As I watched the events out of Lubbock unfold last week, it made me sad…sad that Texas Tech showed the winningest football coach in its history the door and sad about how it all went down. There are a few things you should know about me (if you don’t already)…I am a proud graduate of Texas Tech and friend of Mike Leach. Neither of those means I agree with anything either of those parties do or say, but it’s important to note I have loyalties to both.
When I first heard the news that Leach would be suspended for the Alamo Bowl and the reason for it, I knew Tech would be in for a fight…that’s the stubborn lawyer in Leach…and once it had gotten that far, I figured there was no turning back, and unfortunately I was right. Do I think sticking Adam James in a storage shed or electrical closet or any other dark, empty room was the best course of action for treating a mild concussion, if that’s in fact what happened? No. Do I think for one second the safety or well-being of Adam James was ever compromised? No. Do I think there was a beef between Leach and the James camp (Adam and Craig) that played a large role in how each party handled the situation? Yes.
Leach is known as a mad scientist, both for his off-the-charts passing attack and his off-the-wall antics. This is a guy who sent one of his players to study in the snow on the 50-yard-line of Jones AT&T Stadium because he missed study hall, who went through the drive-thru and placed a lunch order while on his weekly conference call with the media, who donned an eye patch on the cover of Texas Monthly for goodness sake. This is also a guy who took the Red Raiders to new heights, winning more games and graduating more players than any coach before him. Leach also increased attendance dramatically and made Texas Tech part of the national conversation…not in spite of his unconventional ways but because of his unconventional ways.
One of Leach’s greatest qualities is his refusal to conform. He says what’s on his mind, and he doesn’t back down…ever. As a member of the media, that is refreshing because you never know what you’re going to get, unlike a lot of interviews we do where we get canned answers and coach-speak. He makes no apologies for the things he says or the decisions he makes. But that refusal to conform is also what cost him his job. I believe that if Leach would’ve apologized and acknowledged (even if he didn’t believe it) that his handling of the James situation could have been handled better, he would’ve kept his job. That’s not Leach though. He was not about to admit wrong-doing when he felt he did nothing wrong.
But it may have only prolonged the inevitable. The emails that have been released during those tense contract negotiations last spring show that any excuse to get rid of Leach was a good one, especially if it meant doing so “with cause” a.k.a “without pay”. It’s good to know that Tech’s decades-old good ol’ boy system is alive, well and out in the open in 2010 (cue the sarcasm). The athletic department is in desperate need of some new blood if the Red Raiders want to remain relevant, but that’s a different story for a different day.
At the end of the day, Mike Leach refused to “play the game”…the politically correct game…the half-hearted apology game…the conventional coach game. I admire that about him, but we all have to “play the game” from time to time…in our jobs, in our relationships…it’s just part of life. I don’t know if Leach will ever accept that, and I don’t know where else that will fly on the college football landscape. It worked in Lubbock for 10 years, and as a Red Raider, I am thankful for that. Mike Leach made Texas Tech a better, more interesting place...he could really coach the game, he just couldn’t play it.
Story courtesy of Emily Jones, FOX Sports Southwest
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