Mike Leach Suspended for bowl game

#77
#77
Panthro said:
The kid had a trainer come to check on him every 15 minutes, and he was sent to the low-light training room (not a shed) for his own benefit, as to keep him out of the bright sunlight.
If that's a crime, I'm incredibly naive.
Will West was on the radio today calling for Leach to serve jail time. Really??? Am I that off base here for not getting this?
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You're incredibly naive if you believe what Leach's attorney is saying about this, yes. You don't treat people with concussions by locking them in a dark room "for their own benefit." It seems pretty clear Leach either thought the kid was faking it, or that it wasn't serious enough to keep him out of practice, or something along those lines.

It's certainly not a borderline crime like Mangino making a kid crawl on his elbows across a boiling hot artificial turf field, but it's an incredibly stupid thing to do with all the current attention being paid to head injuries.
 
#78
#78
Vercingetorix said:
You're incredibly naive if you believe what Leach's attorney is saying about this, yes. You don't treat people with concussions by locking them in a dark room "for their own benefit." It seems pretty clear Leach either thought the kid was faking it, or that it wasn't serious enough to keep him out of practice, or something along those lines.

It's certainly not a borderline crime like Mangino making a kid crawl on his elbows across a boiling hot artificial turf field, but it's an incredibly stupid thing to do with all the current attention being paid to head injuries.
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I think the attorney said that the trainer checked him for a concussion and the kid had been cleared to play.
If this is true, and even if Leach was sending him to the training room to get him out of the way (as a way of punishing him for not shaking it off), so what? How is that anyone else's business. If the kid was cleared to play, and Leach felt like he was whining too much, why would it matter if he dramatically sent him to a low-lit room? Even if the purpose for Leach doing this was to mock the child, who cares? This would be more of a story if he had MADE him play despite the kid saying he didn't want to because of a headache. This kid was kept out of danger in this situation. All that was injured was his pride, from what it seems.
 
#79
#79
Panthro said:
I think the attorney said that the trainer checked him for a concussion and the kid had been cleared to play.
If this is true, and even if Leach was sending him to the training room to get him out of the way (as a way of punishing him for not shaking it off), so what? How is that anyone else's business. If the kid was cleared to play, and Leach felt like he was whining too much, why would it matter if he dramatically sent him to a low-lit room? Even if the purpose for Leach doing this was to mock the child, who cares? This would be more of a story if he had MADE him play despite the kid saying he didn't want to because of a headache. This kid was kept out of danger in this situation. All that was injured was his pride, from what it seems.
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And yet the other side says doctors told him to use the glasses to reduce the sun sensitivity effects the mild concussion was giving him. If his story is true then a doctor apparently felt his symptoms resembled a mild concussion and advised him to wear the glasses.

And if the story from the player side is true then it could appear to many that his punishment was a form of coercion to get the kid to shake off whatever injury he had and rejoin the team activities. Given the current emphasis on this particular injury (concussion) by the media, NCAA and NFL I would say that it is a much bigger deal than you seem to believe it is. (All of this is totally dependent on this kids story being true)

I also find it rather ironic that you seem to take every bit of the Leach camps story at face value but seem to discount the kids story outright.

Wait and see how the story shakes out. Usually when there is this much smoke (like the Mangino situation) there is a little fire, usually there is either a history of stuff like this (as in the Mangino situation) or there is corroboration from others about the story.
 
#80
#80
KB5252 said:
And yet the other side says doctors told him to use the glasses to reduce the sun sensitivity effects the mild concussion was giving him. If his story is true then a doctor apparently felt his symptoms resembled a mild concussion and advised him to wear the glasses.

And if the story from the player side is true then it could appear to many that his punishment was a form of coercion to get the kid to shake off whatever injury he had and rejoin the team activities. Given the current emphasis on this particular injury (concussion) by the media, NCAA and NFL I would say that it is a much bigger deal than you seem to believe it is. (All of this is totally dependent on this kids story being true)

I also find it rather ironic that you seem to take every bit of the Leach camps story at face value but seem to discount the kids story outright.
Wait and see how the story shakes out. Usually when there is this much smoke (like the Mangino situation) there is a little fire, usually there is either a history of stuff like this (as in the Mangino situation) or there is corroboration from others about the story.
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That's not really what I'm saying. I'm just saying that even if the kid's story is completely true, I don't get what is so wrong about this. He says that he had a concussion and was sent to a training room for a few hours. Even if that was a form of punishment, how is it a big deal? It sounds like nothing more than something that needs to be discussed between the boy and his coach.
 
#81
#81
Panthro said:
That's not really what I'm saying. I'm just saying that even if the kid's story is completely true, I don't get what is so wrong about this. He says that he had a concussion and was sent to a training room for a few hours. Even if that was a form of punishment, how is it a big deal? It sounds like nothing more than something that needs to be discussed between the boy and his coach.
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If the story is correct and the player was punished because his coach thought he was faking an injury then it is a problem, these are student athletes not pros. The story I have heard says he wasn't sent to a training room, if in fact he was sent to a training room and there are no other circumstances that we are unaware of then I would side with Leach most likely. I'll just have to wait and see what comes out of the story.
 
#82
#82
Panthro said:
I think the attorney said that the trainer checked him for a concussion and the kid had been cleared to play.
If this is true, and even if Leach was sending him to the training room to get him out of the way (as a way of punishing him for not shaking it off), so what? How is that anyone else's business. If the kid was cleared to play, and Leach felt like he was whining too much, why would it matter if he dramatically sent him to a low-lit room? Even if the purpose for Leach doing this was to mock the child, who cares? This would be more of a story if he had MADE him play despite the kid saying he didn't want to because of a headache. This kid was kept out of danger in this situation. All that was injured was his pride, from what it seems.
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If you don't get how stupid and tone-deaf it is for a coach to at best mock and at worst punish a player who's complaining of a head injury this year, then there's really no discussion to be had. Leach might as well have stood up in front of a microphone and started telling jokes making fun of retarded kids.
 
#83
#83
Panthro said:
That's not really what I'm saying. I'm just saying that even if the kid's story is completely true, I don't get what is so wrong about this. He says that he had a concussion and was sent to a training room for a few hours. Even if that was a form of punishment, how is it a big deal? It sounds like nothing more than something that needs to be discussed between the boy and his coach.
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Sent to a training room?

According to the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, on Dec. 17, Leach "ordered James to stand in a dark shed at the Tech football practice facility because he thought James was faking a concussion he'd suffered during practice the previous day. Leach had him watched, and when James sat down, Leach had things removed from the shed so he could not sit. Two days later, Leach forced James to stand in a dark room for three hours."
...
However, according to the paper, Leach "did not dispute the facts, but did not believe he had done anything wrong."
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That's not being sent to a training room for a few hours.
 
#84
#84
Vercingetorix said:
Sent to a training room?



That's not being sent to a training room for a few hours.
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The attorney said it was a training room where the linemen do some of their stuff. Also, the sleds are kept there apparently. This is obviously a fact that will be easily proven or disproven.
I had coaches do stuff to me in HIGH SCHOOL that was a lot worse than this (while I had a chipped bone in my foot). If/when I had an issue with it, I met alone with the coach to figure things out...so we could both move forward productively. I never would have gone to tell on him because he may have unfairly handled the situation.
That's why I am looking at this the way I am. I guess it is true though, we'll all know what really happened very soon. Maybe I should wait until then to have an opinion.
 
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#86
#86
I saw where if Leach is canned, according to his contract he will receive $500,000 for each year left on said contract.
 
#87
#87
I posted this elsewhere but here is my 2 cents:

It sounds like the perfect storm for Texas Tech. They want to get rid of Leach and the $800,000 bonus he is due if he is still the coach on January 1st. Leach does something stupid (but not a fireable offense) to a kid who by all accounts is not the player his daddy thinks he is, plus that daddy has national exposure and has been vocal about not agreeing with how Leach is running the program. TTU asked Leach to apologize, and when he didn't they suspended him. Now they can fire him for insubordination and save the $800,000
 
#88
#88
An image of the reported “small, isolated electrical closet” in the Mike Leach case has been revealed, check it out below:

closet.jpg


LINK


Pirate Under Attack. Avast, Ye Swabs!

If Texas Tech fires Leach, there will be a mushroom cloud over Lubbock for thousands of miles and a likely revolt of Tech fans, alums, and former players.

by S. C. Gwynne

As anyone who knows anything about Texas Tech football can tell you, there is something odd about yesterday’s suspension of football coach Mike Leach because of a complaint that he mistreated a third-string receiver named Adam James, who happens to be the son of football commentator and former SMU star Craig James. For one thing, Leach has never been known to violate any NCAA rules on player treatment, as a wave of former players who went public this week have attested. He can certainly be tough. When I was in Lubbock in March, reporting on a TEXAS MONTHLY cover story (“Mike Leach Is Thinking...”, September 2009), he made receiver Ed Britton sit at a desk outdoors in a blizzard for two hours for missing study hall. Leach has a special, 40-yard long sand pit next to the Tech practice field where delinquent players—especially academically delinquent players—are put through all sorts of boot camp-like exercises meant to get their minds right. The sand pit (aka “Muscle Beach”) is also where injured players are put to work during practice dragging truck tires or pounding stakes and generally working whatever parts of their bodies are not injured.

But a pattern of abuse like what Kansas head football coach Mark Mangino is alleged to be guilty of? There is no evidence at all for it. Not only have many of Leach’s former players already come forward to defend him, but testimonials popping up on the Internet are running roughly 100 to 1 in favor of Leach and against his bosses, Texas Tech’s athletic director Gerald Myers and Tech Chancellor Kent Hance. (This estimate is, of course, highly unscientific.)

As far as anyone can tell, here is what happened. On December 16, Adam James suffered a mild concussion. Since he could therefore not participate in contact drills, the coaches had him walking the track. The next day he showed up wearing sunglasses, explaining that the doctor said this would help him recover. Leach, apparently thinking that James was exaggerating his injury—though this is not entirely clear—sent him to the team's equipment room to stand in the darkness. (In some accounts this has been described as a “shed” or a “closet.” I have been there and seen it, and it is a normal equipment room.) According to the James family’s allegations, Adam was forced to do this for the next two days.

This is where things get a bit fuzzy. Leach later told Tech officials that he thought James was a slacker. I can confirm that Leach and his coaches thought this about James as far back as March. In one of the coaches meetings that I attended, James and one other player were specifically discussed. Without saying why, Leach told his coaches they needed to get tougher on those players since they obviously felt they were not giving 100 percent. There seemed to be general agreement on this. According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Leach also told officials that Craig James had behaved like a Little League dad, constantly calling and complaining. At issue apparently was Adam’s playing time. He was not getting a lot of it, was unhappy about that, and according to several reports is already planning to transfer to SMU.

What happened next was that Craig James took his complaints to Tech officials, saying that his son was being mistreated. Tech then asked Leach to apologize formally to Adam by Monday. Leach outright refused to do that, insisting that he had done nothing wrong, and Tech suspended him, which meant that Leach could not coach in this Saturday’s Alamo Bowl against Michigan State.

The suspension reminded me of the bitter feud that erupted between Leach and athletic director Myers this spring. After a season when Leach’s football team went 11-2, after which he won several major coach-of-the-year awards, the Tech community was stunned to see headlines suggesting not only that Leach would not receive a raise but that he might be fired. Things got so bad that Chancellor Hance had to intervene personally. He and Leach worked out a salary package that made him the third highest paid coach in the Big 12. The feud with Myers was no longer in the headlines, but it simmered on.

It has, in fact, been a strange year for Leach. After last year’s run at a national championship, the team struggled this year to an 8-4 season punctuated by a Leach outburst against his team following a loss to A&M which he blamed on the players’ “fat little girlfriends." After one player tweeted angrily that Leach was late for a meeting, Leach forbid his team from using Twitter.

None of which adds up, however, to player abuse. I do not claim to know exactly what happened, but one scenario that must be considered is that we are witnessing a power play against Leach by the James family, who were unhappy because Adam wasn’t getting enough playing time. The Jameses are being greatly aided by their complaint’s proximity to both the Mark Mangino firing with its attendant allegations of player abuse and to the current NFL controversy over its sensitivity to player concussions. They are further aided by the fact that Leach and Myers hate each other.

Leach’s lawyer Ted Liggett, meanwhile, is vowing to take Tech to court this week to force it to let Leach coach the bowl game. Stay tuned. If Tech fires Leach over this, there will be a mushroom cloud over Lubbock that will be visible for thousands of miles and a likely revolt of Tech fans, alums, and former players.
 
#89
#89
TNsnyper20 said:
College kids should leave mommy at home. Dont like the way your being treated? Be a man, talk to the coach about.
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Yeah, that's a GREAT idea! Talk to the moron that issued this treatment. :no:

If these things are true, Leach should be fired.
 
#90
#90
volmanbill said:
You know we joke about it, but if it were my son we would have serious issues. "Football" tough is one thing, abuse is entirely another. If this is true, he deserves what he gets. This doesn't compare with grabbing a facemask and shaking it.
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If this were my kid, Leach and I would be rolling around on the ground. Somebody would get whipped. It might be me, but somebody would get whipped.
 
#92
#92
I just saw the video. The shed and closet are huge. Not to mention I just read emails on cbssportsline's website from different people around the Tech program and they all say James is an entitled brat.
 
#95
#95
After seeing some of the reports and these videos and pictures posted it seems though the conditions the kid was subjected to were not nearly as bad as they sounded or were said to be. I'm sure that had this been some random player and not the son of a guy with some degree of pull at ESPN it probably wouldn't be a story. Having said I think Leach certainly could have handled this situation much better than he did. You don't put a player who has an injury in a shed, I'm sure they have much more appropriate facilities for this situation and they should have been used.

The fact that proper facilities weren't used would seem to back up my assertion that this particular was being punished, perhaps the kid is an entitled brat, perhaps he had given the staff problems but that is the reason we hire adults as head coaches, you deal with the problems in an appropriate way knowing your practices are under the microscope. Leach made a mistake here, is it a mistake he should be fired for? Perhaps not, his own lawyer did admit that they have brought other players to that shed before though, perhaps this is a common practice for Leach, I simply don't know.

I do think the suspension is justified given the publicity it has received, they cannot afford the appearance of looking the other way, concussion can be a serious injury and players have to be protected.
 
#96
#96
Who cares how big the shed is? Leach confined him to a relatively small, dark area by himself and forced him to stand up for several hours. It's certainly not torture, but it's obviously just weird.

I don't care if the kid is a pantywaist and a slacker; it's beyond stupid this year to punish a kid whom doctors have identified as being legitimately concussed. Especially when you already have a crappy relationship with your bosses to begin with. I certainly don't think this by itself ought to be a firing offense, but if Leach does get the axe, it's going to be tough to feel very sorry for him. He walked up on the gallows and handed the AD the noose himself.
 
#97
#97
I'd be ready to fire Leach simply for being stupid enough to do something like this to an ESPN broadcaster's son.
 
#98
#98
I would've loved to stand in a shed during some of my football days. Leach is a douche but to get fired over this is beyond silly.
 
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