Stix/Potts,TwitterGate,Fat Girlfriends, Leach is Gone...Let's connect the dots!

With the exception of a sloppy pirate poem, I have tried to remain quiet these last weeks. Don't get me wrong, my blood has boiled, and I have taken the same emotional progression as most of you to be sure. That said, I just had a sneaking notion that as more information was released, much of the stuff that really made no sense, would start to come together. True to form, the last week has not only shed light on the Leach debacle, but has also connected the dots for the entire season. The following post represents my attempt to connect the dots, and put bookends on the "Real 2009 Season".

Disclaimer: For the record I support Tech Sports with a fervent zeal, and obsessive passion that would make the Taliban envious. Although I have never been scared to be critical when I felt it was warranted, I support Mike Leach 100%. Furthermore, I am skeptical as to whether any new coaching combination will allow us to put the "lightening back in the bottle".  I also add that I am convinced that this entire situation should have been handled drastically differently, was an embarrassment to our proud school, and that blame falls squarely at the feet of what is at best an inept adminisration, and at worst a corrupt bunch of moneychangers. If at anypoint you feel I have strayed from the Leach party line, or given the admin a pass, please refer back to this disclaimer.

The Touchstone: Back in October I was happy to participate in the many heated debates here at DTN. At midseason we were discussing Potts/Stix, TwitterGate, Fat LittleGirlfriends, and the "bad losses". I can admit I was simply lost as to why we were losing games we should win and star players were being suspended, why Leach was pushing Potts but the team was pushing Stix, and our girlfriends were fat and senior linebackers were flaming their coach on Twitter. The general opinion at the time was that Coach knew what he was doing, these are natural growing pains of a young team, it was unpopular to criticize anything that was going on, and to consider whether coach had lost the team was a laughable joke at best. I'll be the first to say I was confused as hell, but that explaination just didn't sit well with me. Some where along the way I had an epiphany (along with Tortilla Pirate or Centex, can't recall) that something was wrong inside the team. Months later, facts and player admissions from as recently as Saturday night have shown how this was not only true, but actually far more serious than any could have imagined. More importantly, it explains much about what we all agreed was a very strange season, even before we lost the great Pirate.

Carter...TwitterGate....Bad Loss #1 (UH): For non-insiders like myself, this was the first sign of trouble in RaiderNation, and considering it was only week 4, it was pretty early. A senior All-Everything Lineman whose face became a national phenomenon (even it was childish to paint your face), speaks out against the coaching staff and is suspended. A senior linebacker Twitters his frustration with the head coach. Questionable playcalling leads to the first proverbial bad loss to a team who later losses to UTEP and AirForce. Connect the dots: This was not growing pains, this was not a senior trying to motivate his team in the locker room. IMHO, this was evidence that even at this early point in the season tensions between Coach Leach and his players had deteriorated to the point it was now a public matter.

Potts/Stix and bad Loss #2 (A&M): It really makes non difference where you come out on who you would like to see win this battle in the Spring. What has become appearent to me is that this controversy was part of a bigger issue with the team. On one hand you had the coach giving more reps, ultimately the starting job, and later his constant support in the face of bad play, to Potts. On the other hand you had every player interviewed saying publically that Stix had earned the starting job. Connect the Dots: Potts was Leach's QB, Stix was the teams QB. This was evident in their play, and proven in their own public statements. However, this divide only went so far. Once Potts earned the ire and mistreatment of the booing fans, the team began to bring him back into the fold. An example would be Barron Batch's praise for Potts after the Kansas game. You see, the team was willing to speak out against Potts as a referendum on Leach. But the moment we the fans then attacked Potts, a "family" member (a term the team uses often now, but always excluding Leach), then the team was quick to bring Potts back into the fold, but not Leach. After Stix goes up to Lincoln and embarrases NE at home, the team is now validated in their support for Stix, and their discontent with Leach's judgement. Then, in a cruel twist of fate, Stix is out for the next game with A&M. The players get down as they are forced to accept Leach's QB and return to the staus quo. The result, maybe one of the most head scratching games of the Leach era, atleast until you connect the dots.

Adam & Craig James: I can summarize my opinion of the James clan by pointing out that they are not just tools, but rather a entire 2500 piece Craftman Tool Set. Adam represents every spoiled, talent-less coaches son who was undservingly played ahead of you in sports. His dad was every overbearing father who bought his kid evey shoe, bat, pad, or warm-up suit Nike made. Just like the dad who showed up at every practice and game, annoying the coach, cussing the umps, and ultimately succeeded in having his son in the spotlight just to shut him up. If Craig James has proven anything it is that SMU taught him nothing, and he taught his son even less. Connect the dots: all this being true, these two are nothing more than pawns. If Craig's complaint goes to any other Big 12 coach not on the hotseat with administration, it results in a very discreet appology to the family, and a very quiet shame on you to the coach. The bottom line is given what we now know about how this admin and boosters felt about Leach (emails), we can conclude safely that these coniving stooges were simply waiting with a catcher's mit for just this kind of fastball. I can imagine that admin generally receives numerous complaints over the years on nearly every coach in the country. With over 100 kids on each team, every team has one Craig James on the parent list, just like we each had one on every little league team we ever played on. This was enevitable. To that end, my punishment of the James clan ends today. They did not bring down Mike Leach. They just did what they do, and thousands like them do from the stands all across the country. Difference being that not every other team has the line-up from the Salem Witch trials waiting for the beachball pitch, right down the middle.

Our Administration: Speaking of the Salem Witch Trials. In all seriousness. Can we all, if we are honest, agree that Meyers, Hance, Bailey, Regents, and Boosters love Tech University? Of course they do. I will even go out on a limb and concede that they have all, in their own way, done something or many things that improved both sports and academics at our beloved school. All of that said, they work for us. We pay taxes, we paid tuition, we buy tickets, we buy the merchandise, we send our kids to do it all again. Among their many jobs as our employees is to ensure that by their action or inaction, they not allow the university to be embarrased publiclly. They must protect or better yet build the brand of Texas Tech. For that reason, and given what has occured, some if not all of these leaders, our employees, need to be fired immediately. In fact the much needed healing and page turning that must occur cannot and will not happen until this is done. I add that these leaders should not be fired for releasing Mike Leach or working with the James clan. They should be fired because they proved unable to do so without embarrassing the school and the brand. They willfully chose to make this a public matter as part of playing their hand. They gambled, won the pot, but lost the game. They chose to carpet bomb the school, when a precision guided missle would have don the job, and now Tech is burning circa Paris WWII. What happens to a military commander who publiclly kills 40,000+ civilians to knock off one insurgent? The answer, a trip to Levinworth (sp). I say again, that I am sure these leaders are good people, who meant well. But in the end, for all of their accomplishments, they should be fired for the same reason Mike Leach was. They are bad employees......it's time to fix the glitch.

Mike Leach: Mike Leach was the greatest football coach in our team's history. An offensive pioneer. Our coach with the most wins. He brought argueably the best recruits, the most money, and respect to a mid-market school in the middle of nowhere. He took me from Zebbie and belly flasks, to Duane Slay and pride. From something to do on Saturday to I'm a part of something special. Mike Leach made me proud to say I am a Red Raider. By all accounts every year before this year he has been one of the best to coach the game, and worthy of our love and sorrow. But this year was different. Brandon Carter put it well this weekend when he gave us the insight that coach was a good coach, but it went down hill this year. After not getting a contract extension before the 2008 season, Mike began to shop. Whether it was real or for leverage, he did it, and it was noisy. This led the administration and a small but evil set of boosters who already did not approve of pirates and passing, to begin the plot of his demise. Then in another cruel twist, Mike takes the team to it's best season ever, beats Texas & A&M , and at one point was ranked 2nd in the country. The court of public opinion spoke, Mike Leach was a savior, and he used it against the admin to get a fatter deal, when no other option presented itself. But the damage was done. Mike was sour, the admin was threw with Mike, and the contract extension was about as real as ESPN's credibility. In the end, both Mike and the admin did what you do with a worthless piece of paper, you wipe your butt with it. Mike returned to coach the team in 2009 with angst in his heart, and a working relationship with his school that makes Washington D.C. look like a pillow fight. His players felt it, his coaches felt it. It cooked and festered behind the scenes, and then exploded over and over all season long, until it's final erruption. Mike Leach should no longer be our coach. Not because he told the admin to f*&$ off. I would have done same given what they put him through. Mike leach should have been fired because he did the one thing a coach can never do. The one thing that is even worse than loosing. Mike Leach lost the hearts and minds of his team. He let his career aspriations and his relationship with his school seep into the day to day job of coaching. If you don't believe me, just pick up a paper and read his player's comments. I know what your going to say, "it's just the bench players and problem children". Barron Batch may be the most talented, intelligent, hard working player on that squad. His advice to the team and fans? It's time to move forward. With all my heart I love you coach Leach, thank you for all you have done, too much to list here. I'm ready to move on.

The Next Coach: As with this entire post, this is only my opinion. There are many others here like Seth, Kayak etc.  whose football smarts exceed my own by factors of 100. That said the only choice that makes sense is to keep Ruffin on as HC. The first reason is recruiting. This may very well be the best class in program history, they were all recruited by these coaches, and many have said their commitment depends on seeing these coaches continue. The second reason is culture. We are not an I-formation, run first, defend second, pass last team anymore. We are the Air Raid. We redefined college football. We are feared and respected for what we do on the field. I am not ready to say we cannot continue to be that. Ruff is our best chance at seeing that culture through. Lastly, the future is uncertain. In todays game, it is rare a coach stays at a program for 10 years. Just ask Michigan, ND, WV, LSU..etc. Ruff gives us a chance at every thing I listed above, but if he doesn't work out, there is no reason we can't shop for a replacement in a 2 years. Laslty, Ruffin McNeil loves to coach football at Texas Tech Univeristy. If Tech let him, I truly believe he would like to do it till he dies. Given our current situation, I think we need a coach with love in his heart, that can bring us back together as fans and players. He needs to be a face guy. The recruits, players, parents, and admin love him. He is our Mack Brown. He needs to bring in the real statiticians as coordinators. This is the model that has made OK and UT elite, and it may be just what we need to take the next step.

I say again, these are simply my humble opinions. My eyes have been opened in the last few weeks, and I have what I need to move on. Thank you to DTN an all of it's members for an amzing site and culture. Have a great 2010, and Wreck'em Tech!! AAAAARRRRRGGGGGG!!