Former USF football coach Jim Leavitt charged with battery, theft after alleged altercation with ex-girlfriend

Former University of South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt is facing several charges, including theft and battery, after he was arrested in Florida on Monday following an alleged altercation with an ex-girlfriend, according to police records. 

Leavitt, 68, was charged with a felony count of grand theft and two misdemeanor charges of simple battery and domestic battery after an alleged altercation with his ex-girlfriend that Monday night. 

According to an arrest report from the St. Petersburg Police Department, Leavitt is accused of grabbing the woman by her arm as she tried to walk away from him. Additionally, he is accused of taking the woman's Louis Vuitton purse, clutch and wallet, which were valued at over $5,000. 

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Leavitt is also accused of pushing another man in the chest during the altercation.

He was released the following day, according to online jail records from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. 

Leavitt was inducted into the USF Athletic Hall of Fame this year. 

He was the school's first football coach when the program debuted in 1997. After 13 seasons with the Bulls, he remains the winningest coach in program history with a 95-57 record. 

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Leavitt had an immediate impact on the college football scene, helping USF achieve a No. 2 national ranking in 2007 and overseeing five straight bowl appearances from 2005-09, winning three. He was fired in 2010, after an investigation determined that he struck a player during halftime of a game the previous fall.

He went on to have a successful but brief career in the NFL. Leavitt served as a linebackers coach for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14, helping lead them to an NFC Championship and a Super Bowl appearance. 

He returned to college football as a defensive coordinator at Colorado, Oregon, FAU and, most recently, at SMU in 2021. 

Leavitt's attorney, Lucas Fleming, told FOX 13 after a court appearance on Tuesday that the situation was a "misunderstanding." 

"He believes he did nothing wrong in this situation," Fleming said. "[It's a] misunderstanding that we hope will be resolved in a favorable way for Mr. Leavitt at some time when we have the ability to make these comments and arguments to the State Attorney's Office."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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