South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt is mad.
He's unhappy. He's irked, he's irritated.
So what's new?
This time, it's not the Tampa media, it's not his players or his staff. He's not really happy with his athletic department's marketing gurus.
While USF has this week to prepare for next Thursday's HUGE home game with Big East power Cincinnati, the marketing folks decided they'd brag in a big way.
The big way was a billboard at a major Tampa interstate location declaring USF's entry into what it proclaimed as Florida's "Big Four." The billboard displayed the logos of the University of Florida, Florida State and Miami and added USF.
Basically, it was welcoming itself to the newly-created "Big Four." Created by USF.
It comes after the 17-7 win in the school's first-ever football game with Florida State.
"I don't want anyone to ever think that here I'm the guy having anything to do with that," Leavitt said, obviously frosted that he knew nothing about it before it went up. "That bothers me. I don't want people to sit there and think we're all about that because we're not. We're a program that's trying to compete -- we're a program trying to build."
USF associate athletic director Bill McGillis, the man in charge of marketing called the billboard, "a feel-good message for the fans...."
But there was no feel-good about it for Leavitt.
"Let other people talk about that over coffee," he proclaimed.
"That's not me."
Is that your picture? Did you get those quotes yourself? Is any of this your work?
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