OT - Leach interview on ESPN
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4787194
I think he is a tad self-serving but that is to be expected. He is already fired, so it was refreshing to hear him say what really is thinking. I haven't really had a side in this matter, but I am inclined at this point to believe Leach. The whole "darkest place possible" issue is a lot clearer now. Also, since the place he was sequestered the second time had the electrical room in question, it seems that James could have easily have set up the video he supposedly took while "trapped" in it. I have a feeling that Leach will end up vindicated and land another position quickly, hopefully not as an assistant for somebody Michigan has to play. Also if Leach is vindicated, TT should be forced to pay him handsomely for this and ESPN should fire the elder James.
Then again, the Pirate certainly ain't no nice guy. This part was especially interesting:
"...you don't want to get hit by a ball, a flying body, a GOLF CART, or what ever the case may be."
Either golf cart injuries are a real problem at TT during practice, or Leach has a bit of latent aggression going on there.
January 1st, 2010 at 2:32 PM ^
what comes out of the law suit, what's going to come out. Seems like the gloves are off, and there's a lot of animosity from a lot of parties.
Curious why you think Craig James should get fired? Has he said or done somthing that would give ESPN cause?
January 1st, 2010 at 3:26 PM ^
James is just going off what his son told him. How is that something you fire him over?
I'm still not sure why the kid had to be locked anywhere. If you think he's loafing, just kick him out of practice and don't play him in the game.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:51 PM ^
I've heard that Adam James was told to stay home. So he essentially was "kicked out of practice." He wasn't supposed to be there. He decided to come, wearing sunglasses, but told the coaches he could not participate in any drills. When Leach heard this, he ordered the trainers to put him in the darkest place possible. I think putting him there (which doesn't seem egregious to me anyway) was a response to James's smart-aleckness, and not because of the injury.
I think everyone here is forgetting that Taylor Potts (Tech's QB) had a concussion early in the year, and Leach and the medical staff arguably kept him on the sideline too long. Everyone assumes that putting him in the garage and the media room was a punishment for getting hurt. I think it was a punishment for being a smart ass.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:07 PM ^
If it is as you say--then I'm on board with Leach having a case. And that does make a hell of a lot more sense than Mike Leach losing his marbles and locking the kid up because of an injury.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:20 PM ^
Yeah, it makes more sense when everything is laid out in front of you. And while I'm not 100% positive that is what happened, I think my rendition is fairly accurate.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:47 PM ^
It's still just speculation. Many people have suggested that Leach really didn't do anything that bad despite the evidence available that appears to contradict it (including that ridiculous video with his attorney making the shed vs. garage argument). Few have suggested that TTU's claims of having uncovered other issues with Leach are legitimate, even though they have no evidence to the contrary.
I suspect that Leach didn't like this kid, and as a result treated his concussion in a manner that was so ridiculous and potentially damaging (via the message it sent to other players with concussions) that an investigation and suspension was more than appropriate. Anything beyond that will be sorted out in court.
I just wish I could understand the Leach defenders, who almost certainly know nothing about the coach, yet are very quick to call James a douchebag/dick/etc. (which he probably is) and thus imply that he deserved this.
**Edit: not claiming that you don't know anything about Leach, Chris - it seems like you know a lot about the situation.
January 1st, 2010 at 7:58 PM ^
I think this is [precisely what happened.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:36 PM ^
... if he used his position at ESPN to influence how Leach ran his program (threatening to be critical of Leach on air if he didn't play his son more, for example) that is pretty bad for someone who is a journalist or has access/influence over the editorial staff. Easily terms for dismissal in any reputable news organization.
Not saying it happened, but should be interesting to see what comes out of it.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:51 PM ^
But in case you missed it, the Times reported that Craig James did just that. Lobbied with Leach to get his son playing time in exchange for talking up Tech on ESPN. The quote was redacted after the original article was posted, but I'm sure some internet sleuth can find it--I know it was on burntorangenation a couple days ago.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:11 PM ^
I have generally found James to be one of the least annoying members of the WWL cult of personality. But his using his position to force trouble on Leach (whether it was his intent to get him fired or not) strikes me as really inappropriate. Of course ESPN taking advantage of his position to enhance their involvement in the controversy is typical.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:37 PM ^
... I actually liked him as an analyst... still do. Sucks if he did misuse his position, but only time will tell.
January 1st, 2010 at 7:12 PM ^
I don't know what the OP thinks, but I have a few reasons why he should be fired.
IME, Craig James has been using his position at ESPN to justify undue meddling in the program at Texas Tech. When his lobbying for more playing time for his son didn't work, he used his "bully pulpit" to complain to the Tech administration about it. Then, James started the process that caused Leach to be fired.
James has been around the program long enough to know that the "shed" was actually a much larger building used to store equipment, but also as a "break-out" room for linemen. He also knew the "electical closet" was a place where they held press conferences. I would also have to assume he knew that injured players are sometimes treated in either room.
In a nutshell, Craig James used his position at ESPN to further his and his son's personal agendae and caused a coach who did nothing wrong to be fired. He misrepresented correct medical treatment of a concussion as something that sounds more like kidnapping or false imprisonment.
Leach was fired for nothing, but James is telling everyone that he and his family are "victims."
The James family and their sense of entitlement should be told to go elsewhere.
January 1st, 2010 at 10:49 PM ^
dog in this fight. Not defending James. I just asked the question because I've heard and read Leach's comments that James used his position to "coerce" coaching decisions. But I've also read James denies that claim, calls it absurd or some such. At this point it's one guy's word versus another's.(Or has there been some other kind of substantiation?) If Leach has people to corroborate his claims that James was offering some kind of quid pro quo, then I would hope ABC/ESPN would part ways with James.
But at this point, I don't know who to believe. Leach is trying to protect his name, career, reputation, etc., as he should. But I can also sympathize with a parent protecting his kid, perhaps overzealously, even if the kid is a punk (which this kid might be). Parents do it all the time.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:47 PM ^
a polarizing guy, but I'm going to be very interested to see what actually comes of this. Some of the players said conflicting things about Leach, but look at our situation and some of the guys that left compared to the other ones buying into the situation. Ultimately how do you fire a guy who made Tech relevant and still has continuing success. It sounds like a case of big egos in the school's administration/athletic department.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:55 PM ^
To see a coach vindicated for the slander laid on him by a college kid who seemingly has a vendetta against him. Let's hope that can happen in Ann Arbor.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^
You know this is slander? Because...? I don't know what the truth is, only that Leach's actions look extremely suspicious and bizarre as anything other than concussion punishment.
Contrast this with RichRod's alleged issues with family values (unverifiable nonsense) or shredding the sacred single copies of WVU player records (ridiculous on its face). It's not even close to the same thing.
January 1st, 2010 at 6:08 PM ^
I just noticed some similarities; you know, a player making big accusations about a coach which he denies. I'm sorry I offended you. I'm prostrate right now as I grovel. Please accept my deepest apology.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:58 PM ^
Everyone around here is making a big deal about leach telling Adam not to sit or lean, if you sit down in a dark room your more likely to fall asleep, well If you supposedly have a concussion your should not sleep at all because you could slip into a coma. I'm not exactly sure but doctors usually tell you to stay up all night. I'm not condoning anyone in this case just merely stating.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:03 PM ^
You can go to sleep after a concussion...certainly days later. You just want the person awake and alert until you can get them to a medical evaluation. We don't tell people to stay up all night, unless its a kid and we don't like the parents and we want them to deal with a crabby kid the next day.
...trust me, I'm an emergency doctor.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^
I'm not a doctor but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night
January 1st, 2010 at 4:01 PM ^
and everyone down here pretty much believes Leach. All of my friends that like Texas or any other school in Texas are pumped because they feel as though Tech will no longer become relevant in football anymore.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:24 PM ^
An Athelete and and his dad named Craig
January 1st, 2010 at 4:25 PM ^
My parents are Texas Tech grads, and my dad has been depressed for days. He knows that they'll fall out of relevancy without Leach.
January 1st, 2010 at 7:31 PM ^
I'm a Tech grad student right now, and I've got tickets for the Alamo bowl tomorrow. Adam James and Gerald Myers have destroyed the program, and nobody benefits from it.
On a side note, I think that this is all somehow my fault. I did my undergrad at Michigan from '05 to '09, and in that time M football managed to have its worst two seasons in it's history. Now once I get to Tech this happens. I think tomorrow I will take one for the team and enroll at Ohio State.
January 1st, 2010 at 11:05 PM ^
Speaking of taking one for the team, earlier today I wondered if I should take one for the team, pose as an engineering student at Michigan State before the MSU-UM game next year and bait football players so I get beat up. Just a thought.
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:05 PM ^
That's dumb
January 1st, 2010 at 4:23 PM ^
The New York Times(per Yahoo News)has emails from TT admin
that shows there were people within the admin that have been working for Leaches firing for a year.
This is going to have some twists and turns.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:53 PM ^
this whole story is very bizarre. i would like to see the "truth" come out, however, i have a feeling it never will.
January 1st, 2010 at 8:33 PM ^
I have a feeling that we will never know the "truth" about this whole situation but I swear, if I have to read the bottom ticker on ESPN saying that he was trapped in an electrical closet I am going to throw my remote at the TV. That is the farthest from an electrical closest I have ever seen.
January 2nd, 2010 at 4:42 PM ^
I always felt craig james was a know-nothing douchebag, I'm not surprised that his kid is a lazy/spoiled brat. You've got his teammates and his position coaches talking about his character and defending leech. I'm sure leech stepped over a line with his 'punishment' but I think it was overdue for this kid. And in the end I'm betting leech lands on his feet and this kid never plays football again.
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:04 PM ^
I tend to have similar feelings about James. He comes across as a sanctimonious douche at times, which is ironic considering his days as a part of the Pony Express just happened to coincide with the good ol' payoff days at SMU. Of course, he was never found to be guilty of a thing, but I'm sure this man with genuine, old-fashioned southern charm had no idea anything was going on. Yep, no idea.
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:03 PM ^
I'm not fond of Leach. I'm not going to lie, I did giggle when he got canned. I have waited to find out the facts first before seeing who was right and who was wrong. They're both clearly in the wrong, but Mike Leach is so unbelievably stupid the he deserved to get fired.
First of all lazy or not. Garage or not. Ice bucket and fan or not. You do not lock somebody inside a dark room with someone standing out front checking on them because they have a concussion and you "want to keep them close to the team." You DEFINITELY do not do those things when the freaking kid's dad works for ESPN! I mean seriously, what the hell did Leach think was going to happen from this? Get good press on ESPN?
Craig James, wrong. Mike leach, insanely wrong. Adam James? I tend to give him a little leeway because he did indeed have a concussion. No matter if he's lazy or not, concussions are serious and still not fully understood. So many former NFL players suffer from life long injuries thanks to concussions. So just for somebodies long term health, a player with a concussion needs serious attention. Locking a kid in a room and saying it's ok because he had ice was not that kind of attention.
January 2nd, 2010 at 11:22 PM ^
I thought it was again interesting how ESPN shaded this situation during the halftime presentation that they did tonight of the most recent events. It is SO obvious that Leach is a lawyer by the way that he's said things and set things up in this situation. That point is obviously lost on ESPN (or they don't care), as evidenced by the way that they described the team physcian's affidavit. Nothing in that affidavit as they presented it contradicted anything that Leach said in his interview. That was obvious if you listened to Leach and read the affidavit (or even the words that ESPN put on the screen from the affidavit), but that's not how the anchor explained it. According to the anchor the affidavit directly contradicted Leach's statement where Leach said that he did not place James in the shed (i.e. the anchor said that physician said that Leach said put James in the shed), but that's not what Leach said. He said put James somewhere "dark". Someone else decided where the dark places were, not Leach. Which is exactly what Leach said. It's also funny how the affidavit explicitly says that James was told not to go into the electrical room, yet according to Craig James that's where Adam was and that's where Adam James shot the cell phone video from, which proves that either (1) Adam James was lying or (2) Adam James can't follow directions when it came to being in that room. Of course ESPN didn't mention any of that, though...