of 319 · more than most
Defense marginal impact
-0.37
#309 of 325 · less than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2021–2021
SMUcaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program I
Jim Leavitt held SMU at Regional Program I for 1 season.

13th-best SMU tenure of 18 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Outperforms his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+26.0 pts
#19 of 208 · more than most
Defense vs. talent
-30.2 pts
#198 of 208 · less than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Succeeded by Rhett Lashlee (2022–2026).

Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals
14
3.2★ avg rating
Portal departures
9
left via the portal
Net portal flow
+5
#82 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.

Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.

Avg. size (raw)
6′3″, 239 lbs
across 9 of 14 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
+4.1 lbs
#119 of 255 · a typical amount
Avg. class year
Sr
#7 of 255 · more than most
Top states: TX (7), CA (1), HI (1)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
38.9
position-weighted
Talent lost
33.3
position-weighted
Net
+5.6
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Jahari Rogers (CB) from Florida
Biggest loss: Carson Welch (QB) to the portal
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys Tight end via the portal
100%
#1 of 188 stints
Grows Safety from high school
100%
#201 of 218 stints
Grows Wide receiver from high school
75%
#204 of 243 stints

4 NFL Draft picks: Brandon Stephens (2021), Kylen Granson (2021), Danny Gray (2022), Grant Calcaterra (2022)

0–0
2000–2009
South Floridacaretaker
National Program II
Jim Leavitt held South Florida at National Program II for 10 seasons.

1st-best South Florida tenure of 9 by the numbers.

Succeeded by Skip Holtz (2010–2012).

16 NFL Draft picks: Kenyatta Jones (2001), Anthony Henry (2001), Bill Gramatica (2001), Kawika Mitchell (2003), Shurron Pierson (2003), DeAndrew Rubin (2003), J.R. Reed (2004), Stephen Nicholas (2007) + 8 more

75–44