Jim Leavitt: “I have no desire nor I ever have had a desire to be coach in waiting.”

A report earlier Thursday stated that Jim Leavitt had a verbal agreement last year to become Kansas State’s head coach-in-waiting and assume head coaching duties in 2018.

Leavitt, the current Oregon defensive coordinator and one-time Snyder assistant coach tells GoPowercat.com that “I have no desire nor I ever had had a desire to be a coach in waiting.”

Leavitt made a statement to GoPowercat.com hours after a Facebook post by former ESPN writer Brett McMurphy went live Thursday morning, with details creating a stir among a K-State fan base after a source told McMurphy that top school officials, including K-State President Richard Myers, along with top boosters were all for Leavitt joining the K-State coaching staff in 2017 with plans to slide into the head coach position after the season.

The plan, according to the report, was nixed by K-State head coach Bill Snyder because he wanted his son Sean, the team’s associate head coach and special teams coordinator, to serve as his replacement.

“I have no desire nor I ever have had a desire to be coach in waiting,” Leavitt said in a message. “I always have been and always will be Coach Snyder’s number one fan. If Coach ever retires, which may not be for some time, I would want whatever is best for KSU and the people of Kansas. Hopefully sometime soon I will have the opportunity to be a head coach again. For now my only concern is to help build our defense at Oregon.”

The 78-year-old Snyder has made no public announcement about a possible retirement, although he has publicly endorsed Sean as a possible successor on a few occasions in recent years.

Leavitt served under Snyder between 1990 and 1995 and spent the final four seasons at K-State as co-defensive coordinator with Bob Stoops.