Updated: December 30, 2009, 1:06 PM ET Texas Tech fires Leach Associated Press LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach, who was accused of mistreating a player who had a "mild" concussion, has been fired by the university. Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
Was going to type that @ first too.....has to be picked up in a heartbeat....which will do wonders for his EGO!!!
Possibly. However, not sure what the non-compete is (if there is one) when fired. Tubberville couldn't take another head coaching job for 2 years after Auburn fired him. Leach is still due to get $400,000 per year for the remaining 4 or 5 years on his deal. However, I would expect that he would take this coming up season off and then coming back.
So, back ON TOPIC, it appears that Leach made a player (Craig James' son incidentally) sit in a shed after he got a concussion. That is a very very strange incident.....
according to him he had 3 people watching him. a doctor, a grad student and an undergrad student. at least thats the word around juarez del norte.
Kirk Herbstreit was just talking about it on the Patriots News channel He made a good point; the players know exactly what took place. Either the kid or Leach are going to look REALLY bad when all the dust settles.
Why would you punish a player for getting a concussion? Regardless, I think the point is they wanted to fire him and this just provided the opportunity. My understanding is that Leach is a good football coach but not good at the other stuff, dealing with alumni and admins, etc. This is required at the big institutions. If he can't do that part then he really won't ever be the coach at one of the big schools.
Well, actually he has admitted he did it, the question is was it wrong? I am not saying who is wrong or right, I just think its very very strange. - As far as the rest, all he has done is gone to a tiny college directly in the middle of BFE and recruited against Texas, Texas A&M both Oklahoma Schools. With that considered, he has been at TT 10 years, and has been to Bowl games every single one of those years. He also just signed a 5 year extension. It is also being reported here that LOTS of his alum and mostly former players are sticking up for him.
He made him sit in a shed? Maybe he's like Channing Crowder... can't "shed" blocks, go sit in SHED! Were all the lights turned off and was there an abundance of sharp tools hanging around?
The reports yesterday, stated, The James' family report stated that Leach made their son STAND in a shed, with no lights on. http://www.sportingnews.com/college...leachs-attorney-incident-blown-out-proportion Leach's atty: On ESPN NEWS stated it wasn't a SHED, it was a STORAGE Facility/Electrical Room (Blocking Sleds, Dummies, what not).....picture on ESPN shows it to be SHED/Barn style.....and that all lights were required off and door closed because of the "mild" concussion reasoning even though the Med Staff allowed him to return to practice (did not participate as he was told to go the SHED for discipline/recuperation)....but he couldn't speak to the STANDING part cause he wasn't there, and no one could speak to it, since while James was "looked in on" every 15 min from Med personnel or their "Grad Assts" no one was in the room with James and he could have sat down on his own. http://www.sbnation.com/2009/12/29/1224188/photo-mike-leach-shed-texas-tech Very weird.
If he punished a kid for getting a concussion then there shouldn't be any question it's wrong. Alums will almost always side with a program against one kid who is not a great or even good player so that's hardly surprising. And personally I have nothing against Leach. My only contact is watching TT games and they were fun to watch. But I have heard rumors from a few different sources that the administration didn't like him. That he was a guy who rubbed many the wrong way. If you're not good at that then you're not going to be at a big program. And based on the fact that this incident was made public by the school and that Leach was fired so quickly, I have to think that those rumors were true. If so, then he has not only done good things with the program, but he's also alienated the people who make the hiring and firing decisions.
Were mostly on the same side about this brother, but I pose the same question back with a twist. Did he even punish the kid? Did he tell him to go to the shed for punishment or indeed he felt that was the kids best way to recooperate from the concussion? Neither you or I will be able to determine that. It will indeed be a court of law.... Oh, and I would LOVE for Leach to make the trek 600 miles North to Albuquerque and coach my Lobo's even if he is eccentric as a loon.
He put him there because light is BAD for you when you have a concussion. It was to protect him. There are rumors the kid was disgruntled with Leach and wanted more playing time.
The University made a huge mistake in suspending him. They should have either fired him right away, or done nothing at all until a full investigation had been conducted. The problem for TT was that, unlike most kids who get this kind of treatment, Adam James spoke out. I'm willing to bet that the overwhleming majority of D1 college players wouldn't have. Texas Tech, for fear that they would be frowned upon, felt they had to do something. It reminds me alot of the Bobby Knight situation.
that's been reported by other coaches who have had discussion with James. the standing part is weird, (if true), but perhaps its spun as recuperation vs. risk of falling asleep? Still, couldnt you have him go into dark room for concussion like systems and let him lie down and rest (without falling asleep) by having some one stay with him and keep him awake? And why shed vs. his dorm room? It was reported this was over 2-3hrs....so if thats during practice, it seems like a long time to ask him to stand as a benefit??? Atleast let him take a knee, right?
If no-one was in the room, no-one was stopping him. It isn't strange to you that Leach has NEVER had an incident like this before in ten years coaching Tech? This isnt the first concussion he has dealt with.
It is strange....so are the details of the reports and the accusations the James' family is making. The investigation isnt over and yet the University tossed him out. Lots and lots of strange to go around. The 15 minute check-ins are part of the accusations to make sure he wasnt lying down, and only standing, etc...but again, its weird. I mean, they reported that the HUGE shed door was raised and lowered each time to check on him.....again, weird.
IMO this is no longer player vs. coach but rather school vs. coach. Here's an article about an email that was obtained by the Dallas Morning News that was sent by a prominent booster during the 2008 contract negotiation: Sowell wrote this in an email sent to AD Myers and Chancellor Vance: Kent (Vance), their (IMG’s) latest offer is offensive. … In 9 years he (Leach) has had only one real interview. Washington (where they hired another coach in less than 24 hours after their interview with Leach). We got the report from the Miami AD on their “interview” with Leach last year in a hotel lobby. The Kentucky job, where he was offensive coordinator for two years, has been open twice since he has been at Tech. They weren’t interested in him. Auburn wouldn’t interview him after his agent to them Mike would pay his own way to the interview! In spite of being named (2008) Big 12 coach of the year, he is NOT a hot commodity. If he was, he’d already be gone. He has no bargaining power. Leach has been able to do one thing that no other coach has been able to do before - make me disgusted with the Tech football program. Sowell claimed in another email how Leach’s agent had sucessfully duped reporters into thinking the coach had interviewed for jobs at other prominent schools while still at Tech. Again, this email is from a prominent booster privy to the details of the 2008 Leach contract negotiations. If the email is any indication, it shows just how much personal animosity had built up between a Tech booster and possibly the school’s administration and Leach.
Don't think this story is over, Leach is due a huge contract bonus really soon, like 800k and he won't get it because he was fired for 'cause' according to the University. Players quoted as saying he won't be missed, administrators basically throwing him under the bus publicly, its a very ugly situation. I think there was some left over animosity after the contract negotiations and the University saw a legal way to dump him and not have to pay him, and took it. The incident is very strange, I can't honestly see how anyone could be defending what he did to that player, can't be argued it was for the players good, if someone can find me a doctor that recommends standing in a shed in the dark as a remedy for a concussion I'd like to hear it.
Texas Tech is ******ed. They hire Bobby Knight and what kind of history he has but fure leach after some bull crap. haha
EXACTLY!!!! All Leach did was take a perrenial whipping post and make them very very succesful--immediately succesful. That is a boosters dream. - I am not saying Leach is guilty or not, I am saying this entire story doesn't jive is all.
He angered alot of people with his actions off the football field. Leach was far from normal and did alot of crazy things. Thats why he butted heads with ppl from time to time.
That's why I think Leach has to be pissing people off at TT. On the surface he should be universally beloved for the team's accomplishments. The fact that he isn't is telling. IMO whether Leach is guilty or not becomes irrelevant. The story is that TT wants to get rid of him. Once it becomes that obvious I assume he's gone regardless of the legal wranglings. The only question is how much do they have to pay him.
Well he is officially gone, regardless of procedings, and yes I agree its all about money at this point. - - For the record, I do recall much talk about how eccentric the man is. Even in his style of play he is super-eccentric, which was an advantage he had. Very very tough to game plan against. - Perhaps un-orthodox is a better phrase for him?
I just finished a book about the irresistible pull of irrational behavior. The title of it is Sway and I highly recommend it. It's not about football, but I bring it up here b/c the book mentions Spurrier. It talked about the success he had in the SEC and how everybody else in the league was stuck on playing defense and running the ball. The fact is that the game has changed and those who are stuck in the past (like many posters here LOL) are fighting an uphill battle. Spurrier's willingness to be unorthodox probably led to much of his success. I actually don't think he was that great of a coach, he was just ahead of the curve. Anyways, Leach's unorthodox (I like the term) offense was probably an out growth of his personality. It led to a lot of on field success. But maybe that same personality led to less success in the other aspects of the job.
