Jim Leavitt's Apology Demanded By Attorney

Welcome to Week One of Tampa's newest soap opera. For lack of a better name, we'll just call it "As the Bull-loney Turns."

You know the actors:

Former University of South Florida coach Jim Leavitt, USF walk-on football player Joel Miller, and a cast of attorneys.

While Leavitt's former employer, USF, has moved on and will apparently announce his replacement on Friday—Skip Holtz of East Carolina—Leavitt, Miller and the band of attorneys are creating their own script.

In Miller's corner, the reigning heavyweight litigation champion of Tampa Bay: Barry Cohen. And in Leavitt's corner, the guys from Palm Harbor: Tom Roebig and Wil Florin.

Roebig and Florin have demanded that USF give Jimbo his old job back.

Won't happen.

Cohen demands that Leavitt apologize, publicly to Miller.

Says Cohen, "We don't know much about football but we know plenty about hardball and we're ready to play hardball."

That hardball talk could be in play if this request by Miller is not accomodated.

"I covered it up. All I want is the truth to come out and for Coach Leavitt to admit it," Miller said today at Cohen's press conference.

"IT" referred to by Miller, is that Leavitt hit Miller in the face at halftime of the Louisville game last November.

Miller now says he lied to the university investigators when he told them Leavitt didn't strike him in the face at halftime.

This is a classic, he said, he said: Miller says Leavitt did "IT" and Leavitt says he didn't do "IT."

"Why would we apologize for something he didn't do?" said Florin in response to Cohen's demand for an apology.

The school has moved on but Leavitt and Miller have not.

Stay tuned for the next episode, "As the Bull-loney Turns."

Should be a good one.