Daddy Craig is another guy I don’t listen to, but he’s on ESPN so by definition he’s a blowhard. He should have said nothing about this. If it was a story, and I believe it was not a story, then he should have had one of his cronies report it and he should personally have kept out of it. But no, this was Craig “I’m a DAD” James being a blowhard.

I hereby give James an ultimatum. He either apologizes publicly to Coach Leach and publicly spanks his Pre-Madonna (couldn’t resist it) son, or ESPN should fire him. Since that won’t happen, I put ESPN (which someone on the Texas Tech blog labeled “Extra Sensitive Parent Network”) into the same bag as the ‘wrap and I call for a boycott. That will hurt me a lot more than boycotting the ’wrap, because of all the stuff it broadcasts. But what’s right is right, and what ESPN did and what Tech did are not right.

And when Tech plays whoever they’re playing, I would start young Mr. James and throw to him on every down. I would have him punt and kick off, and return punts and kickoffs. That is, assuming his concussion will allow him to play. And if it won’t, what does the new coach do? Obviously he’ll have to get permission from daddy before he does anything. Is the room too big? too small? too light? too dark? too warm? too cold? Come on, dad, give me exactly what you want me to do. Although I’m the coach, I obviously have no discretion with your little boy. Or do I just do it the way you guys did it at SMU, and give him a couple of cars and tell him to take the rest of the night off?

I had to google Craig James – and I’m still not sure who he is. The only silver lining I see here is if somehow ESPN winds up getting sued.

If Chow does indeed leave, as some are speculating, this would be a homerun hire. And, I believe under his contract, he will still be getting 400k/year for the next few years from TT (If there is not a stipulation about getting hired elsewhere).

In my opinion, his “crime” was one of disciplined tough love and not some heinous NCAA violation or serious criminal violation. In other words, a palatable misjudgment that can be avoided in the future by having Neuheisel and the UCLA administration as his bosses.

On another note, wouldn’t it be the biggest irony ever if SMU (C. James’s alma mater) hired him. That would be gorgeous.

This is going to be long…all the coaches I know feel pretty strongly about this. We have too much parental involvement in little league and HS…now its D-I football. Next you’ll see parents of NFL players complaining to owners.

TTU takes an interesting position on this issue as they are aliening about 95% of their fanbase with this move…to support the university is to support the spoiled kid, and to go against one of the brightest coaches of his time. It’s a shame that they pulled the plug on one of the most unique programs of the modern era, and it sickens me to think that it will end by something as stupid as this (although i guess its better than allegations of players receiving payment or illegal benefits).

What really puts it out of place and separates it from Mark Mangino at Kansas is that other players have not stepped up to speak out against Leach – instead they’ve come to his aid, which shows that this was not a regular occurrence.

Is Leach at fault? Yes, definitely – if he doesn’t try to make his point vs. Adam Jones then he is still TTU’s coach. But as far as acting the way he was initially portrayed by ESPN – I don’t think so. As far as violating university regs, NCAA regs, or any law? I don’t think so. And I have yet to hear any evidence that he intentionally caused harm to Adam Jones.

I think that he was at odds with administration because he was getting too big; they wanted to show that no one is bigger than Texas Tech (although they proved that Craig and Adam James are). He has his deserved reputation as “strange” – he’s different, but that isnt necessarily a bad thing. I think that most of his success is that he is willing to try something different, outside of the box, as he is not stuck into the traditional mindset of a coach as he did not come up through the regular channels. Other than the incident where he made a student-athlete study at midfield since the kid had academic trouble I have not heard anything (and I loved Leach for doing that – kid doesn’t want to go to class, he made him study on a desk on the practice field – don’t see that as harmful to the kid).

Finally, the university fires Leach “with cause” so they don’t have to pay him 1.6 million, even though the “cause” is very iffy at best. What tips me off about that is that they tried to get him to sign an apology letter a few days ago, which he refused – seems to me that they wanted to use that letter as an admission of guilt by Leach, and then use that to fire him “with cause”…by not signing that Leach admitted to nothing (he is a law school graduate and knows what is going on) and he will fight this through litigation. Either way his tenure at TTU is likely over; the most he can hope for is a portion of his 1.6 million severance pay (he will likely not leave empty-handed, or with the full 1.6 million). And instead of using due diligence to investigate the allegations they fire Leach a day before he is due 800,000 dollars.

Again, a sad way for this program to end. I supported TTU because I am a huge Leach fan, as a coach I think he is one of the best in the nation. However the university showed their true colors with this incident, and I wouldn’t be surprised if their regular fanbase takes a huge hit with their handling of this situation. I loosely follow the TTU program, not a fan of the school but I am a fan of Leach, and most TTU students and alumni seem to be disgusted with the administration’s handling of this situation.

I cant believe they allowed a student-athlete and his parent to dictate the future of their football program….this is the 2nd program that Craig James has had a hand in destroying.

When UW fired CRN. It cost them a lot of money.

I feel bad for Leach. No matter how this turns out, no matter how much money TT is forced to give him, he will carry a stigma — like CRN. I hope he gets enough money from his case to wash some of it off.

Just listened to TT spokesperson interviewed on ESPN (which has absolutely no credibility on this issue because of its failure to isolate Craig James from the story).

It was one of the least substantive and most condescending interviews I’ve ever heard. First, he misstated the facts — says ML agrees with TT’s allegations — which he clearly does not. See the difference between an “electrical closet” and the media room in which James was placed.

TT’s main point: ML should have done what they said to end this. Except, what they wanted was for him to sign and admission of wrongdoing/apology. Had he done so, they would have used that to fire him.

Young James is not the reason, he’s the pretext. And, TT is stupid enough to be speaking in nonsensical terms.

This story is not over. I can’t wait for the discovery stage of the litigation.

But, my prediction is that TT will buy out of the case like UW did with CRN.

“1. Shame on ESPN: They should have built a fire wall around Craig James and handled the story without a word from him. Their coverage has been ridiculous. The worst part? The pontificating by May and the cheesy music during the "commentary".

2. The Statement by Hance: was a bit disingenuous. How can he say that Leach agrees with him on the facts? There is at least one clear disagreement — was it a "closet"or a "media room"? He was incredibly condescending; what was it that Leach wouldn’t do that would have "saved his job"? Sign an admission/apology? Uh, had he done so, he would have been fired with the "admission" as the basis.

3. Some of us at Bruins Nation smell a rat. But, we don’t know your program well enough to be sure what it is? Was this an attempt to get rid of him before the 31st to avoid the payment? Other than last year’s contract negotiations, are there other things in the background?

4. If Leach were to get a jury of Lubbock residents, will they identify with the school in a "my school can do no wrong way" or might he find some "we love Leach folks"? On balance, where do you think public opinion will cut?

5. Mike Leach is a unique coach. I really wanted him at UCLA. He was my first choice. (I think we got the right guy for the job. Neuhiesel really gets UCLA — he’s one of us and bleeds Blue and Gold.)

At the end of all of this, there will be a major similarity between Leach and Neuhiesel. Both will have been fired on a pretext. Neuheisel went after Washington, brought them to their knees, and made them pay (big bucks). If Leach is telling the truth, he will to the same thing.

But, unfortunately, Leach will share the downside with Neuhiesel — no matter what a court says, no matter what the settlement — he will carry the stigma of this firing. And, since he was not afforded any due process before being fired, that is not fair.

My best to all of you. I wish you the best through the turmoil."

Will post here if I learn anything there.

He will land on his feet just fine, this story is just too absurd to be totally true.

Now…which school should hire him?! I would say Colorado should go after him…any other thoughts?

I suggest that anyone interested in the Leach/James/Tech situation read Mandel’s latest article. His take on the situation shares the critical view that we have taken, while noting another aspect to the Tech/tWWL angle that I am surprised has not come up here until now – ESPN Basketball analyst, former Texas Tech coach, and noted player (and administrator) abuser Bob Knight.

The current Texas Tech AD is the same person that decided to hire Knight in wake of his termination by Indiana for, among other things, a long and documented history of mistreating players. Funny that this guy is suddenly sensitive to a single contested allegation by an ESPN-connected player and his family.