Mike Leach and Texas Tech

What is it about Texas Tech coaches being class A narcissists? Bobby Knight’s antics are well documented, now we add to it the Mike Leach legacy. Maybe it’s something about the red sweaters that causes them to lose their minds.

The recent drama, framed by the hype of the Alamo Bowl, involves a wide receiver, Adam James, on the Texas Tech football team who happens to be the son of a former NFL player and ESPN College Football commentator, Craig James. Adam incurred a concussion in Wednesday’s practice and was ordered by the team doctor to avoid practice, running and contact. He showed up to practice wearing sun glasses. This apparently irritated the coach, who demanded to know why a player on his team (who just got a concussion) would be wearing sunglasses in practice. When told, apparently for the first time, that concussion victims are sensitive to light, Leach ordered James to be put in a dark place. Here’s where the story varies. James claims he was ordered to stand in an electrical closet for 2 hours and had a guard posted outside. He was told that if he left he would be kicked off the team. James produced a cell phone video of the electrical closet where he claims he was held. James further claimed that he was similarly confined for a second day during practice. He reported his behavior to his parents, who filed a complaint against coach Leach. Texas Tech suspended coach Leach pending an investigation.

I don’t know what Mike Leach studied in school, but it’s a safe bet it wasn’t public relations. In a 37 minute interview with ESPN, Leach defended himself by claiming that that Craig James, Adam’s father, was constantly hovering around the program, lobbying the staff for more playing time for his son and trying to influence the coaching decisions. He also claimed Adam .James was lazy and did not have a good work ethic; essentially a spoiled brat who thought he was entitled. He used the position coaches as character witnesses, claiming they also discredited the player as a lazy prima donna. Leach read a statement from the team doctor that said none of James treatment worsened his condition, as if that somehow cleared the coach of misconduct. Really? That’s a defense for locking a kid in an electrical closet for 2 hours?

As more national scrutiny was applied to the case, all the ‘witnesses’ went into full CYA mode. The doctor issued a new affidavit saying James "may not have been harmed," but he "considered this practice inappropriate, and a deviation from the medical standard of care." Likewise, the trainer changed his story to say he was ordered by the coach, in an expletive-laced tirade to put James in the darkest tightest space he could find and not let him out.

Our bipolar society would treat this as a ‘good-guy, bad-guy’ situation in which we have to choose sides. But alas, life is not as simple as we wish. I believe the kid was probably lazy and had a sense of entitlement. I believe his dad tried to use his position to interfere with the coaching staff and get his son more playing time. Above all, I believe that if this kid’s dad wasn’t in a position to shine a national media spotlight on this incident that nobody would have done anything, and that this kind of thing happens regularly in college athletics without consequence. But I also believe that locking the kid in an electrical closet is a stupid, immature, irresponsible way to deal with the situation. What is the arrogance that infests some coaches to think they are exempt from the laws of civilized behavior? Ban the kid from practice. Make him pick up the dirty socks and jocks from the locker room. Make him wear a safety helmet so he looks like a dork. But don’t lock him in an electrical closet, and don’t pretend your ridiculous actions were justified by the kid’s spoiled behavior.

Texas Tech made a good decision to fire Leach, not just to save their reputation but to save $800K that can be better spent on the next coaching staff. This is what happens to spoiled-brat coaches who think their entitled.