Step Away from the Keyboard, Relax and Breathe

by FOR Raider on Feb 8, 2009 8:14 PM CST Comment 11 comments

I can't believe the drama associated with a person negotiating terms of his employment contract. All the calls about his loyalty and committing to Tech are pure BS. The only question should be is he doing his job sufficiently enough to warrant the pay. He isn't your wife who you can expect loyalty from. He isn't your parent or child. He is a professional coach for your university. Recently John Montford applied for the UT Chancellor job. I don't recall reading about a public outcry about him not being loyal to AT&T where he currently works.

Colleges fire coaches all the time. Where is their loyalty? I don't recall the coaching profession being outraged when Syracuse fired Greg Robinson, questioning their loyalty to Coach Robinson. The guy lost and got fired. Leach has won more than any other coach at Tech and wants a raise and stuff. Seems reasonable. It is a business on both sides and being negotiated as such. Negotiations, especially when done by professionals, ALWAYS includes demands that the demanding party KNOWS will need to be adjusted down. Apart from Texas Tech being a state owned institution, this isn't really any of our business.

This is a free market, capitalist society. Leach chooses to market himself in hopes of increasing his value. He's not your wife or girlfriend. Take a deep breathe and let it work itself out.

I once heard that the art of successful negotiation was to care, but not that much. Most posters on the fan sites care way too much to see this for what it is.

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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The VAST majority of a football coach’s pay comes from boosters, of which a great many of us are. It is my/our business.

by Tech92 on Feb 8, 2009 8:33 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Hmm

So if Leach doesn’t sign the loyalty clauses are you going to reduce your giving?

by FOR Raider on Feb 8, 2009 8:39 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I’ve never implied that at all. I’m just stating that since I give to both football related and non-football related arms of Texas Tech, it is my business.

by Tech92 on Feb 9, 2009 10:38 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Leach compares his contract to Mack Brown and Stoops'...

but you don’t hear about them flying around the country flirting with every school in the nation. They are committed 100% to their respective schools.

Give us a break, we’re tired of sweating it every Spring praying our coach will be back.

by techdude1923 on Feb 8, 2009 9:23 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Comes with the territory.

Not much of a comparison between our program and Texas or OU. Those are endgame type coaching jobs and the reality is that Texas Tech, as of this moment, is not. Mike Leach is unusually good for our program and the same probably isn’t true of Brown or Stoops at theirs. I don’t LIKE that Leach job-shops every year but I don’t think it is unusual, nor does it make Brown or Stoops look anymore loyal; they’ve got historically better, high paying jobs, why would they spend time shopping around?

I, like you, am tired of sweating it every Spring. But that’s never the end of the discussion. Are you more tired of sweating it every spring than you are of having a coach with a history of winning? Because it’s one thing to wish that Leach wouldn’t do something and quite another to wish he was gone.

Go register. Or else.

by Skin Patrol on Feb 10, 2009 12:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Capitalism...what a concept

Quit with the Brown and Stoops this, that and the other. Don’t kid yourself, our program isn’t on their level and most coaches would leave Tech for UT, OU and other top programs.
Now, if we keep Leach and he continues the upward tick….we can gain this status. Get pissed off and don’t give this a good chance to work with Leach, and you will have a VERY loyal coach with a 6-5 record (nobody esle will want to interview him).
We need to handle the prosperity, and create the best work environment for whomever is our footbal coach.

by oldschoolraider on Feb 8, 2009 9:51 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

“I like Mike and I want him to be our coach, but I don’t want his agents shopping him around every year. I found it outrageous that I saw in the newspaper my football coach was interviewing for other jobs. We expect him to notify us. We want loyalty,” said Hance. I think Hance cares,but not that much

by DR.MARK on Feb 8, 2009 10:17 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Feelings are what they are

And one does not have the right to tell another HOW to feel. No other arena in the “professional” world is such as collegiate sports. People have some of their fondest memories from college and our university’s public window is our football program. This blog is, among many things, a forum for our alumni, students, and fans to voice their concerns, opinions, and thoughts. Assuming the people in this community are rational and respectful to each other, they should feel free to express their feelings about their school without the fear that someone will tell them their concerns are trivial. JMO, none of the above applies to trolls. Anyway, I’m not some touchy feely guy, but damn right we have a right to be pissed and to expect loyalty.

by Plano Jeff on Feb 8, 2009 10:33 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Soooo

after reading this, as a fan of Texas Tech football I wonder what can/should I worry about?

by techtom4 on Feb 8, 2009 10:53 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

What is “BS” is telling passionate fans and boosters the degree to which they should be concerned or the manner in which they should express their opinions about this issue. As for the loyalty question, we do not know whether Leach and his agent are seeking new opportunities or whether universities are approaching him trying to pirate him away from Tech. Pun intended. What we do know is that it is difficult at the end of each season to hear that our head coach is considering other opportunities however they come about. We all realize that this is business and that negotiations can be tough. We care and worry about the outcome of the negotiations and its effect on the program. Recruiting, donor giving, wins and losses and even enrollment could be affected. What better forum to let off steam about this issue than doubletnation.com?

by raiderross on Feb 9, 2009 12:17 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Bad analogy

If you don’t see the arrogance in Leach’s most recent behavior you’re a sad individual. Fact is, it’s unlike corporate america in vast ways. Coaches are hired under timed contracts that typically get better with success. Tech has offered a more than fair contract for non-BCS winnning coach. If you shop for a new job at the end of every season you subject your recruiting and team morale to major declines which result poorly. A head coach has to be the catalyst of a football program. Just look at the history of any winning program. If you feel that it’s fine for a coach to shop around every year you’re just plain ignorant and know absolutely nothing about football or team sports to say the least.

by Raider1992 on Feb 9, 2009 9:59 AM CST reply actions 0 recs