LOGAN — After Dallin Leavitt announced his intentions to transfer from BYU following his sophomore season, it wasn’t long before he found himself at Utah State visiting with head coach Matt Wells, who was already quite familiar with the defensive back out of Oregon.
“His film is his resume,” Wells says of Leavitt, who was on the other side of Brigham Young-Utah State clashes in 2013 and ’14. “Playing against him and having to game plan against him was all I needed.”
Fifth for the Cougars in tackles in 2014 with 43, Leavitt recorded five tackles in Utah State’s historic, 35-20 win at No. 18 Brigham Young before leaving late in the third quarter with an injury.
“I saw the fight and the desire that they had to win,” Leavitt says of the Aggies’ only win in Provo since 1978. “They wanted it — they being Utah State at the time — they wanted it more than we did, and they played hard and performed better. They were just the better team that day.”
Wells says that once Leavitt decided to relocate to Cache Valley that he and his program welcomed Leavitt with “open arms after finding out what kind of a kid he is.”
“He’s a tremendous young man, high character, and he loves football,” Wells declared. “Dallin’s a football junkie, and he has a high football IQ — everything we want in a football player.”
Slated to start at boundary safety for the Aggies when they open the 2016 season at home against Weber State, Wells points out that Leavitt was voted a team captain “even though he hasn’t played a down at Utah State yet.”
The son of former BYU linebacker Jared Leavitt, the younger Leavitt certainly makes his presence known when on the field, whether it’s barking out directions, celebrating big plays or delivering brutal hits. It’s clear that the 5-foot-10, 200-pound DB has a vocal leadership quality and loves to play a very physical brand of football.
“He’s very vocal, but like we always say, you have to lead by production,” Wells said. “But Dallin knows what he’s talking about because he’s spent a lot of time in that meeting room, and he’s invested a lot of time. So, he’s a good player, and he knows what he’s doing. When he opens his mouth, he can be heard because I think he’s earned the respect of a lot of his teammates.”
Not to mention another very important Aggie.
On July 26, Leavitt married Josie Deere, a native of the Nashville area who spent two years on the USU soccer team before deciding to pursue other interests this fall.
Josie is the daughter of renowned country songwriter Jason Deere, who has penned numerous hits for the likes of Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Marie Osmond, David Archuleta and SHeDAISY, while also performing with the LDS-themed Nashville Tribute Band.
“Meeting my wife is something that’s helped me in every single way, especialy in the classroom and becoming a more mature person, on and off the field,” Leavitt says. “I feel it in my play. I feel more in control. And she’s helped me start to realize that football isn’t who I am; it’s just what I do.”
Leavitt says it was extremely difficult sitting out last season after transferring from BYU, and admits “it put me in tears” any time the rest of the team left for the airport or a team dinner without him. But that’s also when he discovered how much Josie cared for and supported him, not unlike what happened to his father when he met Dallin’s mother, Tania, while playing at BYU.
A native of Soda Springs, Idaho, Jared Leavitt played at Walla Walla Community College in Washington before transferring to Brigham Young, where he was part of the Cougars' team that upset No. 1 Miami in 1990.
That strong tie to BYU, as well as Dallin’s standout play at Central Catholic High School in Portland, were the reason that then-Cougars head coach Bronco Mendenhall made a scholarship offer to the younger Leavitt when he was just 15 years old — a moment that brought tears to Jared’s eyes.
“BYU was a special place for my dad; it gave him an opportunity to play football, get a degree and meet my mom as well,” says Leavitt, who was rated by Scout.com as the No. 5 prospect in the state of Oregon in 2012. “That’s kind of what Utah State is to me. They’re giving me a second chance.” Ironically, when asked by the Deseret News in December 2014 why he was leaving BYU, part of Leavitt’s reply was: “It’s kind of tough to be a single young adult and be in a place where there are so many married people. I think that created a weird vibe for me, at least.”
Reminded of that comment just a couple of weeks after becoming a married man himself, Leavitt chuckles and says, “I know. It's funny. I guess I kind of contradicted myself on that.
“But I don’t know … it just ended up being a perfect situation for me.”