Texas Tech fires Mike Leach.

[bestseller92]

Sounds like the Red Raiders are pulling a boner.

This James kid seems like a whiny little b-brat who's able to get back at the coaches for their lack of special treatment because he has a famous father.

Big mistake for TT to let the best coach they ever had go.

On the plus side, OU could use him back as an assistant!

Leach and Mangino, Sooners once more? Cool!

[Joetown Parrothead]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls09/n ... id=4781981

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech has fired football coach Mike Leach.

The school handed a termination letter to Leach's attorney, Ted Liggett, on Wednesday just before the two sides were to appear in a Lubbock, Texas, courtroom for a hearing on the coach's suspension.

Liggett says the letter says Leach is "terminated with cause effective immediately."

Leach was suspended by the university on Monday while the school investigated allegations that he mistreated an injured player.

Receiver Adam James alleges Leach twice confined him to small, dark spaces during practice after the player was diagnosed with a concussion. James is the son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James.

In an affidavit included with his injunction request to coach the Red Raiders in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday, Leach said he "would never intentionally harm or endanger a player" and that he has been "forced into this situation without being afforded any process."

[RinglingRingling]

Not being a huge Red Raider fan, I just wonder about how much backstory there is. Word has it that they were supposed to pay him $800k on Friday, and the only way out of his contract was to fire him. The investigation sure seemed to go quick...

[Dr.Corona]

Sounds like the Red Raiders are pulling a boner.

This James kid seems like a whiny little b-brat who's able to get back at the coaches for their lack of special treatment because he has a famous father.

Big mistake for TT to let the best coach they ever had go.

On the plus side, OU could use him back as an assistant!

Leach and Mangino, Sooners once more? Cool!

Don't forsee him back in the Assistant ranks. He'll land on his feet somewhere!

[txaggirl91]

I think the issue with the James player was the final straw for the University.

I wondered why James was at practice in the first place if he was injured? Why not have him sit on the sidelines rather than the "shed" or the other room?

The University and the Tech Regents must have a strong case against Leach to move from suspension to firing.

[johnson2113]

I like Leach, he's on the edge of crazy.

I agree that it's a big mistake. What did Tech average about 500 yards passing per game? Getting rid of him and Mangino are idiotic moves. Fine them, suspend them, send them to anger management, this zero tolerance policy is going to far. These players need to toughen up. Short of beating them, I think there should be some leniency.

I won't miss playing against him though.

[Joetown Parrothead]

If you remember the the James kid dad was part of the reason that SMU got the Death penalty.. I think TT was scared because the kid's dad worked for ESPN.. Don't know "FOR SURE" what all went down, unless it goes to court we may never know everything... Hope this James kid can do something else, If I was the incoming coach he would have to go. Would not want that following me into a new job...

Mike Leach is a hell of a coach and will be someones head coach down the road...

[SchoolGirlHeart]

If it's even remotely true that Leach put a kid (any kid, no matter whose son) in a dark shed/garage/whatever, with no place to sit, and stationed a guard outside, threatening to toss him off the team if he left, because he couldn't practice because of a concussion, TT really had no choice but to fire him. And that's exactly what he deserves. Concussions are nothing to fool with. The fact that the school acted pretty quickly tells me something egregious happened, with plenty of witnesses.

[RinglingRingling]

If you remember the the James kid dad was part of the reason that SMU got the Death penalty.. I think TT was scared because the kid's dad worked for ESPN.. Don't know "FOR SURE" what all went down, unless it goes to court we may never know everything... Hope this James kid can do something else, If I was the incoming coach he would have to go. Would not want that following me into a new job...

Mike Leach is a hell of a coach and will be someones head coach down the road...

Think this is part of it. Too, evidently TT wanted Leach to sign a "loyalty clause" as part of his last contract, and he balked. Put that together with one of the terms of that new contract's payouts being a bonus due on Jan. 1 if he is still coach at TT... My guess is that he torqued off folks in the right positions to cause him damage, and they were looking for something, anything. Along comes James, whose father was agitating all season for more play time for his son, going to the extent of calling coaches and telling them it was unfair to his son to have such little play time..

Oughta be an interesting "wrongful termination" suit if the details aren't sealed contingent upon payout.

[SchoolGirlHeart]

But Liggett [Leach's attorney] says that the characterizations of where James was put are inaccurate, and that Leach was trying to protect the player from an "unseasonably warm" day in Lubbock while he recovered from his concussion.

Unseasonably warm? They oughtta check the facts before they start making up stories.... The high in Lubbock on Dec 17 was 65 degrees....

He's getting a payout of $400,000/year for four years. I'll take a firing like that......

I will say.... I haven't been following this story at all.... If indeed Craig James was interfering concerning his son's playing time, shame on him.....

[Joetown Parrothead]

But Liggett [Leach's attorney] says that the characterizations of where James was put are inaccurate, and that Leach was trying to protect the player from an "unseasonably warm" day in Lubbock while he recovered from his concussion.

Unseasonably warm? They oughtta check the facts before they start making up stories.... The high in Lubbock on Dec 17 was 65 degrees....

He's getting a payout of $400,000/year for four years. I'll take a firing like that......

I will say.... I haven't been following this story at all.... If indeed Craig James was interfering concerning his son's playing time, shame on him.....

You got that right... Hopefully everything will come to light about this, Craig James was on ESPN last night and said he never contacted Coach Leach about his son's playing time... I have checked on some sports boards and they said he always was calling the asst. coaches bitching about it. TT puts out great wide rec. in Coach Leach's offensive, if the kid can't play then transfer to a smaller school. Who would want to go to TT and deal with this right now with the NCAA signing date in Feb.. I bet TT loses some incoming recruits about this.

[SchoolGirlHeart]

The emerging picture of Adam James via emails to CBS News (http://dennis-dodd.blogs.cbssports.com/ ... 2/19238949) isn't pretty at all...

As an aside, I'm not sure if I'm amused or dismayed that college coaches and graduates have so many misspellings and typos in their emails.....

[Joetown Parrothead]

The emerging picture of Adam James via emails to CBS News (http://dennis-dodd.blogs.cbssports.com/ ... 2/19238949) isn't pretty at all...

As an aside, I'm not sure if I'm amused or dismayed that college coaches and graduates have so many misspellings and typos in their emails.....

Some great e-mails that support the Coach and says Adam is a spoiled, lazy want a be...

[SchoolGirlHeart]

Interesting input from SI.com

It's hard to imagine Mike Leach's 10-year tenure at Texas Tech ending in a more fittingly bizarre fashion. The law school grad sent his lawyer to a courthouse in hopes of getting his suspension lifted, only to come back with a termination letter.

Leach's one-of-a-kind persona was defined by defiance. Ultimately, it brought about his demise.

Leach, who went 84-43 and took his team to 10 straight bowl games, was ostensibly fired for his mistreatment of a player with a mild concussion, but don't be fooled. The allegations by Adam James' family were a convenient excuse for school president Guy Bailey and athletic director Gerald Myers to rid themselves of a coach who, despite bringing the school considerable prestige, never fully earned their respect and butted heads with the administration for years (most notably in last winter's contentious contract negotiations). When the school rushed to suspend him Monday, we all knew where this was headed.

[RinglingRingling]

Interesting input from SI.com

It's hard to imagine Mike Leach's 10-year tenure at Texas Tech ending in a more fittingly bizarre fashion. The law school grad sent his lawyer to a courthouse in hopes of getting his suspension lifted, only to come back with a termination letter.

Leach's one-of-a-kind persona was defined by defiance. Ultimately, it brought about his demise.

Leach, who went 84-43 and took his team to 10 straight bowl games, was ostensibly fired for his mistreatment of a player with a mild concussion, but don't be fooled. The allegations by Adam James' family were a convenient excuse for school president Guy Bailey and athletic director Gerald Myers to rid themselves of a coach who, despite bringing the school considerable prestige, never fully earned their respect and butted heads with the administration for years (most notably in last winter's contentious contract negotiations). When the school rushed to suspend him Monday, we all knew where this was headed.

yep... which, as mentioned before, ought to make for a nice check after the suit.

[SchoolGirlHeart]

Interesting input from SI.com

It's hard to imagine Mike Leach's 10-year tenure at Texas Tech ending in a more fittingly bizarre fashion. The law school grad sent his lawyer to a courthouse in hopes of getting his suspension lifted, only to come back with a termination letter.

Leach's one-of-a-kind persona was defined by defiance. Ultimately, it brought about his demise.

Leach, who went 84-43 and took his team to 10 straight bowl games, was ostensibly fired for his mistreatment of a player with a mild concussion, but don't be fooled. The allegations by Adam James' family were a convenient excuse for school president Guy Bailey and athletic director Gerald Myers to rid themselves of a coach who, despite bringing the school considerable prestige, never fully earned their respect and butted heads with the administration for years (most notably in last winter's contentious contract negotiations). When the school rushed to suspend him Monday, we all knew where this was headed.

yep... which, as mentioned before, ought to make for a nice check after the suit.

If they can prove it, yep, it'll be a very nice check.

[ragtopW]

the James issue seems like the last straw.. IF I were in charge..
my issues (this year) would have been the whole Crabtree thinng
(doesn't look good for the school to have a "great" talent hold out for one million)
most Mid-Major (and a lot of major) coaches would have called the
kid and reminded him just how lucky he was to even be drafted.. get in, play hard,
someone will pay the million and more next contract..
right not a termination offence.. but it might have cost them some recruits
( My kid isn't going to play in some Prima Donna Factory)
the whole "Fat girfriend" thing early in the season
bad ju-ju there from the Moms, sisters and Girlfriends he pizzed off
to the Dads that don't want their kid ragged on in the national media..
My bet is they will (and have already) lost some blue chippers over this
as well as some alumni $$$

mixed with the allegations of mistreatment?? Tech did the only thing they
could..

let's look at this, College football isn't all about the X's and O's anymore..
it itsn't all about the Wins
it is the Dollars and cents.. and the Future of the program..
the hole was deep.. and the coach still had a shovel in his hand..

[ragtopW]

OK am I the only one who sees a picture of Mike Leach and
think "wow... did Jim Morris gain some weight"???

[springparrot]

But but but, Coach Leach is a Pirate, or thinks he is???
LOL

[Joetown Parrothead]

But but but, Coach Leach is a Pirate, or thinks he is???
LOL

You got that right! He is a Pirate...

Hopefully TT will lose some great recruits and my Razorbacks can pick up one or two of themmm