Texas Tech fires coach Mike Leach

Texas Tech has fired head coach Mike Leach ‘with cause’ over allegations that he mistreated wide receiver Adam James, son of ESPN analyst Craig James. The player alleges that Mike Leach twice confined him to a small dark room where he had to stand when the player was diagnosed with a concussion.

Obviously this is a serious allegation and is not the first instance of alleged mistreatment of college football players this year. Mark Mangino was recently fired by Kansas for the violent actions including physical and verbal abuse of his players. If the accusations of Adam James are accurate, the firing is deserved. However, it seems as if there is more to this story than meets the eye.

First, ESPN analyst Bruce Feldman is writing a book with Mike Leach and describes the relationship between Leach and the administration as “toxic.” He believes that Texas Tech had been growing tired of Leach and was really looking for a reason to fire him since the two sides butted heads over contract talks earlier in the year.

Second, the contract itself states that if Mike Leach were coaching on December 31, he would receive an $800,000 bonus from the school. This is certainly incentive for Texas Tech to get rid of him quickly so they can save themselves a good amount of money.

Third, there are e-mails that have been published (by any outlet except ESPN) that show that Adam James was “soft” and “somewhat” of a prima donna. Here is an e-mail from James’ position coach Lincoln Riley:

“He [James] complained to me that we were not doing our jobs as coaches and that his effort was just fine…It’s just another example of Adam thinking that he knows more about coaching than people who have been coaching their entire lives. I have no doubt that anger from this led to where we are today…and is his way of trying to ‘get back’ at us coaches.”

Former Tech quarterback Graham Harrell said that “During the off-season, he [James] would be skipping lifts in the weight room or finding ways to cut corners…” Generally, the attitude towards James by former players and current coaches is that he is lazy and feels “entitled” by his status as son of former player and current ESPN analyst Craig James.

The full text of these telling e-mails can be found here: E-mails

Fourth, the areas in which James was confined to do not seem to be a "shed and electrical closet". One is more of a garage and one has been used to host media when they talk to players and coaches. Below is a video where you can judge for yourself the conditions in which Adam James was subjected to. It certainly seems as if James may have been exaggerating his punishment.

Video of the rooms Adam James was confined to
(Posted as a link because I can't figure out how to do it otherwise)

Again, these allegations (and I use this word so often because that is exactly what they are right now, nothing has been proven) are serious and are absolutely just cause for Leach’s firing if true. However, there is a distinct stench of fishiness surrounding this story, not to mention ESPN’s clear bias in reporting due to their relationship with the father of the accuser. Hopefully there will be a fair ending to this story not only privately for Mike Leach, but publicly for his image as well, so he can go on with his career as he is a great coach.