Texas Tech has suspended head coach Mike Leach following a complaint from a player and his parents regarding his treatment of the athlete following an injury. Below is a press release from the University. We're discussing this live now on Double T 104-3. Click here to listen live. Call-in phone number is 806.770.5104, txt messages at 75044. Press release STATEMENT FROM TEXAS TECH ON SUSPENSION OF FOOTBALL COACH MIKE LEACH Texas Tech University recently received a complaint from a player and his parents regarding Red Raider Head Football Coach Mike Leach’s treatment of the athlete after an injury. At Texas Tech all such complaints are considered as serious matters, and as a result, an investigation of the incident is underway. Until the investigation is complete, Texas Tech University is suspending coach Leach from all duties as Head Football Coach effective immediately. The investigation into this matter will continue in a thorough and fair manner. Coach Ruffin McNeill will assume duties as Interim Head Coach and will coach the team during the Alamo Bowl. The decision to take these actions was made in consultation with the Texas Tech University president, and the Texas Tech University System chancellor, and Board of Regents chairman and vice chairman. Because this is a personnel matter no further comment will be forthcoming. LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Just five days before the Red Raiders play in the Alamo Bowl, Texas Tech has suspended Coach Mike Leach indefinitely. Texas Tech University recently received a complaint from a player and his parents regarding Red Raider Head Football Coach Mike Leach's treatment of the athlete after an injury. Sources have confirmed to NewsChannel 11 that the complaint allegedly involves Red Raider wide receiver Adam James. Adam James' father is ESPN football analyst and former SMU Running back Craig James. According to collegeinjuryreport.com, James was listed as injured and did not practice on September 30th due to an unknown injury. There is no telling how long this investigation into the matter will take or what lies ahead for Coach Mike Leach. As of Monday, the Red Raider football team has arrived in San Antonio and NewsChannel 11 will continue to gather information and bring it to you as it becomes available. Also, NewsChannel 11 Sports Director Pete Christy is flying into San Antonio and has been on the phone, and will have a report for you tonight at 6. According to the statement released, an investigation of the incident is underway. Until the investigation is complete, Texas Tech University is suspending coach Leach from all duties as Head Football Coach effective immediately. Coach Ruffin McNeill will assume duties as Interim Head Coach and will coach the team during the Alamo Bowl. The decision to take these actions was made in consultation with the Texas Tech University president, and the Texas Tech University System chancellor, and Board of Regents chairman and vice chairman. Reply | Quote
wow! makes me think something is there if there is a suspension. i mean, im sure parents complain all the time, every where. so to actually do something..... curious to see what comes of this.
I think it all boils down to who the kids father is. If he wasn't an ESPN analyst it wouldn't be as serious of an issue.
according to ESPN’s Joe Schad, Leach allegedly “isolated a player in a dark closet for not practicing with a concussion.” Twitter / Joe Schad: Mike Leach is alleged to h ...
If this is the case, he deserves to be suspended. I am sorta shocked by this, I just didn't think Leach was this type of a coach. Even if it isn't to this extreme, doing something bad enough to get suspended right before a bowl is pretty intense. I guess if he was any other teams short wish list of replacement coaches, their list just got a little bit shorter for the time being.
From ESPN: A source close to the family told ESPN's Joe Schad that James sustained a concussion on Dec. 16, was examined on Dec. 17 and told not to practice due to a concussion and an elevated heart rate. The source said Leach called a trainer and directed him to move James "to the darkest place, to clean out the equipment and to make sure that he could not sit or lean. He was confined for three hours." According to the source, Leach told the trainer, two days later, to "put [James] in the darkest, tightest spot. It was in an electrical closet, again, with a guard posted outside." An attorney for Leach said that while James was secluded twice, the circumstances were not as portrayed in that account. Ted Liggett, Leach's attorney, said James "was placed in an equipment room as it was much cooler and darker" than the practice field "after a doctor had examined him and returned him to the field." Liggett said that on that day, a trainer was posted outside the room and that James was provided ice. Liggett said that James was secluded for one to two hours. Liggett said that on another occassion, James was placed in a "press room with air conditioning and a stationary bike he coud use." Liggett also said Leach placed James in those environments was because "Mike tries to keep the players that are unable to practice as close as he can." ... There's been internal strife this season with the Red Raiders and Leach has resorted to some tongue-lashing. He chastised players after a loss to Texas A&M in October for listening to "their fat little girlfriends," and thinking the Aggies were a pushover. ... Leach banned his players from having Twitter pages after linebacker Marlon Williams asked on his account why he was still in a meeting room when "the head coach can't even be on time." Texas Tech Red Raiders suspend coach Mike Leach for Valero Alamo Bowl - ESPN
You mean the same Craig James that helped SMU get the Death Penalty is complaining about how his kid is being treated? He's got a lot of nerve....
