Such at Mess at Texas Tech

Texas Tech has fired head football coach Mike Leach. Former coach Leach will likely be suing Texas Tech. It may not be long before we learn that what instigated the firing was NOT really the doings involving Adam James and his concussion, but something more sinister.

Were officials at Texas Tech looking desperately for a reason to fire the highly successful coach prior to December 31st to keep an $800-thousand bonus from having to be paid?

The Dallas Morning News reportedly obtained some e-mails purporting to be from officials at Texas Tech dated as far back as last February which were complaining that Leach really was not on the same track as other top coaches--like Mack Brown at Texas--and didn't deserve the money. Those e-mails will no doubt be used by Leach's defense to claim the deck was stacked against him and that the discipline handed down for his reported treatment of an injured James was used as an opening salvo with the belief that the ego driven Leach would follow up with something else that could bring him down.

Even the firing with the reason given as being a "defiant act of insubordination" when he sought a court to intervene in his suspension from the Alamo Bowl will no doubt come in question down the line.

There definitely are points Leach's defense can make.

For instance there is no question Leach ran his football program the way he wanted to. He made players go to class and had a commendable percentage of them graduate. If the object of a college experience is to get a degree then Leach was a good coach.

Texas Tech can also make some points too. Unfortunately for them some of those points may not work in a legal case although still valid.

However, like his fellow former Texas Tech coach--Bob Knight in basketball-- Leach was a very difficult man to keep under institutional control. He made more money than anyone in the school while his football team generated more money than anything else in the school. Football was almost a department in itself. That is not unusual with many of the larger universities especially in the southern half of the country, but it hardly makes for a happy athletic department.

Its a cliche now, but the old line, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," fits here perfectly. Mike Leach made himself very big at Tech. He took the largess of the school and alumni with open arms while still trying to get the attention of the other guys in the room. No question Leach had courted and in some cases been courted for other jobs. Now he will be free to pursue them in earnest--if his defiant attitude toward Texas Tech doesn't put him on some secret persona non grata list.

From a pure won-lost and student graduation standpoint Leach should be the sort of coach anyone would want. As a coach his teams were 84-43 in ten years with bowl appearances every season.

Having had to deal with Bob Knight and Mike Leach at the same time likely aged both athletic directors who were on the scene during that Tech era by ten years. They loved that their teams gave the school national recognition and success. The price they had to pay behind the scenes was severe. In many ways both Knight and Leach are exactly what college sports needs guiding programs. They made their players be students. They were excellent at teaching their respective sports. Knight had a temper he often failed to control. Leach came across as believing he was just smarter than everyone else. Both had a failing adopting to the current era in player-coach discipline and relations. That ultimately is what broke them down. Knight was able to play it out, though. He finally got tired and gave it up. Leach had things taken away from him.

Another comparison? Well, Knight made his name at Indiana before being fired. He moved on to to Tech in getting another chance. Leach made his name at Texas Tech. At some point if he wishes he will move on and have a chance for resurrection, too.

First, however, Mike will have to use that legal degree he owns in helping his attorneys build a case for himself against Texas Tech. Will it be a long and dirty fight or will some accommodations be reached? Time will tell on that. In the meantime Texas Tech needs a new coach. An era is over.