Jeff Klotzman interview with Hance

by jdubmed on Dec 31, 2009 11:16 AM CST

I love Mike Leach, and this program. But he is at fault as well. Mike had an out, and he refused to comply with an order from his bosses, then sued them. Those actions would get all of us fired. As angry as I am at the administration over their handling of this mess, and as much as I believe Adam James probably does have work ethic issues, Mike handled this the wrong way. When they gave him an out, he escalated the situation. Ego is a dangerous thing when unchecked. Thanks for everything, Mike. I wish you the best.

http://www.myfoxlubbock.com/content/news/special/story/Mike-Leach-fired/W6vo5C_goEKrSb5pBgLWoQ.cspx

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Double-T Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Double-T Nation's writers or editors.

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You wanted Mike to

eat a shit sandwich and say grace beforehand?

by oldschoolraider on Dec 31, 2009 11:22 AM CST reply actions

Certainly..

But if your boss told you the trumped up allegations against you could go away if you apologized publicly and signed an unnecessarily humiliating agreement that neutered your ability to do your job and was basically a way to control you, you’d plead to a higher power too.

I don’t like my job enough to continue doing it with someone holding me hostage with a knife at my neck.

by merrik on Dec 31, 2009 11:22 AM CST reply actions

Don’t care for the way TechTalk on 104.3 is handling the firing of coach Leach. I didn’t realize til now their reporting was this skewed. Somebody said yesterday they are owned by the school. I’ll keep that in mind, and put their reporting right up there with ESPN’s. Or should I say down there with ESPN’s?

by TT4EVER on Dec 31, 2009 11:26 AM CST reply actions

There is a bigger picture to be considered.

I would tend to agree that coach Leach’s pride played a factor in resolving the issue. But you have to look at both sides of the story.

From Leach’s perspective, he was discipling a player who apparently had no regard for authority. Was it over the top, probably as I feel he should have just sent Adam James home and moved on.

Then you have Hance/Bailey/Myers ask him to acknowledge that the pending investigation could amount to breach of contract. Consider that the thinly veiled “attempt to help him resovle the issue”. Also, they demanded an apology..

Add to that the fact that this is being driven from a less- than-credible and over-reaching dad in Craig James and it would appear coach Leach’s hands were tied.

In the end, there is plenty of blame to go around and the truth probably falls somewhere in the middle. But I find it very, very difficult to trust and defend the adminstration on how this has been handled.

by imisswesttexas on Dec 31, 2009 11:44 AM CST reply actions

Please read the "out" offered by TTU before you grab that keyboard in defense of TTU.

by Quatroux on Dec 31, 2009 12:43 PM CST reply actions

+1

" Answers -- Become Resources."
Without Questions; There are limited Resources...

by KWashburn on Dec 31, 2009 9:01 PM CST up reply actions

not defnding the admininstration, just saying that Mike’s way of handling people didn’t help him any. Mike’s behavior considering what the administration asked him to do was predictable. That’s the problem…..they knew and expected the exact response they got. he gift wrapped it for them. They were looking for an excuse, he predictably gave it to them. FOr a smart guy, his emotions clouded his judgment, and his actions in response to their request sealed his fate. They wanted him out, they baited, he responded exactly how he always had, they had cause, and boom,fired. Again, I want him as the coach RIGHT NOW,but I want a lot of things that are pipe dreams. Just saying Mike could have handled this differently and still have been our coach. He didn’t. Disappointed in all parties. So, on to the next chapter, and make no mistake, they have been talking to folks the minute after he was suspended, as they knew that minute they were firing him. CRAZY.

by jdubmed on Dec 31, 2009 1:26 PM CST reply actions

“Just saying Mike could have handled this differently and still have been our coach.”

They wanted him out. He could have signed any document they put before him, in blood, with Alberto Gonzales as witness, and the results would have been the same.

by ForestFlyer on Dec 31, 2009 1:52 PM CST up reply actions

The only document they gave him to sign was effectively a resignation ‘with cause’. They made sure there was no ‘other way he could have handled it’. No doubt he made a lot of mistakes that led up to the finale, but the blame is squarely on the admins for the final act.

by TechFirst on Dec 31, 2009 2:08 PM CST up reply actions

Has a nonprofit setup a support program for us yet?

by Quatroux on Dec 31, 2009 4:25 PM CST reply actions

If Leach had simply signed that shit ticket, he was no longer Leach. He was a pawn in the system.

He went out like a Pirate and I commend him for that. In retrospect, had Leach signed that paper and continued to coach with some geriatric viagra popping tool pulling the strings, I wouldn’t have gone for it.

I’m honestly glad he left like he did.

" Answers -- Become Resources."
Without Questions; There are limited Resources...

by KWashburn on Dec 31, 2009 9:12 PM CST reply actions

LEACH'S ACTIONS

were reasonable given the circumstances. Whether or not the Admin gave him an opportunity to bow down is irrelevant. The adminstration’s actions were not justified.

by techlaw07 on Dec 31, 2009 11:01 PM CST reply actions

Pirate? maybe Swashbuckler, Indeed

It take a brave, principled man to stand up for what he knows is right.
Coach Leach did nothing wrong, said so, and will take appropriate actions with regard to the shit sandwhich served him by Hance, et.al. As a good host, he will cut it up into smaller pieces and serve it back to those jerk wads.
It seems very odd indeed that there has been no publicized account from Sweet Baby James or his pussy daddy IN WRITING. All we here is the “danger” that his little boy was placed in…..WTF? Couple that with reports that Sweet Baby James is in SA bar hopping….wonder how good that is on a concussed, yet pea sized brain?
Some will say, you can’t fight city hall, I say bullshit….take it by storm.

by blackbeard on Jan 1, 2010 7:35 AM CST reply actions