Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Mike Leach fired...?

So the shocking news in Lubbock Texas reached it's ultimate folly today: Texas Tech has fired head coach Mike Leach. They fired him for cause. They fired him because he allegedly locked wide Receiver Adam James (son of Pony Expressman Craig James) in dark electrical closet during practice because he had a concussion. His confinement lasted 3 hours.

If so, Leach was rightly fired. Still, I find these outrageous allegations extremely hard to believe.

Current and former players on the team have criticized Adam James work ethic. They said he had a negative attitude problem, and was never known as a worker. Some even said Coach Leach was trying to hold him accountable for his behavior. Does that mean he did what they say he did? Not really. If things were that bad why lock the kid in a shed like an animal? Why not just cut the kid from the team? The cut tool is the appropriate weapon to use in these cases.

I would love to hear what Craig James has to say about this. In a carefully worded statement from the James family, the James family said this was all about player safety. That's about all.

Purportedly, Atheletic Director Gerlad Myers had a contentious contract re-negotiation with Leach early this year. Myers allegedly hated the fact that Leach wanted to interview with the University of Washington about their vacant coaching position. He did not like being held over a barrel for more money.

I find the timing extremely curious. Leach was known as a rogue-maverick. Myers described him as insubordinate. He had been prepping the team for his firing for 10 months. Now this erupts in time for the university to save $800,000 in payouts to Leach. It should be noted that Adam James did not suffer his concussion until Dec 16th. Huuuuummmmm... That's just one of those things that make you go hummmm...

I personally don't know what to think of this incident. Innocent until proven guilty is the constitutional presumption of innocence. I once worked for an asshole (Sgt. Shaeffer) in the Army who was fully capable of locking a guy in shed (or worse) if you pissed him off. I have no love for that kind. Leach seems to have none of the Shaeffer mentality of personality. I don't see any similarity in the two of them.

There is one objective thing I can say: Texas Tech prospered under Leach. They were in the hunt for the BCS Championship last season. They had a top 10 pick in the form of Michael Crabtree. They had the most exciting offense in college football... which is saying a hell of a lot. I am astounding they would fire him. This is the most shocking firing since UCLA sacked coach Harrick from the Bruins' basketball team.

Coach Spagnuolo is known as a man with very high moral and ethical standards. He has always been known as a fair and even handed guy. I doubt he would want to look at a fellow with this kind of dark cloud over his head. If Leach has done this kind of thing, I doubt the Rams would have any interest at all in him.

However, if it does turn out that Leach was fired in a money-saver, maverick-busting move, I think the Rams aught to give him serious consideration for our offensive coordinator position. God knows the University of Florida will. I love the way this guy organizes his deep-strike, high-pressure, high-speed, pass-happy offense. The spread is not ideal in the NFL, but it is certainly better than the passing attack we have now.