Will Adam James' Video Mute Mike Leach's Cries of Defamation?

Mike Leach issued a statement Wednesday evening after being relieved of his duties as the head football coach at Texas Tech, lambasting the university and accusing the administration of adhering to lies regarding his alleged mishandling of a player.

“Over the past several months, there have been individuals in the Texas Tech administration, Board of Regents and booster groups who have dealt in lies and continue to do so,” said Leach. “These lies have led to my firing [Wednesday] morning.”

How the story between Mike Leach and his player, Adam James, unfolded depends upon whom you believe. Leach and his attorney, Ted Liggett, maintain the position Leach never had James placed into a “shed” and kept there for a few hours with nowhere to sit all because Leach believed James was fibbing about a concussion suffered in practice.

Liggett said Leach had James placed in an “equipment room as it was much cooler and darker,” and stated James had access to ice. Leach drew up his own theories in his statement and believes part of the reason for his firing lies in the fact the university hasn’t recovered from hostile contract negotiations last February.

“I will not tolerate such retaliatory action, and we will pursue all available legal remedies,” said Leach. “These actions taken by Texas Tech have severely damaged my reputation and public image, [and have also] caused harm to the entire Red Raider nation and the sport of college football.”

Lets slow this thing down a little as all the biased legal banter can muddle the picture.

I’m not ready to declare Mike Leach completely guilty or completely innocent, at least not until the legal proceedings conclude and we see what comes out of this in court.

It’s likely that Leach doesn’t fall on either extreme. Leach probably did some things that merit the termination of his contract, and some parts of the story probably are fabricated.

But it seems odd to me when a coach so wholeheartedly embraces the role of victim while the university that employed the coach came out of its investigation swiftly, promptly and without confusion. 

“I’m very sad to say there’s only one person to blame for this and it’s Mike Leach,” said Texas Tech chancellor Kent Hance.

Jerry Turner, vice president the university system’s board of regents, claimed “other things” popped up during the investigation regarding Leach’s conduct.

Of course, neither Hance nor Turner went into any detail on the reasons the university came to this conclusion, but I’m sure those words are being better saved for the impending court case.

See, coaches are already at a disadvantage when stories such as these pop up.

You know why?

Because most of the time they are true.

College kids don’t dream up conspiracy theories to take down a respectable coach, but we very well know college coaches can get drunk on their “power” and lose control.

Coaches think they are instilling toughness, discipline and character into their players when most of the time they are simply serving as a great model of what not to be when some of these kids become future coaches.

Leach can cry defamation of his image, but it doesn’t look good when the only prominent voices taking his side are his own and his attorney’s.

Chris Perry, a defensive lineman for Tech, said he has “no complaints about this decision,” and “we had less stress this week because he’s gone.”

Wide receiver Tramain Swindall supported Leach’s firing and said this wasn’t the only time Leach treated players poorly.

“I’m supporting Adam and what he’s doing because it’s the right thing to do,” said Swindall. “It wasn’t just about Adam; it was always a negative vibe.”

Sure, there have been some nicer things said about Leach in recent days. New England Patriots receiver Wes Welker played for Leach and said the coaching staff “was always great to me and my teammates.”

It would be interesting to hear the opinion of a guy who isn’t playing in Pro Bowls because, you know, star college players will almost always have the best of memories.

But the most damning piece of evidence to Leach’s case is the video James recorded on his cell phone while in the “shed.” James released the video through ESPN to show that the room he allegedly was placed in wasn’t some lavish training room with stationary bikes and other comforts Liggett claimed were provided.

There’s a saying that goes something like, “If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, well, then it’s a duck.”

Insert analogy here. Despite some fuzziness from the camera, that sure looks like an electrical room to me. By “ice,” did Liggett mean a few thousands watts of cool shock were offered to James to help his concussion?

Ah, the brutal honesty of new-age technology.

By all accounts, Texas Tech football fans loved Leach. Today, Tech fans think their program will spiral into oblivion because the mad scientist has been unrightfully kicked out the door.

Except that isn’t the case.

The Texas Tech football program isn’t a damaged good. It simply needs a new coach to pick up and carry it forward. Leach had some success with his spread offense, but Mike Leach didn’t win football games in Lubbock, Texas. Athletes like Michael Crabtree did.

What happened when Crabtree and Graham Harrell, the blood and guts of the offense that went 11-1 in 2008, left?

The sound you hear is Leach’s offense hitting the pavement. That should tell you something. Success is largely about the players and only partly due to the coach.

You think Leach is the only guy that can implement the spread offense, or any other successful scheme, at that university? Please. The Texas Tech program is greater than Mike Leach. It will carry on.

What can’t carry on is the excuse that Leach is simply an “old school” coach. No. Don’t confuse “old school coach” with “old school idiot,” neither of which currently applies to Leach. Not yet, anyway.

Old school coaches—think John Wooden—get the most out of their players by showing respect and dignity while upholding values and standards.

You show your athletes how to be respectful and accountable adults. For some reason, this is a trait the coaching profession all too often forgets.

How would a Mike Leach or a Mark Mangino like to have all of Wooden’s NCAA National Championships? Yeah, thought so.

The Wizard didn’t accomplish those feats by degrading his players to soulless carcasses in uniform.

Wooden prevailed by respecting his players as people, and therefore the young men at UCLA gave him every ounce of passion, energy and commitment they could muster.

Sometimes motivating people and driving them to succeed really is that simple.

Maybe someday Mike Leach, and the rest of the coaching world, will figure that out.

You can reach Teddy Mitrosilis at [e-mail].