Mike Leach

I begin the long process of using the next three days to catch back up from being down sick.
I hated being away with all of the things around that I wanted to write about, but I had to use my energy to be able to go to work, as much as I would have rather been writing...

I have been unsure of what to think of this Mike Leach firing at Texas Tech.
I have seen and heard so much information that seems to contradict both sides that one could see their head spinning, but I do know this-Texas Tech has proven one thing-they truly are not committed to being a Big 12 power.

Oh, I believe that Tech wants to win and make bowl games as that makes the school money, but the price of dealing with a Mike Leach isn't worth the difference in going to a larger bowl when they can save and go to the smaller bowl games.
After all, the Raider fan is loyal and they will travel to whatever game that Tech plays in, no matter how minor.

I am a CNA but make no claims on how to properly deal with concussions from a medical standpoint, and other than suffering two, I would not say that I know anything more than how it affected me.

I do know that I was tired, wanted a quiet, dark place, and felt generally out of sorts, so there it seems that Leach could have been on the right track.

But he still was either making an amateur diagnosis or punishing Adam James and in either case, seems to have been making a mistake.
Now whether the error was a mistake or a deliberate punishment seems to be the biggest question.

I suppose it depends on whom you believe Mike Leach or Craig James, but I also feel that James used his position at ESPN to tip the scales of public opinion in favor of his son.
Please also excuse me for scoffing as a man that was paid (one of many to be fair) during his college career to the point of his school being the only school ever to receive the "death penalty" being put up as a bastion of credibility.
Put ESPN's behavior in the matter aside for another column because they showed all the journalistic credentials of the National Midnight Star in this entire affair.

The truth likely is in there somewhere in the middle.
Did Mike Leach get tired of a lazy, soft player that had a father bugging him all the time? 

Yep.

Would Mike Leach have minded a bit if Adam James left his program? 

Likely not.

Is it possible that Leach was trying to hassle James more than he would another player to get him to move on?
Possibly.

Did he take things to an extreme beyond what is reasonable to expect?
Maybe, but the facts are ambiguous and we will likely never know the complete and entire truth.

In case, fans of Red Raider football as I have been for over 30 years now are realizing that the days of Texas Tech as a legitimate Big 12 contender are likely finished.
Considering the location of Tech and the issues that the Red Raiders have to face in recruiting the state against both in and out-of-state powerhouses, Texas Tech appears to be on the long-term slide, although it may take a year or two to see those results.

As far as the new coach goes, I usually am against the hiring of an assistant that has never been a head coach for a BCS job like Texas Tech, but after seeing defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill in the Alamo Bowl win over Michigan State, I would have fewer concerns than usual with a McNeill hiring.

Not because of anything that he did in the game, because he took gambles that he would have likely never taken in a game that wasn't an audition, but because he seemed like a genuinely nice and caring human being in his pre and post-game interviews with Heather Cox (Points to ESPN for using our favorite sideline reporter more during bowl week this year).

McNeill looks to me to be the type of coach that cares about his players as people and I came away impressed with him on my first time seeing him speak.

Does that mean that I think he will be successful? The odds are against him, but I would not be against giving him his shot.


For more insight on the whole Raider situation, click here to visit Double T Nation for all the information that you could want on the new coach at TT.

Photo Credits
Leach:Sam Greenwood-Getty Images
McNeill:RedRaiders.com