MIKE LEACH REPORTEDLY FIRED BY TEXAS TECH, IS IT FAIR?
So now that more than 24 hours has passed since the Mike Leach suspension at Texas Tech was imposed, as usual, the other side of the story has begun to surface. Frankly it's not good press for the 'James Gang'. CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd has posted several emails from current & former Tech players & coaches & not one of them has anything nice to say about one Adam James or his father, ESPN football analyst, Craig James. As of this writing at 12:40 PM CT, ESPN is reporting Leach has been fired. Leach's contract called for an $800,000 bonus for being the Red Raiders coach on December 31, 2009, that's tomorrow right? Leach's contract also called for $400K per season if terminated before the contract ran it's course. He just signed a 5-year extension last February. In his 10-years as a head coach, there has never been one single accusation against Leach. His reputation as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator was spotless as well. I know Leach is a real free spirit, but he was willing to throw everything away to make a point with Adam James? The more I hear about this mess the more cynical I become.
As I watched Mark Schlereth trash Leach on-air this morning, without ever having spoken to either James or Leach, I thought it was really irresponsible. He said "if it was his son, the NCAA would've been the least of Leach's problems, he would've been on a plane to Lubbock to unleash a dad's fury." Some of these former players ESPN hires look like loose cannons more & more. The NCAA wasn't even involved in the suspension & to my knowledge there wasn't even much of an investigation. I was able to see the "electrical closet" & the "shed" Craig James referred to in his Sportscenter appearance yesterday. He claimed his son was confined against his will in these places for hours as "punishment for sustaining a concussion." Leach didn't deny James had been sent there on either occasion, but that he was sent there to get out of the sunlight James claimed bothered him. James said a guard was posted outside the door on both occasions, Leach said an assistant trainer was present to keep an eye on James. The 'electrical closet' is a media room for the visiting coaches & players to conduct interviews. It's a room about 15' x 40', with a tile floor, several podiums, lighting for TV & it's heated with a half bathroom. The 'shed' is essentially a prefab garage with a 20-ft ceiling. It contains tackling dummies, a large riding lawnmower, a commercial ice machine, fans & an industrial sink. When you hear the words electrical closet & shed you naturally think of one thing, but the reality is something entirely different. The players know the truth, they were present when this all went down.
The team's strength & conditioning coach, Bennie Wylie, stated to a Lubbock TV station "James had been reprimanded for horrible practice habits two days before the alleged concussion." He said Leach & WR's coach, Lincoln Riley, had yelled at James & 2 other players for their practice performance. The S&C coach said he talked to James about his "lack of effort" & said James "just shrugged his shoulders & smiled."
Getting back to the players & coaches statements, every single one of them call Adam James "lazy", "entitled", "selfish" & "not a Division I quality player". Former Tech WR's coach & current Houston offensive coordinator, Dana Holgorsen, said he didn't think James was good enough to play at this level, he even told Mike Leach the Red Raiders should pass on James, but Leach signed James after a conversation with his father. Bet Leach wishes he'd listened to Holgorsen.
Former starting quarterback Graham Harrell, said "Adam is a selfish player on & off the field. He was counter-productive & would be with any other team as well. He just believed anything that went against him was someone else's fault."
Current wide receiver's coach Lincoln Riley offered this frank appraisal of James' performance. "Adam is unusually lazy & blames people for things that go wrong in his life. He has an unbelievable sense of entitlement because of who his father is."
Former players Glenn January, Eric Morris & Daniel Loper all chimed in with things like "prima donna", "certainly not a team oriented player, way too selfish" & " a guy no one respected". Certainly to the point wouldn't you say?
Former players Rylan Reed & Cody Campbell spoke of the kindness & concern showed by Coach Leach even after they had left the program.
Leach had sought a temporary restraining order to allow his suspension to be lifted, his attorney said his contract strictly forbid any suspensions. The hearing was ongoing as the news of his firing was broken by ESPN. It's apparent Tech will contend they fired Leach "with cause" so they don't have to pay him anything. I really don't see Leach allowing the university to smear his reputation & stiff him for about $10 million. According to local TV news, public sentiment in the Lubbock market is about 90-10 in favor of Leach. It will be interesting to see how the big donors & boosters see this move.
I think Adam James' days as a Division I football player are over in light of all the people trashing his reputation, regardless of the merit of his claims of false imprisonment. Kirk Herbstreit has just said on ESPN that someone is not telling the truth, the stories are so completely different & Tech's reaction was so swift & severe. Indeed.
The Red Raiders play the Michigan State Spartans in the Alamo Bowl Saturday night & if you feel the need to gamble on this game, I urge you to get to a meeting of Gamblers Anonymous ASAP. The Spartans have 14 fewer players than they had the last week of the season, 10 lost to suspensions, 4 to academics. Tech has this debacle hanging over their heads & will be without their "Mad Scientist" coach. I wouldn't miss watching it for anything now, but I know there's no way I'd put real live money on it.
As I watched Mark Schlereth trash Leach on-air this morning, without ever having spoken to either James or Leach, I thought it was really irresponsible. He said "if it was his son, the NCAA would've been the least of Leach's problems, he would've been on a plane to Lubbock to unleash a dad's fury." Some of these former players ESPN hires look like loose cannons more & more. The NCAA wasn't even involved in the suspension & to my knowledge there wasn't even much of an investigation. I was able to see the "electrical closet" & the "shed" Craig James referred to in his Sportscenter appearance yesterday. He claimed his son was confined against his will in these places for hours as "punishment for sustaining a concussion." Leach didn't deny James had been sent there on either occasion, but that he was sent there to get out of the sunlight James claimed bothered him. James said a guard was posted outside the door on both occasions, Leach said an assistant trainer was present to keep an eye on James. The 'electrical closet' is a media room for the visiting coaches & players to conduct interviews. It's a room about 15' x 40', with a tile floor, several podiums, lighting for TV & it's heated with a half bathroom. The 'shed' is essentially a prefab garage with a 20-ft ceiling. It contains tackling dummies, a large riding lawnmower, a commercial ice machine, fans & an industrial sink. When you hear the words electrical closet & shed you naturally think of one thing, but the reality is something entirely different. The players know the truth, they were present when this all went down.
The team's strength & conditioning coach, Bennie Wylie, stated to a Lubbock TV station "James had been reprimanded for horrible practice habits two days before the alleged concussion." He said Leach & WR's coach, Lincoln Riley, had yelled at James & 2 other players for their practice performance. The S&C coach said he talked to James about his "lack of effort" & said James "just shrugged his shoulders & smiled."
Getting back to the players & coaches statements, every single one of them call Adam James "lazy", "entitled", "selfish" & "not a Division I quality player". Former Tech WR's coach & current Houston offensive coordinator, Dana Holgorsen, said he didn't think James was good enough to play at this level, he even told Mike Leach the Red Raiders should pass on James, but Leach signed James after a conversation with his father. Bet Leach wishes he'd listened to Holgorsen.
Former starting quarterback Graham Harrell, said "Adam is a selfish player on & off the field. He was counter-productive & would be with any other team as well. He just believed anything that went against him was someone else's fault."
Current wide receiver's coach Lincoln Riley offered this frank appraisal of James' performance. "Adam is unusually lazy & blames people for things that go wrong in his life. He has an unbelievable sense of entitlement because of who his father is."
Former players Glenn January, Eric Morris & Daniel Loper all chimed in with things like "prima donna", "certainly not a team oriented player, way too selfish" & " a guy no one respected". Certainly to the point wouldn't you say?
Former players Rylan Reed & Cody Campbell spoke of the kindness & concern showed by Coach Leach even after they had left the program.
Leach had sought a temporary restraining order to allow his suspension to be lifted, his attorney said his contract strictly forbid any suspensions. The hearing was ongoing as the news of his firing was broken by ESPN. It's apparent Tech will contend they fired Leach "with cause" so they don't have to pay him anything. I really don't see Leach allowing the university to smear his reputation & stiff him for about $10 million. According to local TV news, public sentiment in the Lubbock market is about 90-10 in favor of Leach. It will be interesting to see how the big donors & boosters see this move.
I think Adam James' days as a Division I football player are over in light of all the people trashing his reputation, regardless of the merit of his claims of false imprisonment. Kirk Herbstreit has just said on ESPN that someone is not telling the truth, the stories are so completely different & Tech's reaction was so swift & severe. Indeed.
The Red Raiders play the Michigan State Spartans in the Alamo Bowl Saturday night & if you feel the need to gamble on this game, I urge you to get to a meeting of Gamblers Anonymous ASAP. The Spartans have 14 fewer players than they had the last week of the season, 10 lost to suspensions, 4 to academics. Tech has this debacle hanging over their heads & will be without their "Mad Scientist" coach. I wouldn't miss watching it for anything now, but I know there's no way I'd put real live money on it.
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