Leach canned...

[dalmations202]

Who would have thought they would have fired Mike Leach........I wouldn't have.

[92bDad]

I feel sympathy for everyone involved.

I'm not a part of Texas Tech, nor do I know the James family...thus, the only information I have is what's been put out to the public the past day or so.

What really bites, are these fans blasing Adam James and his family, to the point of publishing contact information...

Like it or not, what has been alleged to have taken place is flat out bad stuff. If the school has done an investigation or has enough other dirt on Coach Leech, then I'm not surprised that they have taken this course of action.

As for blame, folks need to settle down and allow the system to do its thing.

If the coach has been wronged, then much like the Duke LaCrosse team, he'll be vindicated...if he is actually in the wrong, then he is getting what's coming to him.

All in all, this is a lose-lose for everyone, except perhaps for the kids remaining and Texas Tech as well as future Student/Athletes not having to be subjected to this coaches behavior.

Whatever happened, I hope that those involved come out of it as better people and that they never find themselves or others victims again.

[badfish22]

stupid move.

[MavsWiLLHaVeRinGs]

Now we're gonna suck again like we always did pre-Leach. Fantastic.

[Murphy3]

Tech looks really, really bad for firing Leach. I know that we don't know the whole story, but Tech looks really bad. James looks pretty bad as well. The only one that doesn't look all that bad is Leach.

[tcat075]

Until (and it may never happen) the full story of what happened is released, I really don't know what to think of it. James and his family has one side, Leach has his story, and then other players and coaches have chimed in with their own thoughts and take on the events. I find it interested that they have players themselves quoted as saying that "they had no problem" with the punishment James was given. Really confusing situation.

[LonghornDub]

A&M fans rejoice.

[Kirobaito]

If the Tech administration asked Leach to apologize and he flat out refused - for something that, no matter how trivial, was undeniably a stupid thing to do - I really can't blame them for firing him. It's not like their relationship was any good to begin with.

I'm fine with it, of course. We've come close enough to beating Tech two years in a row. Maybe next year we'll finish the job.

[MavsWiLLHaVeRinGs]

What people around Lubbock are saying is if this was any other kid Leach would of been fine. But this just happens to be "the son of an ESPN reporter" so Gerald Myers, who my family knows personally and they all know how much of a rotten bastard he is, did this out of fear. Alot of players indicated how arrogant the player was being, and how lazy he was as a football player. All that said I don't agree with the methods of Leach, but I don't think firing was the appropriate measure. There's no history what so ever of misbehavior on Leach's behalf. Players from the past such as Wes Welker have come out and talked about how good he was to them. Just knowing what I know about the person who fired him and reviewing the entire situation I think this will turn out to be a colossal mistake for Tech football that will set us back 10 years unless they get extremely lucky and strike gold with a new coach. But what coach with any skill will want to coach at a place you get fired for one mistake?

[left texas]

Some college out there just improved their program. Looking forward to see who gets Leach.

[Murphy3]

It screams of a university not wanting to pay a man what he was due...so they found a way out no matter how foolish it makes the university look.

[MavsWiLLHaVeRinGs]

Well, maybe they will land at least a respectable coach.

Tuberville expresses interest in Texas Tech opening

Dec. 31, 2009
By Tony Barnhart
CBS Sports

Former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville told CBSSports.com on Thursday that he would be interested in the vacant head coaching job at Texas Tech.




Tuberville, who has been a head coach for 14 seasons (four at Ole Miss, 10 at Auburn), last coached in 2008, when his Auburn team went 5-7. Prior to that, Tuberville had posted eight straight winning seasons at Auburn, including a 13-0 record and an SEC championship in 2004. Tuberville had beaten rival Alabama six straight times before losing to the Crimson Tide 36-0 in 2008.

Tuberville has experience in the Texas area as he served as defensive coordinator at Texas A&M in 1994.

Tuberville, a native of Arkansas, took this season off to watch his two young sons play football. He still lives in Auburn.

"It feels like it's time to get back in," said Tuberville, who turned 55 on Sept. 18 and has a career record of 110-64. "I'm still young and I feel good. We'll see if anything happens."

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach was fired on Wednesday for what the school characterized as "insubordination" after an incident with player Adam James. Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill is serving as interim coach for Saturday's Alamo Bowl.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot...s-tech-opening

He does, however, run a traditional offense. So who knows how all that would fly with the fans.

[Rhylan]

This is a tale of two pricks. Leach and James. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

1. When you act like Mike Leach, with the attitude, the ego, and the smart-assery, you need to be *at the pinnacle* of the sport to get away with it. That much for this long. Jimmy at Miami, or whatever, something on that level. Otherwise, shut up and coach. No doubt the guy is a good coach and he did a lot for Tech. It'll be tough for them now no matter who they can land. It IS Lubbock. Point here is, Leach has pulled off the attitude for several years at a level that he's really not entitled to. So he's made himself vulnerable.

2. Probably pretty easy to assume that young James is a prick on his own level as well. Just guessing based on what I've seen and the fact that he seemingly went crying to daddy instead of trying to handle it himself - he is an adult, mind you. So, like I said, pissing match between two pricks. One looks kinda like a former SMU running back, one looks kinda like Vince Gill. Let the pissing match commence. This was bound to escalate no matter what.

3. Leach could've gotten away with this, even with Myers and admin not liking him, even with his smart-assery being way worn out, with ANY injury other than a concussion. Any injury other than a concussion and this wouldn't have registered. Had James been trying to play up a stiff neck or a strained muscle or a joint issue, and still gone crying to daddy, Leach would have come out the huge winner here. WRONG injury to try and make a point with. That was just stupid.

Bottom line - Leach was always teetering on the edge of being too much of a blowhard for his own good. He loved himself a little too much and as a result, thought he was above the over-the-top caution that you have to have for a concussion, real or imagined.

Thus, Leach showed his ass here, and got called out for it. Tech admin was just more than happy it happened now as opposed to in another year or two, to save money.

I think it's funny. He earned his success, he was a jackass about it a lot of the time, he made his own bed, and now he's lying in it. All the idiots in Lubbock were just eating it up, loving Leach, because Lubbock loves their a-hole coaches, and now they're all crying like a bunch of whiners. I love it. The Knight/Leach Puffed-Chest A-Hole Coach Worship Lubbock era is officially CLOSED. Hallelujah.

[MavsWiLLHaVeRinGs]

That's a good post but you are forgetting an important aspect of this whole story, the ESPN employed dad throwing his weight around demanding more playing time for his son. This isn't little league football, this is college. You have to EARN your time on the field. Not get it because of who your daddy is. Leach said he was demanding more playing time for his son than any other player's parents combined. Leach said the kid was in a room the size of a garage that can hold two cars and he was monitored, and Leach did not choose where to put the kid. This is from one of the assistants....

According to the source, Leach told the trainer, two days later, to "put [James] in the darkest, tightest spot. It was in an electrical closet, again, with a guard posted outside."

However, Pincock said James was initially placed in a "sports medicine garage, there is no lock on this building." Pincock said injured players are typically asked to perform exercises during practice, but "James could not participate in these drills, and was originally asked to walk around the field."

"Adam showed up to practice in street clothes, no team gear, and dark sunglasses," Pincock said, according to the statement. "Adam walked about 40 to 50 yards, very slowly and with a non-caring attitude."

Pincock said Leach then asked that James be moved to a location "where sunlight could not bother him as he was wearing sunglasses."

"I instructed Adam to stay in the garage and out of the sun, so the light would not worsen his condition," Pincock said in the statement. "While in the garage, Adam was walking around, eating ice, sitting on the ground, and, at one point, sleeping; at no point was there any enforcement to make Adam stand up."

Leach, during an on-air interview Thursday night with ESPN, said he had not suggested any place specific for James. "I said, find someplace dark and one place was as good as the next, and that was close to the field, and plus they had the ice machine," Leach said.

Is he not trying to help the kid? I mean if he's bothered by sunlight why not get him out of the sun? Am I thinking wrong on that? I think there's more to the story and I believe it revolves around Tech being image conscious due to the fact that the dad was an ESPN reporter. If the dad didn't work for ESPN this is a non-story.

[Rhylan]

Originally Posted by MavsWiLLHaVeRinGs

That's a good post but you are forgetting an important aspect of this whole story, the ESPN employed dad throwing his weight around demanding more playing time for his son. This isn't little league football, this is college. You have to EARN your time on the field. Not get it because of who your daddy is. Leach said he was demanding more playing time for his son than any other player's parents combined. Leach said the kid was in a room the size of a garage that can hold two cars and he was monitored, and Leach did not choose where to put the kid. This is from one of the assistants....

According to the source, Leach told the trainer, two days later, to "put [James] in the darkest, tightest spot. It was in an electrical closet, again, with a guard posted outside."

However, Pincock said James was initially placed in a "sports medicine garage, there is no lock on this building." Pincock said injured players are typically asked to perform exercises during practice, but "James could not participate in these drills, and was originally asked to walk around the field."

"Adam showed up to practice in street clothes, no team gear, and dark sunglasses," Pincock said, according to the statement. "Adam walked about 40 to 50 yards, very slowly and with a non-caring attitude."



Is he not trying to help the kid? I mean if he's bothered by sunlight why not get him out of the sun? Am I thinking wrong on that? I think there's more to the story and I believe it revolves around Tech being image conscious due to the fact that the dad was an ESPN reporter. If the dad didn't work for ESPN this is a non-story.

It's got very little to do with Craig James being at ESPN other than the fact that Leach was the one who let that get to him and get into a bigger pissing match as a result. This would be a story for any kid reporting concussion symptoms. It would be a non-story for any kid reporting dubious non-concussion symptoms being treated similarly. The fact that it's a concussion is what makes this story what it is, not the James angle. The James angle just made it escalate faster because Leach had to strut his stuff as the cock of the walk and not let somebody with a famous daddy show him up.

You have to jump through way too many hoops to try and justify Leach's actions. Bottom line is, it was a CONCUSSION - real or fake - and those carry a different set of rules than any other injury. Putting an "injured" crybaby player somewhere in the facility, away from practice, where he can be completely bored and totally uncomfortable while thinking about his "injury" is a great idea *except in the case of a head injury.*

Case closed, no justification possible, doesn't matter who his dad is, other than obviously, Leach let that get to him more than it should have. If I'm big bad Mike Leach, talking the way I talk all the time, why do I care what death-penalty-get-whupped-by-the-Bears-in-the-Super-Bowl Craig James says about his virtually unrecruited son?

Again, that's why this is a case of Leach's prick nature getting the best of him. And even so, it would've worked out for him had it not been a head injury in play.

[Murphy3]

Here's the story. Tech was looking for an excuse to get out of the contract. Leach gave them a reason even though it was an absolutely terrible reason. Tech pulled the trigger and canned him. The university looks absolutely terrible.

Is Leach a prick? Sure, but how many big time coaches are pricks? Many...

[Smiles]

Originally Posted by MavsWiLLHaVeRinGs

What people around Lubbock are saying is if this was any other kid Leach would of been fine. But this just happens to be "the son of an ESPN reporter" so Gerald Myers, who my family knows personally and they all know how much of a rotten bastard he is, did this out of fear. Alot of players indicated how arrogant the player was being, and how lazy he was as a football player. All that said I don't agree with the methods of Leach, but I don't think firing was the appropriate measure. There's no history what so ever of misbehavior on Leach's behalf. Players from the past such as Wes Welker have come out and talked about how good he was to them. Just knowing what I know about the person who fired him and reviewing the entire situation I think this will turn out to be a colossal mistake for Tech football that will set us back 10 years unless they get extremely lucky and strike gold with a new coach. But what coach with any skill will want to coach at a place you get fired for one mistake?

What do you mean "They all know..."? Aside from your family, who else claims that Gerald Myers is known as "a rotten bastard"? Have we established a reason to take your inside information at face value? I've been away a lot since you came along, so perhaps I have missed something?

[Rhylan]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Here's the story. Tech was looking for an excuse to get out of the contract. Leach gave them a reason even though it was an absolutely terrible reason. Tech pulled the trigger and canned him. The university looks absolutely terrible.

Is Leach a prick? Sure, but how many big time coaches are pricks? Many...

Of course, but when you make yourself such a target, and you're not at the absolute pinnacle of your sport, you need to manage it. Leach letting some little waterbug WR and his daddy get the best of him just shows how big of a man he really is.

It was a concussion. Anybody knows well enough that you don't mess with a concussion, no matter how you feel about the player. Unless you're such a blowhard that you're more worried about winning a pissing match with a 21 year old kid than about focusing on the 4000 other things you need to do as a bowl-bound coach of a 9 win team. Or about keeping your job when you know you've made yourself a ripe target for your school admin.

One way or another, that attitude is going to make you a target and your admin is going to find one way or another to get rid of you, again, UNLESS you are at the pinnacle of your sport. Leach just made it really easy on Tech admin, and showed his true colors in the process.

The problem that Leach defenders are having is that they're equating being at the pinnacle of Texas Tech football with being at the pinnacle of sport. But Tech fans have had a general problem with perspective for several years anyway. It's why Leach was a perfect fit.

[dalmations202]

Typical stuff.

Leach thinks he is bigger than the University. He being the winning coach and surpassing Spike thought he was above it all. It is shown in his attitude and action.

Wow, a spoiled rich kid whines to daddy, and daddy throws a fit. Seems like I have heard this story before.

Now a trainer comes out and try's to cover his own backside. Guess what -- #3 side to the story.

Someone tell me when the truth ever actually gets told.

--------------------------

Here is the truth as I see it. Of course this is only my opinion from what I have read.

Spoiled little rich kid has minor run-in with mega-ego coach. Coach decides that he will make an example with him to all his players that just because he is injured, he has to be tougher and it will be worse to be on injury than to be on the field. He gets to prove his power over the players this way, and show who is in control. Of course this feeds his ego.
Player complains to daddy who is rich and powerful in his own way. Daddy goes over coach and to the administration of the school. Basically tells the school that they are responsible for the child's well being, and he will sue if they don't at least investigate. Coach is pissed off over it, because it just wasn't that big of a deal to him, and he will not be controlled by any player on his team. Administration looks at it, and because it was a "concussion" which has been a big emphasis -- even at the NFL level here lately, that they realize that the James would have a case.

So the administration says, look we owe him a big bonus. Then they look at the case and realize that if "others" come out and state that they were mistreated as well, then the university could be liable for massive $$$$$. Then they also might get hit by sanctions from the NCAA, and lose bowl game money, etc.

So the administration decides to have him sign a paper listing his ability's etc when it comes to disciplining when injuries are involved, and request him to write and sign an official apology to the James. Leach's EGO wouldn't allow him to do this because he thinks he is still bigger than the school. If he doesn't, then they will fire him, and he will get the rest of his contract without having to actually work for it, and he can move on to bigger and better. Problem is, he was terminated with cause, so the contract is null and void, and the university doesn't owe him any more $$$. Subsequently expect a court case on his contract here shortly. His lawyer has already stated he will file it.

The administration realized that Leach's EGO had written as check that the university might not be able to cover, at least not if it kept happening and there became multiple kids involved. They also realized that if they were going to can him -- the time was now before they were held even more liable, and couldn't prove that they had handled it ASAP when it came to their knowledge.

It has, and IMO, is about the $$$$$$ and liability. Leach's ego, and his relationship with Meyers and the administration just meant that they wouldn't be able to work together to fix it. If Leach's ego wouldn't have gotten in the way, then they would have worked it out. If $$$$ hadn't been in the equation, then he would still be there. Of course you now have everyone involved trying to cover their own backsides so the stories you hear are only partial truths skewed to cover the individuals involved.

Truth be known though, everyone loses. The university loses, Leach loses, James lose, and the recruitment process, etc loses as well. There is no good that has come out of this, except that maybe the next coaches, etc pay more attention to the doctors when concussions are involved.