Mike Leach = Fired?! Arrrrrrrrrgh!

• One of the things Leach said in his NYT interview was that James alluded to a business relationship between Hance and he.Is there any way to check on this?

• Ha!Ha!Ha!, Thank you for your thoughtful insight. Your contribution to the discussion is certainly helpful

• I love the fact the the idiotic & arrogant Tech fans are going through this. I grew up in the Texas panhandle, and just hate how that school thinks it can compare to Texas or A&M. It's a piece of trash school in a piece of trash town. That's why the Tech fans are considered trash.

• MIckeyG, You seem to forget that this is the same university where Bobby Knight proceeded to get in a HUGE fight with the Chancellor at a local grocery store, yet was allowed to keep his job. This kid had had a concussion. He obviously needed to rest. At the same time, he needed to be present for practice (not sitting on his butt at home). The only problem I can see is that Leach had him rest in a place that may not have been up to Adam James' standards.

• Man are you guys out of touch or what? Try suing your employer for suspending you telling them to take a flying leap when they ask you to sign a letter saying you won't be a bad pirate again and tell me that you think you will still be employed. Insubordination is not hard to prove so the chances that Mr. Leach will "own" the University are laughable. Mike Leach could have avoided the entire fiasco by saying "OK, I won't do that again" and gone on his way. But NO!!! He's going to tell those SOB bosses that he will do whatever he wants. Seems to me that regardless of all the BS that went before the courthouse steps Mike Leach could have avoided the consequences.

• Jimbo, check BU's record against Aggs lately

• So Leach deserved to be fired for essentially putting a 20 year-old in "time out"??? Give me a break! I don't want to hear about how this kid had a "concussion". It had been days since the "concussion" had occurred. If he was going to have a serious medical event (intracranial bleed), it would have happened already. All the kid needed was some rest, and that's what Mike Leach gave him (though not in the way that Adam James was hoping for). When this is all said and done, Leach will make out like a bandit. Tech will owe him millions after the court battle, he'll likely have a job at a bigger-name program, and his players will no he has no intention of putting up with their crap-even if it means losing his job... As for Tech, welcome back to the bottom of the Big 12. At least Baylor will finally have someone to beat up on!

• At least I wont have to worry about TTU screwing up the Longhorns season anymore. The lack of process on the Tech side is interesting. It is obvious they want to return to podunk football. The alumni I know are pissed and the money is sure to dry up. From contender to has been in 2 years. The line forms at the left for winning coaches, quirky or not. Lots of programs will put up with a winner.

• I don't recall Colt McCoy's daddy coming on ESPN because he was worried about the health of his son when this happened. I wondered if Mack Brown was forced to apologize.http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/jtaylor/stories/100207dnspotaylor.2eeea03.html

• I'm reserving comment until someone can prove to me that the treatment Adam received was Mr. Leach's way of expressing his concern / or his disappointment that the kid hurt himself in practice.

• @Rooster says: @knottygirl - Mike Leach is not going suddenly go looking for minimum wage jobs. He's going to continue to collect money for the high paying job he just lost, and on top of that he's going to land another high paying job. Sure Rooster, just like last year when all of those programs came after Leach, when his pimp agents at IMG tried to whore him out to any university they could. No AD wants his headaches. He is now radioactive as a head coach.

• Rooster says: @knottygirl - Mike Leach is not going suddenly go looking for minimum wage jobs. He's going to continue to collect money for the high paying job he just lost, and on top of that he's going to land another high paying job. That, in and of itself, says Mike Leach doesn't have to kiss his employer's ass like you and I. ********* Dude, I should've been a football coach. There are several former bosses I would love to have cussed out, flipped off, stormed out on. I can't imagine actually getting to do it and still pull in a big paycheck!

• Craig James has now been involved in the destruction of 2 college football programs and I'm guessing he doesn't really care. I've now added Craig James to the list of people I hope fail. I was a Mike Leach fan and while I'm sure he rubbed people the wrong way I think his approach was pretty refreshing. He didn't kiss the ass of whining student athletes. Guess that is why Adam "Pacman" James got his feelings hurt and went running home to daddy. F Craig James.

• I am squarely on the side of Leach. TT's charge that he was fired for just cause doesn't hold water. Not when James was cleared to play and the room he was sent to with three other people is where the O-Line hangs out while they play 7 on 7 and the opponent's team has press conferences. This was about Gerald Myers looking for a reason to get rid of Leach. So what if Leach didn't want to gladhand? Then don't include that in the contract or let him walk. If he was able to negotiate that part of it but was unable to get Myers off his back by another clause making him the AD of football, well arrgh. This was about politics and power in academia and all it took for Leach to be unloaded was a WATB(whiny assed titty baby). Let there be no mistake about the treatment of the player in question. What Leach did was exactly what is recommended for a concussion, a dark room is right there on the list of things to do. So the females need to back off of Leach and do some research. For the record,though I am an Orangeblood, I do care though that TT is now on a course for self-destruction. I would prefer they did not immolate themselves on a pyre of pride, which is exactly what is happening. Leach will find another job and will win against TT and get the money anyway. TT will drag it out in court, but in the end they get to pay Leach and his lawyers. If the old alums disliked the fact that Leach didn't want to hang out with them that is too fucking bad. The man made your team relevant. He took cast-offs and never-will-be players and scared the living shit out of everybody he played. Even when he lost he came to the game with a threat of stealing something, like any good pirate should. Gerald Myers probably recognizes none of this, not when I heard Kent Hance on the Eternally Self Promoting Network last night with another dose of spin control. I heard Perry, DL with a quote that the mean old coach was gone and it was fun. Yay, the evil pirate captain is gone! Good luck kid, you are gonna need it. I want to see how many other players come out against Leach. So far the line is pretty damn short over there against the mounting ire of the younger alums and the student body. Old school mossbacks against the 25-54 demo.

• Is it possible for a former coach to 'own' a university through the court system? I wonder what changes he'll make?

• The James family has done it again..First they help turn the lights out on SMU..Now they help turn Texas Tech into Sam Houston State.. Good Job and Hook Em Horns!

• Kergo...you gotta fan here!!

• Boy I just love it when"educated" Gringos fight among themselves. Question: Who is responsible for keeping coach "Knight" ?? You mean to tell me that coach "Leach" is worse than coach Knight ?! Seems like a gringo trick at play here. As for the powers that be at TT be careful what you wish for. This situation kind of reminds me of the mess Jerry Jones and coach Jimmy Johnson created to which coach Switser supposedly remarked " How did you two guys manage to screw up such a good deal?" pete v.

• @knottygirl - Mike Leach is not going suddenly go looking for minimum wage jobs. He's going to continue to collect money for the high paying job he just lost, and on top of that he's going to land another high paying job. That, in and of itself, says Mike Leach doesn't have to kiss his employer's ass like you and I.

• Are you guys nuts? I agree that Leach is a great coach, and he's taken Tech to a new level, but he had to go. Not because he put a player with a concussion in a dark room (for whatever reasons he had), but because he refused to back down when he had a chance. I get being stubborn and proud (boy, am I both--just ask Mr. Knottygirl), but if apologizing and backing down and, oh, maybe shining the AD's shoes and picking up his drycleaning would keep my high-paying job, I'd be all for it. Seriously. I've never made anywhere near that amount of money in my entire life, but for much crummier jobs, I've taken quite a bit of abuse over the years.

• Richie, I LOVE your suggestion that Leach is available to coach the Cowboys. Not because I think he'd be successful, although I'm not totally ruling that out. I would just love to see the dynamics of a Jerry-Leach relationship. And is there any doubt that the Leach press conferences would be a massive upgrade from the Wade press conferences? They might even surpass the entertainment value of the Tuna press conferences. I'd also enjoy seeing Tech hiring Art Briles away from Baylor and Baylor hiring Leach. That would be greatness. I'm not sure I see the Baptists in Waco being able to deal with a wild card like Leach, though.

• so why is Gerald Myers not being burned in in fucking effigy??? H ei s such a limp dick AD he was a limp dick basketball coach and hes an even limper dick AD. he almost effed up negotiations with Leach last yr and now Leach is gone ...and what do we have to look forward to...maybe we can get Mangini's fat ass! I'm sooo discouraged!!

• I had a vision. Next year at Texas Tech practice. ________ I see someone crappy like A.Briles coaching. I see football players laughing and dancing in the tulips, telling A. James he's great. I see A.James starting. I see pizza and lemonade tables set up so no one gets thirsty or hungry. It's come and go as you please. I see Bear Bryant and the Junction Boys laughing in heaven. I see Tech going 0-12 and a curse that can only be broken by having a pirate coach the team. I see TT dropping football and cursing the day they fired ML.

• I am awesome...my son is awesome! Pretty soon this little army will have a third generation James to take down yet another football program. Mooo ha haaa (evil laugh)!

• What's the matter little girl? Oh, it's not a girl, it's Adam James crying like a tiny 4 year old! My coach in high school did far worse stuff to us than this! If he had told me to go into a dark room as punishment, I would have laughed at him. I really worry for our future, when our kids are so entitled and soft. I grew up in Plano and knew tons of kids like this, and once it was time to grow up they were stunted because they were so babied. IT WAS ALL about THEM....and you know what happens to kids like this-life kicks them in the #ss!

• "SMU welcomes Adam James, and the balance of power." Um. No thanks. We've got enough dudes on our team with mediocre talent, without welcoming another and his helicopter dad. I don't care if his dad was part of the pony express.

• So the doctor told James he needed to be out of the light. So Leach said, "Well, go over there in that air conditioned building with the TVs where the light won't bother you." Did I miss something? Sheesh, compared to some of the things that go on in MIDDLE SCHOOL FOOTBALL, this ranks pretty far down the list of horrible things a coach has done to a player. It's sad that Leach's rep is tarnished by something as asinine as this, and that ESPN took part in it. The minute this all started, they should have separated themselves from it all, instead of allowing themselves to be used by James Sr. to take out this personal vendetta on Leach.

• Why did they even mess with this kid James? He's obviously a HUGE tool like his dad! Speaking of tools, they should do us all a favor and lock them in the toolshed, with just there own voices on loop, telling everyone how great they are and blab blah blah. That must be one proud mama/wife. Now the Big 12 should make it mandatory that all schools make the football players act like little, wining girls instead of becoming men. I'll take Mangino Bear and Leach Pirate anyday on my team! Kinda weird that it's only the Big 12?

• Hey Look, Guess it sucks to be bent over and ass-raped every day. Unless you are an SMU faggot...

• Goddamn, I love how the Texas Tech faggots come out of the fucking woodwork. Posturing as if their school is actually accredited. Hilarious. SMU welcomes Adam James, and the balance of power. Fuck you, Texas Tech dime-pitcher-beer fucks.

• After all the dust settles, this will be a instance where the AD (Myers) totally disliked the head football coach. I think it galled Myers that Leach had made the football program more relevant than his beloved basketball outfit (even with Bobby K.) I think those feelings came to a head during Leach's contract talks last year. Craig James provided a reason for the AD's office to make the head football coach look bad and when Leach went to court looking for an injunction to basically tell Gerald Myers to "eat shit and bark at the moon" that was the final straw. Just an opinion.

• "And yes, I know Bear Bryant would've eaten Adam James alive. But the times have changed, and we have more medical evidence that gives even the dumbest coach (here's lookin' at you, Danny Ford) a rudimentary idea of acceptable practices." Oh for the love of god, he made widdle Adam James stay alone in the scary room. You make it sound like Leach turned him into a tackle dummy.

• Could This Be All About Poor Character, Big Egos, Agendas and Opportunity? I would have preferred to wait until all the facts were known before I expressed my views, but out of the unbridled nepotism and an unbelievable level of ignorance as demonstrated on ESPN�s radio talk that I briefly listened to at around 100PM EST, 12/30/09, ESPN has chosen to call the James-Leach incident as a closed case against Leach. So, I decided to weigh in with another possible scenario. This whole situation defies common sense. First, on so many levels no coach in his right mind would knowingly treat a player with a concussion in this way, let alone a kid with direct access to the media. Leach doesn�t appear to me to be out of his mind, nor does he have a history of this kind of behavior as far as I can tell. Second, it�s unlikely that other parties to the situation would be complicit or allow these things to happen to a player with such an injury. No, this whole situation seems to me to be a product of poor character, big egos and agendas. Is it possible that this a case where (1) A spoiled young man with a big ego and sense of entitlement, unaccustomed to not getting his way, saw an opportunity for retribution and embellished? (2) A hovering Craig James who perhaps has not been permitted to influence Leach�s program which pressed on his ego causing him to impulsively jump on the first opportunity to nail Leach? (3) University honchos, who probably have their own inflated egos, who already had a strained relationship with Leach, seeing the opportunity to fire him for cause and not pay his $800k bonus? The truth will come out. There are too many people who have been exposed to young James� level of integrity and character, and those who have direct knowledge of the events. If it breaks the way I think it will, Leach will be vindicated and will ultimately sue the University and the James family. Adam James will lose his scholarship from the only D1 team that apparently would have him only after his father�s direct lobbying, and Craig James, who seems to me to be the real culprit, the one that appears to have acted most immaturely and egregiously, who should have known better given his son�s history of questionable behavior and yet let his agenda and his ego take over, might just lose his position with ESPN because of a loss of credibility and abuse of the power of his position. One more note on Craig James and ESPN. In his nationally televised interview, on ESPN of course, he �sincerely� looked into the camera said �as a dad� he did what he did to protect his son and the other players. Give me a break. Has any other father had to step in as such during Leach�s coaching history? In my book, this is as disingenuous as it gets and explains a lot about where Adam James get's his character. Finally, ESPN should be ashamed of being complicit in trashing Leach�s reputation before the facts are known especially when the allegations don�t smell quite right. Would it have pursued this story in the same way if it hadn�t involved a member of the family? ESPN won�t be sued because of the �absence of malice� argument that is impossible to dispute. I don�t agree as I�ve heard plenty of malice. Has little ESPN become too big for its britches? I don�t see that the James family enjoys the same protection. Their malice is obvious. No, I think Craig James and his son are already beginning to realize that they've buried themselves under a very large pile of _ _ _ _!

• well, as a longhorn fan, i'm rejoicing! lol however, tech was very entertaining to watch for the other 11 games of the year. from what has come out so far, it seems like a spoiled rich kid's daddy made waves and got what he wanted. my biggest issue is with craig james not getting leach's side of the story before blowing the whole situation into a national sports scandal. just shows, the nut doesn't fall far from the tree. total chicken s...! having said that, leach didn't seem to do anything on his side to try and put the fire out. regardless, it does suck for all my red raider fans. good luck with all that!

• I bet he's thinking, "Ah, now I have time for my plan to kidnap all the firstborn sons of Gotham!"............wait, no, he's probably upset about getting fired.

• Richie, wasn't Leach due $800,000 tomorrow according to his contract?

• This Craig/Adam James smear-campaign is disgusting and irrelevant. Adam James isn't so talented that Leach couldn't have dropped him instantaneously without so much as batting an eye, and Craig James doesn't carry enough sway with the Tech athletic department to orchestrate this coup d'�t. What would his "or else..." even be?! He and Marilyn are parents and as such have every right to discuss concerns (justified or unjustified) about their son's treatment with either Coach Leach or AD Gerald Myers. If those concerns carried enough weight to cause Leach's suspension/firing, that's on the University, not the James'. Who Adam's dad is and what type of work ethic Adam possessed had very little bearing on that decision, I promise. Properly direct your ire at Tech's AD.

• Lot of blame to spread. A lot of it, I think, falls of the James family. Leach would fit in at UNT. Haven't been to Denton recently, but there were always odd-balls at the school. Sumlin would be the most logical choice I think. I bet Kansas wishes they waited a couple of weeks before they hired whatshisname.

• Shiver me timbers....Leach must have REALLY POd some VERY heavy hitters at Tech. Someone REALLY wanted him gone. While not making light of a concussion...to have blown this up this far is just amazing. Blame Myers if you want, but me thinks this came down from WAY over his head. Somebody decided it was worth spending A LOT of money on lawyers.

• Jerry Jones needs to take out that party plaza and install a fleet of pirate ships complete with a fully functional lagoon. Hire Mike Leach, and then after every cowboys touchdown have a real pirate show complete with cannons blasting, plank walking, and wenches. Maybe sell a sponsorship to Long John Silvers to name the stadium the Plank or the LJS Galley, or somesuch. Just a thought... Go RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!! PS that ESPN guy sucks balls and wears CK1.

• Any thought there might be more behind the scenes that pushed this thing over the edge? You know sort of Leach/Tech devolving into Lennon/McCartney Let it Be bitch war. I get the feeling this started out small and mushroomed out of control by rampant ego on both sides.

• I don't support the James family in the least, but Leach is an effin' moron for antagonizing someone with the pulpit of Older James. Just sayin'

• PLEASE, sweet clean baby Jesus, PLEASE bring the nutty pirate to UNT. We need the pirate in Denton.

• whatasissy: doesn't mean you were supposed to, or that if a medical doctor had been there, he would've recommended it. There are former NFL players out there now who worry about becoming vegetables by the time they're 40 because they didn't take concussions seriously. So what if it was Craig James' son. Point was, he had a doctor's opinion, and the smart thing would've been to a) send him inside to watch film or b) send him back to his dorm or whatever to rest.

• USA Today's website has a video of the room that Leach put James in- two plasma screen tv's- poor James

• What a joke the James family has shown themselves to be! I had a concussion back in the 80's when I played, couldn't practice, but I ended up having to carry equipment before and after practice and spend the entire practice standing and watching (which is boring and sucks). Yet this James kid thinks he's above that and should just get a free pass to lounge around. C'mon, this is BS and the James family knows it and showed their true colors as did the university heads.

• I can't help but think there's more to it than just Adam James and his famous father. And maybe these allegations would be less believable if he hadn't put Sheffield out to play with a broken foot, or that bit about not allowing the D to sit down or have water that one game against Houston when the temps neared 100, as well as those practices he held this summer where he denied them water. It just seems like a hint of a pattern. And yes, I know Bear Bryant would've eaten Adam James alive. But the times have changed, and we have more medical evidence that gives even the dumbest coach (here's lookin' at you, Danny Ford) a rudimentary idea of acceptable practices. I think a whole lot of this is about chickens coming home to roost, and not so much about Adam James.

• Red Raider fans get ready for twenty more years of obscurity..He was the only thing y'all had going for your town, school and football team..and he was run out by your genius AD..but y'all may go and steal Art Briles or Sumlin from U of H...I hated it when the Horns had to play in Lubbock..but I like their chances out there now that the Pirate ship has sailed.

• I'm a huge Red Raider fan, and I feel like I've been kicked in the gut. AD Gerald Myers needs to go <B>NOW</B>. He has handled his head football coach like a petulant child for years now, and he has shown him self to be a man of no honor. What self-respecting coach is going to want to work for a guy like that? Craig James has shown himself for what he is, another man without honor. I won't watch him again, for whatever that's worth. He should be ashamed of the way he's behaved, and so should ESPN. Leach is hard-headed and a bit of a prima donna, no doubt, but after seeing the "shed" he relegated Adam James to, I simply don't see the abuse he's accused of. He could have swallowed his pride, maybe, and apologized, but for what, really? For a die-hard Tech fan who had to spend MANY years watching them flail about in mediocrity, this moment is like when I heard that Jerry Jones had fired Jimmy Johnson.

• Deserved to be fired. I'm sure Leach hurt Adam James widdle feelings when he made him be all alone, and everyone knows we can't have that one in D1 college football.

• Is there another James kid out there playing? If there is, I would be afraid for that school's program. They are 2-up and 2-down with Craig/SMU and Adam/Tech. What other school's football program can they destroy? And to hear Craig James talk about "integrity" is beyond belief. Didn't he take a pay cut from SMU when he turned pro?

• Let's be sure that ESPN shoulders some of the blame as well. This should have been an internal investigation, but in order to make failing color man Craig James appear more glamorous, the network sensationalized the story for their own benefit.

• Unbelievable. This from the same school that hired Bobby Knight?

• I blame everybody. As much as I love my alma mater, they continuously find ways to royally fuck things up. Fuck the James family too.

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