I am normally ok with Greg Auman's stuff in the St Pete Times. He seems to be a fan of USF and writes that way which I don't really have a problem with. But today shows what can happen when a sports writer gets to close to the program or to a coach. I will just quote the relevant passage of this hit piece for you.
snip
I should point out that the guy Auman is quoting both played for Jim Leavitt and starting his coaching career under Leavitt AND that whatever happened with Miller at Citadel happened over 2 years ago. Further this guy has not a clue about what happened, wasn't there and has no way of knowing the facts of the case other than what's been reported and perhaps having talked to Leavitt. Yet, Auman is quite comfortable writing a long ass article basically solely to defame Joel Miller and call his character into question even though at this point its pretty damned clear that no matter what Miller did in his past, it was Jim Leavitt who was and still is dead ass wrong in this situation.
I would say that there are certain things in the article that come close to meeting the definition of libel too. But from the start of this saga it has been Auman, standing against the wind, defending Leavitt and searching high and low to find people to speak in support of him both before the University announced he was being fired and after.
This time however I don't think there is any question that he crossed the line. Coach Leavitt isn't at USF anymore and he won't be coming back and its time for Auman to accept that and move on. If he can't and he makes it his job to keep going after Joel Miller then maybe he ALSO doesn't deserve his job. One thing I do know is with the attorney Miller has representing him right now, Auman had better start watching his step.
It is what it is.
If anyone saw this series of events coming, it might be Ryan Hearn, himself a former USF walk-on football player who has spent the last five years as an assistant coach at The Citadel after working as a graduate assistant on Leavitt's USF staff from 2003-04. He said problems persisted with Miller until he was asked to leave the program.
snip
"There's a lot of reasons we talk about this. We've talked about it in a team meeting," Hearn said. "The kid wants a payday. He wants to have money. I've had every player coming up to me: 'Coach, can you believe what this guy's doing to your program?' You hear it over and over. Everybody up here knows Joel, and no one thinks this is out of the ordinary. It's par for the course."
I should point out that the guy Auman is quoting both played for Jim Leavitt and starting his coaching career under Leavitt AND that whatever happened with Miller at Citadel happened over 2 years ago. Further this guy has not a clue about what happened, wasn't there and has no way of knowing the facts of the case other than what's been reported and perhaps having talked to Leavitt. Yet, Auman is quite comfortable writing a long ass article basically solely to defame Joel Miller and call his character into question even though at this point its pretty damned clear that no matter what Miller did in his past, it was Jim Leavitt who was and still is dead ass wrong in this situation.
I would say that there are certain things in the article that come close to meeting the definition of libel too. But from the start of this saga it has been Auman, standing against the wind, defending Leavitt and searching high and low to find people to speak in support of him both before the University announced he was being fired and after.
This time however I don't think there is any question that he crossed the line. Coach Leavitt isn't at USF anymore and he won't be coming back and its time for Auman to accept that and move on. If he can't and he makes it his job to keep going after Joel Miller then maybe he ALSO doesn't deserve his job. One thing I do know is with the attorney Miller has representing him right now, Auman had better start watching his step.
It is what it is.
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