jeffreymark

SOUR GRAPES OVER MIKE LEACH

Mounting evidence suggests Texas Tech officials fired Mike Leach over last year's contract negotiations. When AD Gerald Myers refused to negotiate, Leach's agents went around Myers. Of course Leach's icon status as the Captain and head pirate put Tech administrators in an embarrassing situation. Eventually they acquiesced. Now former regents admit the year old sour grapes festered to a boiling point. So it goes. Administrators take offense to a successful coach's negotiation tactics and try to ruin his life by fabricating a story about child abuse. One might sincerely believe that Myers enjoyed Leach's popularity. It made Myers look good for his supposed superior wisdom with reeling in such a catch. But, Myers and others chose the low road letting their egos get in the way. Now they have created a bigger mess by defaming Leach's character, provoking mass outrage, and leaving their ethics at the door.  

Board of Regents member Jerry Turner sheds light on the firing:

In April, 2008, Mr. Leach's agents from the sports agency IMG sent the school a proposal for a contract extension for $15.25 million over five years that would make Mr. Leach one of college football's 10 highest-paid coaches. At that time, Mr. Leach had a 65-37 overall record at Tech with eight straight bowl appearances.

According to a person familiar with the negotiations, Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers sent back a short note declining to negotiate. The note said the school would understand if "better opportunities" came up. Mr. Myers declined to comment for this article.

In January, 2009, Texas Tech board members say Mr. Leach's agents at IMG sent them an email about the coach's contract situation that was not sent to the athletic director. The regents were infuriated by the move. "They were trying to get us to put pressure on the athletic director and force Tech to come to the terms they wanted," says board member Jerry Turner. "The way they tried dragging people into the negotiation process, we took offense to that. It's hard to really forget things like that."

REFLECTIONS ON MIKE LEACH'S FIRING III

One can quickly assume from my blogging obsession with Mike Leach's firing that I liked Mike, and indeed I did. Most Red Raider fans loved his unconventional approach to football. He became a sort of icon whose quirkiness subtly hypnotized the media into drooling over him. This put Texas Tech on the map. It made the world aware of Lubbock, Texas (Buddy Holly's star is fading a bit). But, Leach never fit the good old boys of coaching network. He didn't look or act like a cookie-cutter product. Andrew Sharp of SB Nation captures the essence of his downfall:

And that wisdom rarely gets challenged. Except when a lawyer, with a wife and a child, up and decides he'd like to try coaching football. That's what happened with Mike Leach. This wasn't a career track for him. He didn't start out as a grad assistant in college, or emerge, like Urban Meyer, as a "34-year-old whirl of activity ... an assistant coach on the rise. Big-name coaches had marked him; boosters were taking note." That's from a Sports Illustrated profile this month, relating a scene from Meyer's early years as a Notre Dame assistant coach.

Mike Leach's first job was with California Polytechnic State University. Did you know they played American football in Finland? Well, Mike Leach coached there. And he went just about anywhere else that would have him. Whether that was a tiny school in Valdosta, Georgia, or the University of Oklahoma in 1999, where he installed an offense that  Bob Stoops and the Sooners still run today. And every place, he did things different, with a perspective culled not from years of waiting his turn and holding clipboards, but with the help of tireless work ethic, creativity, and a curious spirit that made him hugely popular with fans and media alike.

...And ultimately, that's what this is all about. Power and resentments. The James family resented Coach Leach because they thought he'd been unfairly wielding his power, and wasting their son's talents. But more important, it became evident during last year's contract negotiations that Texas Tech's Athletic Director, Gerald Myers, along with a few other powerful voices, agreed with the James family. Maybe not that Adam James was the future of Texas Tech football, but agreed insofar as Mike Leach had become too damn powerful, and he didn't deserve it.

So, Texas Tech officials including the prototypical West Texas redneck Gerald Myers may have inadvertently confirmed to the rest of the world their pre conceived notions regarding Red Raiders-we are a bunch of gun totin' whiskey drinkin' cowboys who attend classes in order to perfect the sport of bull riding and bronco busting. Way to go Techsans. You good old boy farts just shot our program in the foot. In my 49 years as a Red Raider I don't believe I have witnessed such a blatant display of egotistical idiocy. Go ahead and find your good old boy coach. Perhaps he will light up our hungry lives with a 500 season and satisfy your over inflated egos with his embarrassingly hillbilly public demeanor  every time he opens his mouth, much in the same way as Gerald Myers and good old Spike Dykes.   (via DoubleTNation)

STATEMENT FROM MIKE LEACH

Statement from Coach Leach regarding his termination:

I want everyone to know what a privilege and pleasure it has been to teach and coach more than 400 student-athletes at Texas Tech University over the past 10 years.  

When I arrived at Texas Tech, the football program was on NCAA probation and the graduation rate was far below the national average.  However, in the past 10 years, Tech has been to 10 straight bowl games, has the third best record in the Big 12 Conference, and has the highest graduation rate for football players of any public institution in the country.

Over the past several months, there have been individuals in the Texas Tech administration, Board of Regents and booster groups who have dealt in lies, and continue to do so.  These lies have led to my firing this morning.  I steadfastly refuse to deal in any lies, and am disappointed that I have not been afforded the opportunity for the truth to be known.

Texas Tech's decision to deal in lies and fabricate a story which led to my firing, includes, but is not limited by, the animosity remaining from last year's contract negotiations.  I will not tolerate such retaliatory action; additionally, we will pursue all available legal remedies.

These actions taken by Texas Tech have severely damaged my reputation and public image.  In addition, Texas Tech has caused harm to not only my family, but to the entire Red Raider nation and the sport of college football.

As you know, I prefer to engage in question and answer sessions; however, in this instance my counsel has advised me to simply make a statement.  There will be time to answer questions about this issue in the future, but the serious legal nature of this situation prevents me from going into further detail at this time.

REFLECTIONS ON MIKE LEACH'S FIRING II

This from former Texas Tech standout quarterback Graham Harrell:

To Whom It May Concern:

          Texas Tech University and the athletic department is filled with great people from the top down, starting with the chancellor all the way down to the student athletes involved in the programs.  In the football program, Gerald Myers and the rest of the administration have put together an unbelievable staff that believe success only comes from hard work and doing things right.  The staff expects the players and everyone involved to buy into their beliefs, but like anywhere not every player agrees with or buys into what the coaches and program stand for. At Texas Tech the majority of the players do everything the coaches ask of them and anything possible to improve the team.  Adam James is one of the few players who has never bought into what Texas Tech football was built on and in my years there with him had a negative impact on the team because of his attitude and work ethic on and off the field.  Coach Leach demands a lot out of every player in the program and pushed his players and coaches as hard as any coach I have ever been around, but he is fair to every player and would never make and decision or action that is not best for the Texas Tech football program.

           Before Adam James ever entered the football locker room at Texas Tech I heard how spoiled and selfish he acted in a team atmosphere from many of my baseball friends.  Adam was on the baseball team his true freshman year at Tech, before he ever joined the football team, and did not make it through the baseball season because of his selfish attitude.  After a baseball game in which he felt like he did not get enough playing time, but the team still won twenty to one, he came into the locker room after the game and “pouted and threw a big fit” according another player on the baseball team.  A few weeks later in the middle of the season, he just stopped showing up to practices or game and quit because he was not happy about how he was being treated.  One of my roommates was a baseball player on the team and many of my friends were a part of the team that witnessed all of this.  These baseball players told me he was “spoiled and selfish” before he ever came to the football team.  After quitting baseball he came out for football and his selfish attitude was very evident, as was his laziness.  During off-season workouts he often would be caught skipping lifts in the weight room or finding ways to cut corners/get out of conditioning exercises.  When we had player organized seven on seven throwing in the summer, when he would show up he was much more interested in playing his own games on the side of the field or telling people that he wasn’t going to run any routes because the coaches do not get him a “fair opportunity” anyway.  During the season he was often “injured” (it usually seemed like a very minor injury that could keep him out of practice but never out of any other activity, including games) so he would not participate in some drills in practice.  None of these acts were productive for our team, but the most detrimental part of Adam was his off field attitude and actions.  In the locker room and away from the facility, Adam used any opportunity he had to tell other players how he was being treated unfairly, how the coaches did not give him a fair chance and how we did not have to do everything the coaches told us because they had no option but to play some of us.  When I heard these kinds of things I usually tried to put an end to them but Adam pretty consistently talked bad about the coaches or down played the importance of working hard, when he was off the field.  When he talked to young players or players that were usually on the scout he would explain how the coaches were not fair to certain players and only played favorites.  When he talked to players that did get some playing time he would talk about how we didn’t really have to do what the coaches asked of us because the coaches had to play us anyway.  And it almost always tied back to how he was not getting a fair chance to play just because the coaches were unfair.  The coaches were always more than fair to Adam I felt, because he came in the game during certain formations and situations last football season, but because of his work ethic and attitude, many of the players on last years team had a hard time trusting him or relying on him because he was not always practicing and we had seen his laziness during the off-season.  Adam was a kid that seemed like he had been given everything he wanted his whole life and acted like if things did not go exactly how he wanted someone was treating him unfairly or someone needed to be blamed for his failures.  He was a selfish player on and off the field that was counter-productive for our team and would be for any other team.
          
         Mike Leach was not only my head coach, but he was my position coach all five of my years at Texas Tech.  I spent more time with him than any other player during my five years and had meetings with him every day.  He was very hard on me and every other player in program and he held very high expectations for every player.  He would push us all every day during the season and during the off-season.  He felt that hard work, dedication and doing things right was the only way we could be successful and compete in the Big XII conference.  He worked harder and longer than anyone else in program and was committed to winning at all cost.  He would never have been unfair to a player or not played the best players he had because he wanted to win more than anything else. Coach Leach also expected us to be tough but smart at the same time.  He would not pressure a kid to play with a serious injury or play when he did not feel ready to play.  Coach Leach is a man that cares about his player and puts his players, coaches and the well being of the Texas Tech football program above all else.
           
          Coach Leach is a great coach at Texas Tech that emphasizes the importance of hard work and doing things the right way so that the football program has the best opportunity possible to be successful.  He, along with the administration and the rest of his staff, have built a great football program at Texas Tech that is built on the virtues and principles that give any program an opportunity to be successful.  Every single player may not buy into the program’s beliefs, but Mike Leach has almost everyone on board with him and the Texas Tech football program on a successful track.

Graham Harrell

REFLECTIONS ON MIKE LEACH'S FIRING

The football world knows by now the unfortunate events that ended with the firing of Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach. No need to rehash the story here. Coach Leach was known for his bizarre quirkiness and borderline offensive play calling insanity. For such an enigmatic demeanor Leach earned the title, "Mad Scientist." Lubbock fans loved him immensly.

But, according to now published emails from last years' infamous contract negotiations between Tech officials and Leach's agents, a potential showdown has been brewing, with Leach walking a tightrope. Apparently Leach's agents begged schools to consider hiring him as a tool designed to enrage Leach fans and bluff Tech officials. Leach also committed an act of insubordination in going over AD Gerald Myer's head. Love him or hate him, Myers is Leach's boss. The saving grace for Leach comes from an unknown source who raises Leach's success with graduation rates, ticket sales and the level of player recruitment. Supposedly this weighed heavily in Leach's favor when contract negotiations turned sour.

Indeed, the Adam James affair provided Tech officials fodder for firing. The biggest loser in this whole sordid affair, however, are the fans. Coach Leach established a weired sort of love affair between himself and Red Raiders the moment they witnessed his deadly offense and unconventional play calling. He will be sorely missed.

Go here to read emails.

MIKE LEACH SUSPENSION III

This from S.C. Gwynne who penned an extensive piece on Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach in Texas Monthly and spent extensive time with coach during last year's spring training:

As anyone who knows anything about Texas Tech football can tell you, there is something odd about yesterday’s suspension of football coach Mike Leach because of a complaint that he mistreated a third-string receiver named Adam James, who happens to be the son of football commentator and former SMU star Craig James. For one thing, Leach has never been known to violate any NCAA rules on player treatment, as a wave of former players who went public this week have attested. He can certainly be tough. When I was in Lubbock in March, reporting on a TEXAS MONTHLY cover story (“Mike Leach Is Thinking...”, September 2009), he made receiver Ed Britton sit at a desk outdoors in a blizzard for two hours for missing study hall. Leach has a special, 40-yard long sand pit next to the Tech practice field where delinquent players—especially academically delinquent players—are put through all sorts of boot camp-like exercises meant to get their minds right. The sand pit (aka “Muscle Beach”) is also where injured players are put to work during practice dragging truck tires or pounding stakes and generally working whatever parts of their bodies are not injured.

 But a pattern of abuse like what Kansas head football coach Mark Mangino is alleged to be guilty of? There is no evidence at all for it. Not only have many of Leach’s former players already come forward to defend him, but testimonials popping up on the Internet are running roughly 100 to 1 in favor of Leach and against his bosses, Texas Tech’s athletic director Gerald Myers and Tech Chancellor Kent Hance. (This estimate is, of course, highly unscientific.) 

As far as anyone can tell, here is what happened. On December 16, Adam James suffered a mild concussion. Since he could therefore not participate in contact drills, the coaches had him walking the track. The next day he showed up wearing sunglasses, explaining that the doctor said this would help him recover. Leach, apparently thinking that James was exaggerating his injury—though this is not entirely clear—sent him to the team's equipment room to stand in the darkness. (In some accounts this has been described as a “shed” or a “closet.” I have been there and seen it, and it is a normal equipment room.) According to the James family’s allegations, Adam was forced to do this for the next two days. 

This is where things get a bit fuzzy. Leach later told Tech officials that he thought James was a slacker. I can confirm that Leach and his coaches thought this about James as far back as March. In one of the coaches meetings that I attended, James and one other player were specifically discussed. Without saying why, Leach told his coaches they needed to get tougher on those players since they obviously felt they were not giving 100 percent. There seemed to be general agreement on this. According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Leach also told officials that Craig James had behaved like a Little League dad, constantly calling and complaining. At issue apparently was Adam’s playing time. He was not getting a lot of it, was unhappy about that, and according to several reports is already planning to transfer to SMU. 

What happened next was that Craig James took his complaints to Tech officials, saying that his son was being mistreated. Tech then asked Leach to apologize formally to Adam by Monday. Leach outright refused to do that, insisting that he had done nothing wrong, and Tech suspended him, which meant that Leach could not coach in this Saturday’s Alamo Bowl against Michigan State. 

The suspension reminded me of the bitter feud that erupted between Leach and athletic director Myers this spring. After a season when Leach’s football team went 11-2, after which he won several major coach-of-the-year awards, the Tech community was stunned to see headlines suggesting not only that Leach would not receive a raise but that he might be fired. Things got so bad that Chancellor Hance had to intervene personally. He and Leach worked out a salary package that made him the third highest paid coach in the Big 12. The feud with Myers was no longer in the headlines, but it simmered on. 

It has, in fact, been a strange year for Leach. After last year’s run at a national championship, the team struggled this year to an 8-4 season punctuated by a Leach outburst against his team following a loss to A&M which he blamed on the players’ “fat little girlfriends." After one player tweeted angrily that Leach was late for a meeting, Leach forbid his team from using Twitter. 

 None of which adds up, however, to player abuse. I do not claim to know exactly what happened, but one scenario that must be considered is that we are witnessing a power play against Leach by the James family, who were unhappy because Adam wasn’t getting enough playing time. The Jameses are being greatly aided by their complaint’s proximity to both the Mark Mangino firing with its attendant allegations of player abuse and to the current NFL controversy over its sensitivity to player concussions. They are further aided by the fact that Leach and Myers hate each other.

 Leach’s lawyer Ted Liggett, meanwhile, is vowing to take Tech to court this week to force it to let Leach coach the bowl game. Stay tuned. If Tech fires Leach over this, there will be a mushroom cloud over Lubbock that will be visible for thousands of miles and a likely revolt of Tech fans, alums, and former players.

MIKE LEACH SUSPENSION II

More info regarding Mike Leach's suspension, including his attorney's comments can be found here. An interesting note: according to fan comments this may come down to a battle between the University and ESPN. I hope University officials will not allow James' affiliation with ESPN to bully or intimidate them.

FORMER PLAYERS SUPPORT MIKE LEACH

University officials with the consultation of Board of Regents members suspended Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach from Saturday's Alamo Bowl game. The suspension comes at the hands of allegations from the Craig James family that Leach went beyond the pale in dealing with James' son Adam James' supposed concussion. Former players support Mike Leach. The issue for them seems to revolve around Craig Jame's celebrity status. Lubbock's Adam Zuvanich reports:

“I think some people honestly are not tough enough to play college football, and (James) might be one of them, especially if he’s worried about being called out or humiliated,” Loper said. “… Sometimes that happens, especially at the collegiate level. It’s not like high school and Pop Warner, where everyone gets to play and gets a pat on the back. Sometimes coaches can be mean and yell.”

January and some other former Tech players also suggested the incident wouldn’t have been scrutinized if James wasn’t the son of Craig James, a former SMU and NFL standout who now works as a television analyst for ESPN.

HATS OFF TO 2009 ACADEMIC ALL BIG-12 FOOTBALL TEAM

Each year the Big-12 publishes a list of football players who made the Academic All Big-12 Football team. First teamers consist of those players whose classroom performance consists of a 3.2 GPA and higher. The academic team forced me to take a more humbling view of  Texas Longhorn football. For ages I have addressed their team as the "Longhorn thugs." I based the moniker not on facts but on appearances impelled by my repugnant feelings toward their arrogance. UT graduates often haughtily refer to themselves as graduates of "The University," as if we mere mortals from Texas Tech ought to worship at their feet. And, UT athletic teams consistently win big. Any astute observer must realize the reason for this. They recruit superior athletes year after year. The Longhorns, with all their baggage, offset their adversities with placing the highest number of football athletes, sixteen, on the academic first team. Texas Tech placed 9 on the team. Every single scholar from both UT and Tech hail from the great Lone Star State.

Furthermore, the list of scholars shoots us between the eyes with a dose of perspective. While we love champions and all Americans, we must acknowledge the seminal purpose of collegiate football is to offer a free education to those who entertain us. Few of them move on to the next level of play. For most, education not football, determines success in life's endeavors. Hat's off to all who made the team. You are the true all Americans. You are the future leaders of our nation.

View the list here.

TEXAS TECH PAYBACK II

Texas Tech's bitter crushing of Oklahoma left newcomer Alex Torres shining like the sun. I personally felt early this season that Torres possessed the tools to become a great receiver. Watch the video below and read his story here.