The internal-external investigation conducted by the University of South Florida documents that per witnesses, Jim Leavitt did indeed grab player Joel Miller by the throat and hit him twice at halftime of the Louisville game last November.

In addition, the report said that Leavitt lied about it to the investigators and also interfered with the investigation.

Here are excerpts from the cover letter that was presented to Leavitt on Friday morning when he was notified that he was terminated from his position as head football coach at USF:

"As is presented in more detail in the report it was alleged that you inappropriately grabbed the throat and slapped the face of a student athlete. The report concluded that this allegation was accurate based on independently corroborated statements of persons found to be in the best position to observe your conduct. The disparity in authority and power between you as head coach and the student athlete makes your conduct more serious.

"Your repeated denials of this conduct are noted, however, as indicated in the report, your description of your conduct toward the student athlete in question was consistently uncorroborated by credible witnesses, and in fact contradicted by a number of credible witnesses found to be in the best position to observe your conduct. USF is forced to conclude that your statements to the reviewers are not credible given the consistent lack of corroboration and frequent contradictions between your version of the events in question and those of credible witnesses. USF's conclusion as to the credibility of the statements you made to the reviewers makes your conduct all the more serious."

The final sentence of the letter to Leavitt reads:

"This is an unfortunate outcome reached after a thorough and fair review, careful consideration of that review and direct consultation with President Genshaft."

It was signed by Doug Woolard, the USF Athletic Director.

In the report itself, there is the testimony of one of the eyewitnesses, a USF player, referred to as "Student Athlete B."

It reads:

"Student Athlete B described the event quite differently. His locker was located on a wall that was perpendicular to the wall on which Student Athlete A's locker was located. From his vantage point, he was able to see the entire encounter. Student Athlete B related that Student Athlete A was looking up at Leavitt as he came toward him (walking very fast) and that Leavitt grabbed Student Athlete A by his throat using his right hand and then struck Student Athlete A's head twice with an open hand. Student Athlete B told the reviewers that he knew he had witnessed a crime and knew what he saw was wrong. He indicated he felt betrayed and that the values and standards that had been taught to them had been violated. Student Athlete B also report to the reviewers that he hasn't been able to eat or sleep due to the stress of what he witnessed (which he categorized as an "assault"). Student Athlete B was very much affected by the encounter, so much so that in the week which followed he absented himself from his position meeting and went to Leavitt's office. Student Athlete B told Leavitt that he saw what happened and needed to hear directly from the Coach. He related that Leavitt responded to his question about the incident by saying that he "wasn't wrong" and that he grabbed Student Athlete A by the shoulder pads and said only "good, positive things" to Student Athlete A. Student Athlete B also says that Leavitt said he was "fighting for (his) job." Student Athlete B also said that Leavitt told him, "you of all people (Student Athlete B). You're the last person I would have thought would have come and questioned me." Student Athlete B related that the event was the topic of much discussion in the locker room and that other players told Student Athlete B that they had also seen it. He also indicated that "they felt threatened. Felt they could be next."

The report confirms what Fanhouse writer Brett McMurphy revealed in his Dec. 14 story.

Leavitt had continually denied all the reports in that story.

The investigation confirms it.

It's done.

It happened.

Jim Leavitt, in plains terms, assaulted one of his players.

And he lied about it and attempted to interfer with the investigation.

Leavitt is gone as of Friday and USF will seek to heal itself from this final sad chapter of his coaching tenure.