The Saga of Mike Leach :: The End
by Seth C on Dec 31, 2009 6:33 AM CST
in Texas Tech Football
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Yesterday I asked that you would copy me on any email that you decided to send to the Texas Tech University Administration. I had no concept as to what kind of response I'd receive and now I know. Although I haven't actually counted, I think it would be safe to assume that I was copied on more than 200 emails from alumni, fans, and fans from other teams regarding their displeasure with the method by which this entire situation was handled. To be honest, I was surprised at the actual volume of support and I'm surprised at the response. It's been absolutely amazing and this speaks to the power of this community. If you've sent me an email recently I may not be able to respond I may not be able to respond for at least a couple of days, I hope you understand.
Who to Blame
Last night, rather than continue to write about this, I gathered with some fellow Red Raiders and decided to drink and as we talked about the situation last night, the thing that I expressed to them was the thought that if you want to play the blame game then you'll have plenty of participants. I really want to just blame Gerald Myers for the entire situation, and I do believe that he didn't want Mike Leach to be the head coach last year, but at the end of the day, I blame everyone, and I mean everyone, involved. From Gerald Myers for his seemingly lack of communication with his football head coach, to Mike Leach for perhaps thumbing his nose at anyone and everyone involved at the administration, to Craig James for perhaps being an over-bearing parent, etc.
This is really about adults not being able to get along and co-exist.
It's about egos, and that goes for everyone involved, and no one wanting to budge.
And don't believe for a second that the reason that Leach was terminated was because he decided to sue the university. That's absolute bullocks. Legally speaking, it was Leach's only move that he could make, which was to file an injunction. Leach was terminated because he couldn't get along with the administration, on almost every level.
The Hypocrisy
In 2006, during the basketball season, Bob Knight choked hit Michael Prince under the chin ([Note by Seth C, 01/01/10 7:58 AM CST ] I've revised this as Knight did not choke Prince, but hit him under the chin. I felt that my initial characterization of the incident was not accurate.), during a game. I've tried to find the video this morning and have come up empty and what I remember about the incident was that Knight laid his hands on an athlete in what many deemed to be an inappropriate manner. You had that incident on television and you had the entire world watching. Knight and Myers were close friends, and the only reason that Knight came to Texas Tech was because of the close relationship between the two. I do not believe that it was ever reported that Bob Knight was asked to apologize, nor do I remember Knight being asked to sign a document to acknowledge his mistreatment of players. Bringing this up isn't to debate what Knight did to Prince during that game, what I'm curious about is whether the parties were treated fairly.
This is perhaps the biggest issue that I have with the entire incident is what appears to be the unequal treatment of those coaches who were friends with Myers and those who were not.
This is the Straw
You could say that the Adam James incident is the straw that broke the camels back. In fact I recall reading something about how additional facts would be coming to light in the near future. I'm fine with additional incidents coming to light, in fact, I would expect it considering the potential litigation that's going to occur, but if this is the case, then you have an administration that looked the other way and was okay with that. This means that should additional details emerge, that not only would Mike Leach lose some of his luster in my opinion as a head coach, but this would also mean that you have an administration that condoned his actions by not acting at all. If this turns out to be true then you can go read the first paragraph of this post . . . everyone deserves some blame.
Supporting the Program
I'll be honest, there's no way in hell that I will be able to stop caring about my university. For me, I have to separate the people who may be in charge at this particular time, whether it's Leach, Myers, Bailey, Hance, etc., with the university itself. I understand that the initial reaction is to no longer support the school in any method. I've received more than a handful of emails from fans who have expressed to Hance that their donation will not be made this year. If everyone decides to no longer support the program, whether that be with your tickets, buying merchandise, or contributions to the Red Raider Club, then what you'll have is a football program that will fall to irrelevance incredibly quickly. I'd be lying if I told you that I would never watch or support the team from this point forward, or until the current administration was no longer in charge, but that's not the case. Mike Leach improved the quality and the state of the program in almost every respect. I do not think that Leach's impact on the football program can ever properly be attributed, but if you give up on this program and these players at this point then what you will have, without question, is a program that will fall into irrelevance.
This isn't to say that I think that you shouldn't be upset. I understand the emotions involved and now may not be the right time to suggest that not supporting the program will only make matters worse. Texas Tech is not a program that has built in advantages like some of the other state schools and powerhouses in the Big 12. Texas Tech has had to build their program brick by brick. Tearing down that wall could happen very quickly, much faster than it ever took to build that wall.
I agree that we should all be upset at the method by which this entire process was handled, but I'll always cheer for the laundry.
Moving Forward
I'm not ready to move forward just yet. I feel like I probably need to express myself through alcohol for this three day weekend. After the game on Saturday, I'll probably discuss some of the options and I'll throw my two cents as to who I believe should be named as the head coach.
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Too soon...
To be a Red Raider at this moment is like telling the rest of the world that:
We went to a school run by hot heads and Red Necks that can’t embrace change of any kind …
Has no class in how it handles it’s football coach and most of all does not care what the fans who support the school want, but instead will make decisions based on input from few people(did you read the email’s from the DMN!).
Today I am so very embarrassed to be a Red Raider!!!
+1
Exactly right – In my email to the chancellor I told him: “I live in Georgia and am frankly known by everyone I come in contact with as ‘that Texas Tech guy’ because of my vigor for TT football. I have been proud to be the one person most people knew out here who was a TT fan and alum. This is the first time I have been embarrassed, and sadly, it feels like it won’t be the last. I hope to be successful in my life and TT was going to factor in a big way into my donation plans – now I’m not so sure.”
What the administration has done has set the program back 5 years regardless of whether we support the school or not. I’ll always be a red raider, and am still proud of that, but handling this situation with such little regard for logic leaves me in a place of shock.
Thanks to Mike Leach for all the memories – I look forward to cheering for you and your new crew of pirates wherever you end up.
by ATLRedRaider on Dec 31, 2009 7:35 AM CST up reply actions
+1
Just saw a “Team Leach” sign on the Today Show…thought I would let you know.
Secondly, I couldn’t agree more. I am not a Tech student, but I bleed red and black. And I was completely embarrassed by the administration’s comments last night. You could tell that they knew they did something bad, and now really have nothing to say.
Funny…I kept hearing the Dukes of Hazzard Theme every time Hance and Meyers would pop up on screen.
by LBKpiratefan on Dec 31, 2009 8:34 AM CST up reply actions
Sumlin
Want to salvage a bad situation? Bring in Sumlin/Holgerson next week and keep the momentum going. They run our offense better than we do. Seth, sorry for changing my mind but after sleeping on it I think this is our best move.
by TTU '04 on Dec 31, 2009 7:20 AM CST via mobile reply actions
There's a number of things that should not be left hanging....
first and foremost should be a full disclosure of exactly what was done to sweet baby james that “endangered” his health Could it have been that there was no carebear nightlight in the dungeon? or was it that in the dark he could have stumbled over his cell phone and sunglasses? Who the hell brings cellphone and sunglasses to a football practice?
Was the little boy cleared to be at practice at all? when?
What is a school?
I don’t have anything against people sticking with the school. However, I see the school as nothing more than a collection of people. In the center is a rotten core surrounded by nearly 30,000 students, professors, and staff that rotate around it. Everyone outside that core is a replaceable part designed to wear out in 4 years and/or be isolated from the core of power. If you buy into the idea that everyone is to blame for this, ask yourself which of the everyone is still with the school today. How bout 1 year from now? 4 years from now? 10 years from now? Those people are your problem. My argument is that those people are Texas Tech University.
Clarity
I hope a lot of information is cleared up over the next few weeks. Ultimately the shool, the fans and most importantly, the students are the ones that will suffer the most from this.
It was good to see DTN on ESPN last night.
Badgerman
Current Player Sentiment
I apologize if anyone else has posted on this. I have tried to read all of the comments, but I know I’ve missed some fanshots.
It appears that there is widespread support for Leach outside of current players, the administration, and ESPN. None of this baffles me except for the coverage of the few comments made by existing players. I have a few ideas about them, but let me start with a story from my past.
When I was growing up in Dallas, I had a music teacher in elementary school named Mrs. Johnson. She was tough. She was really tough. However, she told us that she would be one of the few teachers we would remember for the rest of our lives. She was right and I think most coaches are the same way. They are tough and only the benefit of hindsight allows us to see that they were acting in our own best interests.
I don’t know how much information the current players are able to get, but they lack the benefit of hindsight and probably the maturity necessary to process what is happening. They can’t see the forest for the trees. Their view of Leach will forever be defined by this event. They’ll never see what all of his other former players see now. He was tough and this administration robbed the current players of the ability to ever determine if he was acting in their best interest.
Major Props to Seth
I tell everyone that I know that if they want the most current information on TTU Football then there is only one site, Double T Nation.
I am glad that ESPN “sourced” the site even if I wish it could have been under better circumstances.
That would explaint the people coming out of the woodwork here lately.....
" Answers -- Become Resources."
Without Questions; There are limited Resources...
How to bring change
So how do we as upset alum bring about change in the administration without tearing down the entire football team? I understand the logic that if we stop supporting, we’re just hurting the team and driving ourselves back to irrelevance, but what else can we do to bring about administrative change? We could send 1,000,000 email to Hance, Meyers and the BOR but they really wouldn’t care. I listened to Hance’s interview with ESPN last night and there is no way in the world that they didn’t have their own agenda. Money makes the most impact, but also hurts the team the most. So where do we go from here?
Protests on campus? Hance will never remove Meyers because ‘a lot of people don’t like him.’
Still very angry
A friend was at Caprock Cafe last nite and when Hance’s name appeared on the big screen, the place erupted in boos and insults! Let’s hope this continues for him and the other two misfits, especially when the students get back! Having said this, I will support MY school, in spite of its 3 stooges! I am still very angry and will really miss The Captain!
What exactly has Meyers done for TECH
Accomplishments:
1) got out of coaching
sorry, that’s all I got
Love seeing Seth say
he had to go have cocktails/beers with a group of buds. This is exactly what I did, and it felt like a wake. I did feel better for it.
The administration is counting on us returning to our apathy on how and who the BOR is and their role at OUR University. This will not happen in my case, I am pissed off and this won’t go away for awhile.
by oldschoolraider on Dec 31, 2009 8:41 AM CST reply actions
A death to uniqueness
No matter who we hire, we lost our uniqueness and I hate that most of all. We’re just going to be another Big 12 school again with nothing interesting to make us stand out.
At least Leach gets to be a pirate one last time as he pillages Tech with lawsuits.
Hypocrisy & Arrogance
Frankly I see both of these on both sides.
Pretty easy for Hance to say on ESPN that they gave Leach every chance to make this right. On the other hand, that included a statement about breach of contract. So would appear they were building a case against him which he would never sign.
Seth’s point about coach Knight is dead-on. But also don’t forget him screaming down the President at the salad bar of a Lubbock restaurant.
But arrogance is the biggest thing that has me troubled. That the Administration took the stance of “F” you to everyone who wants to keep coach Leach we will do what the hell we want regardless of the overwhelming support against us attitude.
That uber-arrogance is what I won’t soon get over. I say give Hance/Bailey/Myers the finger when you see them b/c that is exactly what they did to all of us and brought to you by ESPN.
exactly. its ok for knight to “be bigger than the president and chancellor” by demeaning him in a public place AND abusing players, but Leach tries to do it (probably as a defensive move because he is hated by the administration) and gets fired.
Knight was a very polarizing figure…you either loved him or hated him. Leach, with the exception of the Good Ol Boys, is liked by everyone. Even people from other schools that dislike Tech still recognized and feared Leach as entertaining and a football genius.
This Right Here...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/12-09/1231leach.pdf
has SHAME written all over it and I’m sure Leach’s Lawyer is going to gobble it up like a Turkey Thanksgiving dinner. Speculation of Leach “blackmailing” the university?? I mean really??? Damn, I thought the TTU Administration was bad but I had no clue they were acting like an old school New York mafia gang.
Behavior like this can’t be tolerated at Tech. These are supposed to be adults. Not school children or drug dealers. Gahhhhh….go away Gerald Myers, Kent Hance, and everyone else in TTU Administration. Just swipe the board clean and fill the shoes with the Dykes family. This is not even outrageous.
This is NUT-rageous!!
I’m curious how Bobby Knight thinks of all this…
Just an analogy that might apply
I was a Dallas Cowboys fan even before I was a Tech fan. I remember watching TV with my dad as Bullet Bob Hayes caught TD passes. I could never have imagined losing my loyalty for that team.
Then along came Jerry Jones. From the moment he fired Tom Landry in the press, he was nothing but a classless hillbilly to me. Then his ego caused him to fire Jimmy Johnson, making him the owner who had fired the only two coaches to ever take the Cowboys to the Super Bowl. Then came years of mediocrity and every malcontent player in the league, sullying the once-proud Cowboy name.
Bottom line: I am no longer a Cowboys fan. The leadership of that team took away all of my loyalty. I haven’t watched a game all year, not because I made a decision not to but because it never crosses my mind to watch them. After decades of fervent allegiance, I just don’t care about them any more. As long as Jones runs the team, there is no hope.
Sound familiar?
The Jerry Jones analogy is perfect
I grew up in Dallas, my father was a Dallas Cowboys season ticket holder. I bought season tickets in 1989 (after the 1-15 season) & followed “my” team faithfully through the first two Super Bowls in 1992 and 1993 (I was at both games in fact). Then Jerry Jones fired Jimmy Johnson for the crime of winning back to back Super Bowls. It was the last penny I gave to Jerry Jones (apart from whatever peripheral money Jerry got from the Tech-Baylor game this year). It’s no fun abandoning a life long connection like that but some actions are inexcusable. And Kent Hance & Guy Bailey just crossed that line. Adios Texas Tech. You were a great place to go to college. Too bad your Board of Regents insist on hiring morons to run the joint.
IM JUST THANKFUL FOR DTN!
This situation made me feel like I had lost one of my best dogs. The Tech administration just absolutely cut my heart out yesterday. I have so enjoyed Mike Leach over the last 10 years. I’m thankful I had a place to vent my frustration yesterday. With that being said I am a Red Raider I will always be a Red Raider. I am a Tech Alum, my wife is a Tech Alum and my daughter attends Texas Tech. We pretty much bleed Red and Black around my house. I want nothing but the best for my university from this point forward!
American farmers feed & clothe the world!
I'm also greatful I have you guys around.
Had I not been a member of this board when the news broke, I would be in ICU awaiting a liver from somebody.
I’d like to personally thank you guys for being here for eachother during these difficult times. This sucks in every sense of the word.
Wreck Em and Long Live Leach!
" Answers -- Become Resources."
Without Questions; There are limited Resources...
he was doomed since last years contract
No doubt the administration had other plans for Mike after that ordeal. It was purely “give me a reason” time and that time came even though it barely holds water. Seth is correct in his hypocrisy statement. Bobby Knight was far more abusive to the PC world at tech than Mike Leach. Leach had and excellent tenure here with bowl victories and graduation rates that rival none. This was a witch hunt and we all have to bare the result. Kent Hance the politician isn’t fooling anybody. Yes Mike is hard headed but their was no justification for firing him. Mike is not a disciplain problem. This is the first case of so called abuse I can ever remember involving Leach. I’m not sure where I stand at this point but I’m not excited about Tech football like I usually am. I feel empty and betrayal along with shame. I am totally pissed and have little faith in these morons that run our school. I’m not convinced they know the depth of the damage they’ve caused. For me personally, Tech football runs right up there below god and family so I just feel awful and wish this whole thing had never happened. I have always had visions of Leach taking us to a BCS and possibly a NC game later. I’m still pissed and probably will be for a while but I will always be a red raider and follow this team. I would however enjoy nothing more than seeing the administration folks pay dearly for this huge mistake.
"You've got to find your inner pirate" - Mike Leach
by Raider1992 on Dec 31, 2009 9:46 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
On that note, I would almost send back money to the University just to fulfill Leach's contract.
" Answers -- Become Resources."
Without Questions; There are limited Resources...
Slow news day now that this saga is over and these writers will write anything at this point.
by WreckerRaider on Dec 31, 2009 10:11 AM CST up reply actions
Somebody
Give me good reasons why we shouldn’t be emailing our version of T Boone…..Jim Sowell. It is now obvious that he is pulling the strings on all of this. I don’t know this guy from Adam, but between being the BOR chairman and a donor…..those emails showed that he is Hance’s sounding board.
by oldschoolraider on Dec 31, 2009 10:08 AM CST reply actions
Can someone post Jim Sowell’s email address?
by WreckerRaider on Dec 31, 2009 10:14 AM CST up reply actions
I just sent Jim Sowell an e-mail
Calling him a worthless fucking moron. Fat lot of good it will do anybody,
Try it yourself & good luck.
What Hypocrisy?
Seth, I don’t know if this is the same incident you had in mind, but Michael Prince said he wasn’t choked.
Notice that Prince’s parents didn’t think this should’ve been made an issue.
I would agree
that I should not have used the word “choke” as that’s not what occurred. I would say that depending on who the parents are, it could have been an assault. The thing that Knight had going for him (and I defended him at the time) was that his parents agreed with his actions, however, looking back at the petition that Texas Tech filed, in particular Exhibits “A” and “B” that TTU required Leach to treat the players with respect, which I think it could be argued that Knight did not, and it could have also been deemed to be physical abuse. I think what I’m getting at here is that Myers probably did nothing like this, although the situation certainly could have warranted a similar warning from the administration. The line here is that it shouldn’t be the parents who decide whether or not something is appropriate, it should have been the administration making a determination after a proper investigation and I don’t think that happened with Leach.
Go Raiders . . .
Double-T Nation
Me Email to Jim Sowell...
Jim Sowell,
You sir, are a MORON. Why would you get rid of Leach? Do you realize that since Leach became the head coach at Texas Tech the university has grown? Before Leach there were 29,000 students enrolled. Now there are 48,000 students enrolled. Lubbock has grown as well. I hope you’re happy. You destroyed our program. How does it feel to be pulling the strings on the puppet that is known as Kent Hance? Seriously. I would love for you to tell me the logic behind this firing, because to me, it seems like a personal vendetta. You can’t honestly tell me that you, the Board of Regents, and the rest of the Administration didn’t have an agenda. Bob Knight can get away with choking a kid on national television, yet Coach Leach puts a kid in an air conditioned garage/media room because he (Adam James) doesn’t want to practice and that gets him fired. After reviewing the emails you sent to Hance, it has become clear to me that after last year’s contract dispute, you and the Board of Regents had moved on to the “give me a reason” phase, in regards to the Leach firing process. This is why Texas Tech is and will always remain Texas Tech. It’s run by a bunch of “good ’ol boy” rednecks with money. Gerald Myers is a joke. The fact that you and the Administration COMPLETELY IGNORED the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Texas Tech’s fans was a slap to the face and “F You” directed at the students and alumni who have contributed a significant part of their lives to the betterment of Texas Tech University. The difference between us and you is, other than than the fact that we have sound logic, we don’t have $1 million to donate to the university every year. So basically, the firing of Mike Leach was a setup and a power play that will result in Mike suing our asses, because your master plot had three major flaws:
1. You have absolutely no proof that Mike Leach did anything to harm the kid.
2. Mike was deemed guilty from the get-go and there was little to no investigation.
3. Not once did the talking heads at ESPN give Mike’s side of the story.
i. This caused irreparable damage to his reputation, not only as a coach, but as a person
ii. It was completely unjust (and unconstitutional)
iii. The informed public, not just Red Raider fans want to see heads rolling.
This is similar to the French Revolution, in the sense that you do what you want to make yourself happy while the 99% of us who aren’t in the aristocracy suffer for it. Firing Mike Leach was the ultimate “F You” to the students, alumni, and Red Raider fans everywhere. Trust me, heads will roll. I’m not threatening you, but your friends Gerald and Kent won’t be around much longer. Your little gang’s lack of logic, selfishness, and unwillingness to accept a coach who is there to win football games and not kiss ass will be the end of you. This little Administration should have been disbanded after the fiasco that was Mike Leach’s contract negotiations. Congrats on tearing down a program that was on the brink of national prominence and destroying Texas Tech’s flagship athletics program. I hope you’re pleased.
Sincerely,
Nathan Kirksey
Jim's response...
I think that the official enrollment is actually 30,500.
by techfan5730 on Dec 31, 2009 11:27 AM CST up reply actions
I still don’t think Jim would give a rat’s ass if enrollment were 250 or 30,500……he’s a gutless coward still hiding underneath a rock. He and the 3 stooges…
by WreckerRaider on Dec 31, 2009 11:35 AM CST up reply actions
and your response to that...
the number of balls you (Sowell) have? 0
I have lost faith in this administration to promote or build our University in a positive way...
Unfortunately, the best method I can come up with to communicate my dissatisfaction, other than sending emails, is to withhold any and all financial contributions to Texas Tech.
I will be happy to resume my contributions when the Administration has taken actions that restore my trust in their integrity and intent.
by Houston Raider on Dec 31, 2009 12:28 PM CST reply actions
emails....
I must have missed something important, where can I read these emails between moneybags and Hance?
by TTUMAR on Dec 31, 2009 1:06 PM CST via mobile reply actions
I have always been proud of Tech and the way we were able to do more with less. Our graduation rates show that we are an institution of higher learning not just minor league football teams like ut and ou. Our players are not constnatly being arrested like the other two schools. Yet we compete. I have always believed in working hard, being disciplined, and over achieving in the class room and on the field. I always felt this is what Tech stood for. I thought Mike Leach was the greatest display of going against the grain and trying to do the right thing in spite of all the outside influences. Consistently being the third best team in the Big 12 deserves the third best pay in the Big 12. Through this debacle the administrators have shown that none of this is important to them. They have shown how cheap and gutless they are. They are no better than anyone else.
Disciplining someone or something is never fun. It is physically and emotionally painful on both parties involved. No matter how much you love the recipient the only way to teach them and help them grow is to temporarily hurt them. We have all stated our helplessness through this situation. We all know the only way to make a difference is financially. Whether you still love, mildly like, or completely hate Texas Tech University, the only way we can make a change is to withhold all financial contributions. No more licensed apparel. No more athletic tickets. No more contributions to alumni association, red raider club, or individual colleges. Hance, Bailey, Myers, and whoever else involved in this need to be removed. I am pledging to withold all contributions until every last one of them is no longer affiliated with Texas Tech University. All of my Tech gear is boxed up. Texas Tech University is dead to me until these changes are made. I urge everyone else to do the same until we accomplish this movement. I am deeply sorry for all the students and athletes involved but we can all see that they are of no importance than monetary contribtutions to these people anyway. The three kids that came out against can all leave and copntinue to sit on the bench until they do so. Especially Chris Perry. Do this because you hate Tech. Do this because you love Tech!
Thanks Coach Leach
I am an avid follower of this board, but never post – but wanted to throw my two cents in. While I usually agree with most of the Seth’s opinions, there is one that I disagree with – Supporting the Program. I will continue to watch the Red Raiders and I will continue to cheer for them, but my financial support as a RRC Member has ended and will not resume until there is a change in the Administration – I will also renew my Alumni Association at the lowest level possible. While I understand that if a lot of people do this the football program could suffer, but I think that there has to be change in the Administration. Is it a scorched earth type of action? – Absolutely, but this situation with Leach was handled less than horrible and that is the fault of the Administration. It is nothing short of embarrassing. As the AD it is Meyers job to protect the head coaches – isn’t that what he did with Knight? But Leach was left out there hanging on his own, which is the Administration’s doing. Is Leach hard headed? – Absolutely, nothing new about this you know what Leach’s short comings are as well as his strengths (10 bowl games, high grad rate, clean program) as with everyone you have to take the good with the bad. I think Emily Jones (Fox Sports and a Texas Tech Grad) summed it up with her comments yesterday (I hear streaming Dallas’ The Ticket), the Administration, specifically the AD department at Tech is run poorly. It is time to get the Athletic Department fixed we will never have a football program move up to the next level with the people with have and how the AD is run. College sports are big business and Tech needs to act like it if they want to run with the big dogs.
I also want to thank Coach Leach. Thank you for taking a job at Texas Tech, when many people said you were a fool to do so. Thank you for caring about the students that played football under you leadership and pushing an education and not just football. Thank you for giving Texas Tech a football program that I felt like we could compete with any program any day. Some of the games were great and sometimes we played like the Tech of old, but I felt like Texas Tech football was relevant every year, every game. Thank you Coach Leach for you time and quirkiness, thank you for being you – it has been one hell of a ride and I am glad that I was here to experience it all.
I need to find my old sweatshirt that has Raider Red on it flipping the bird and the words printed under him read "Hey David McWilliams", get a sharpie cross out McWilliams and write "Tech Administration".
+1
I also follow this board and have been waiting patiently for my account to become active so I could post. I would also like to express my thanks and appreciation to Coach Leach, I was a sophomore when he started here and our football program was in wretched condition. He has made Texas Tech Football a household name and brought national recognition to the school. I remember Coach Dykes and the quality of the program before Leach and do not want to regress back into that mediocrity. Coach Leach brought excitement and life to a program that was at the back of the pack in the Big 12. I couldn’t agree more with the above poster’s comments about the AD department, small minded people have small accomplishments if any at all.
I am truly disappointed in the administration’s underhanded/ chickenshit manner of handling this situation. I wish Coach Leach and his staff success in their future endeavors, he will be missed, his personality quirks and mannerisms are a large part of what endeared him to our fans. Coach Leach I commend you for sticking to your guns and refusing to allow the administration to pidgeonhole you. Sometimes you have to do the right thing even when you know the outcome will not be favorable.
I'm ready to move beyond all this
and watch Tech destroy MSU. Our emails are pointless because the people they are going to are the people who made the decision. Let’s just let it all go…really. We had our 24-hour mourning period. What’s done is done and nothing you or I say will affect any change. Myers is out in May 2010. Then what? Lobby the BoR to replace themselves? Really…
I'm open to suggestions
But the fact is, the people you’re mad at and the one’s you want to replace aren’t accountable to us as fans. They aren’t elected, they are appointed (by an Aggy). They got what they wanted knowing full well it wouldn’t be what we wanted. The only thing we can do is withhold support and money.
Theory # 2
Rick Perry can kiss my blue collar hard working hairy ass! The fact that a graduate of A&M is selecting who is on MY Board of Regents blows my fucking mind. Nothing against A&M as an institution of higher learning, but it does seem a little odd that he has a say so in how things are done here. I know we’re a public university and that’s how things are done, but it’s complete bullshit!
Does it seem a little strange that this all kinda falls together?
Kinky Friedman and that other guy for Govenor!
" Answers -- Become Resources."
Without Questions; There are limited Resources...
Husker Fan of Leach
I’ve been chomping at the bit to be able to comment but had to wait our the 24 hour waiting period to post. Wow! Was that difficult as I have followed your posts since this whole thing broke.
I am a huge fan of Mike Leach and have been since he arrived on the scene in Lubbock, in spite of the fact that he has wrecked havoc on the Huskers. College football needs this guy amid all of the talking heads that look the same, just wearing different colored polo shirts. He put Texas Tech on the map from a national perspective and believe me, whenever I found my self channel surfing looking for a game to watch, I stopped on the Tech games because I loved to watch his offense.
Like many of you, though without the same level of commitment, I have been very angry about this whole thing. Leach was a bit different and I don’t think that the good old boy club quite understood him. That is too bad because that is what made him great. I don’t agree with what he did to the James kid, regardless of the size of the shed or room. That one went over the line even though it sounds like the kid is a royal jerk. But there is no way that anything to this degree should have happened.
From an outsider’s perspective, and I know that it doesn’t matter to the powers that be at Tech, I won’t be watching the Raiders anymore because the reason I did is gone. I will follow Mike Leach and pay attention to the team that hires him next. Don’t take this as a slam, but for many people outside of the Texas Tech family, the Red Raiders are no longer relevant.
by jon's only friend on Dec 31, 2009 4:28 PM CST reply actions
Thanks for the fluff but...
When we beat your ass again, maybe you’ll change your mind about our relevance.
Get Mad But...
He’s right.
To the rest of the world right now, Texas Tech Football is the school of backwards thinking, knuckle dragging, Good ’Ol Boys who fired one of the greatest minds in College Football.
After that. We’re irrelevant.
by Damien Franco on Dec 31, 2009 5:49 PM CST up reply actions 2 recs
That "Wrong" actually makes me right
because ESPN has the bigger voice.
When we talk about national exposure or the NCAA or America’s opinion we’re, by proxy, talking about ESPN whether you like it or not.
Therefore the rest of the world thinks TTU is a football program that fired Mike Leach a year after he won the Big 12 coach of the year for locking a football player in a closet.
After that, mediocrity ensues, and we’ll only be known as the team that college football great Mike Leach put on the national map once upon a time.
We’ll be that team out in West Texas that was relevant for a few years and end up on VH1’s “Where are they now?”.
While the rest of the Big 12 is laughing their asses off now and in the future, the rest of the world will have forgetten TTU in a couple of years.
by Damien Franco on Dec 31, 2009 8:48 PM CST up reply actions
Easy there...Debbie Downer...
ESPN is making it look like Tech(Hance and Myers) is doing the right thing by running off a rogue coach that abuses his kids. Hello!?
If they actually took the time and money to fly somebody to Lubbock to investigate this deal, they might get to the bottom of it and report that Tech is run by a couple a tools. Then we might look stupid. But that’s just not gonna happen, cause they are covering their boy Craig James’ ass.
Texas Tech will be just fine. I refuse to believe that Texas Tech is going to disappear any time soon.
I beg to differ
I, as well as a bucket-load of other people on the west coast hate ESPN, as they are nothing more than a company that is owned by Disney. When I heard of the incident, I had no faith in the pitch that Leach locked some player in a "holding cell", and after a little research, I just found more proof that ESPN looks out for their own.
Don’t think that Lubbock is the only place that is on your side. There’s at least one more person out here that did more than just listen to Craig James
Formerly ucla13_usc9
I agree with my fellow Bruin 03rdn9
(I have been reading everything while I had to wait out the 24 hour quarantine, and I think you guys have done a tremendous job at digging out a lot of background. Question: Who is this guy Sowell, who appears to think he’s the Emperor of Lubbock? I remember in the old cowboy movies that the guy with the biggest ranch always thought he could do whatever he wanted until John Wayne showed up. Your Mr. Sowell sounds so arrogant that I would have thought he was a trOJan, but I digress.)
My Bruin Brother pointed out that the espn (I can’t capitalize that acronym) Kool Aid is not being swallowed by everyone, and certainly by very few people in the Bruins Nation. espn simply has no credibility as far as I’m concerned. It seems like it’s now being produced by someone who learned the trade at The Real Housewives of Somewhere or the WWF. There is not even a pretense of balance. Not one of the blowhard talking heads has questioned James’s motive for taking this public now, just when Larry, Moe and Curly in your administration building needed an excuse to fire Coach Leach. None of those espn blowhards questioned the journalistic morality of a talking head using his nationwide platform to act like a Little League parent. And how does James Pere suddenly develop a sense of integrity which compelled him to speak out on the use of waterboarding by Coach Leach? Isn’t this the same paragon of virtue who thought it was OK to get a salary and a car while he was at SMU? Sorry, Craig, but I don’t buy it.
I hope TT recovers from this, but it’s doubtful in my opinion. Someone else wrote that there were only a handful of teams who you would make long term plans to watch and Tech was one of them. Everybody wanted to watch a team coached by Coach Leach. The brain trust who fired him has doomed your school. I’ll watch the bowl game (but not listen to it because I refuse to listen to blowhard commentators who tell me nothing that adds to what I see on the screen) to see what happens and to see if there is any TV coverage of the signs in the stands. But sorry, without Coach Leach, I fear that Tech football just won’t be interesting in the future. But heck, your good ol’ boys will have a coach who knows his place and won’t be uppity.
One final point. I’m trying to generate interest in the Bruins Nation in a pool based on how much Coach Leach takes in his lawsuit. I think it will be at least $3.5m, but that may be low. If you folks decide to do that sort of pool, I would like to get in on it.
If you took it as fluff, that's your problem.
Mike Leach is one of my favorite coaches. You beat Nebraska’s ass because of Mike Leach’s offense, which two regimes of coaches could not defend. You did the same to a lot of teams. From what I have read over the past couple of days, many people have viewed Tech as the ugly stepchild in the state of Texas. Leach tossed that aside and made your team the most feared in the Big XII. Nebraska saw five years of being irrelevant after being on top the the world. It’s not a fun place to be when a few years Husker fans could walk with a swagger!
As for beating Nebraska’s ass again, won’t happen without Leach calling the shots and running the offense, at least not in the near future. And, I would question whether they will put the wood to other teams they have whupped up on the last few years. Leach was the right guy for Texas Tech . . . the Pirate coaching the Raiders. It was perfect.
by jon's only friend on Dec 31, 2009 9:35 PM CST reply actions
It was better than perfect
It was poetic.
Now…it’s tragic.
by Damien Franco on Jan 1, 2010 1:38 AM CST up reply actions
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