Mike Leach FIRED according to ESPN

CrimsonSEC

Hall of Fame
Jan 8, 2007
7,822
78
67
Brewton
My first comments on my thoughts on this...
I don't have a side here, I'm just sort of chuckling over the circus that it is.

Here's a few mindless pondering bullet points.

*Leach is a loose cannon, prone to .... people off per any whim of his.

*The James kid is (from most accounts) a lazy, self entitled whiner who probably should have been removed from the team already.

* It's apparent that Leach has been butting heads with this chancellor for a while now, and his "boss" picked this opportunity to dump a headache.

* The chancellor in question went on ESPN tonight and listed among other reasons for the dismissal "insubordination". Sir, yes sir. I was in the military so I know about insubordination, but then again I'm not the winning-est coach in my schools history. He sounds just like the type of person that would bring out one of Leach's whims I mentioned in my first point.

*The latest appeal by Craig James on ESPN tonight after the firing, came off as a whiny "Love us, hate him" plea that was just sickening. Maybe the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree after all.

*End result, after a few lawyers get richer, is that Leach will land on his feet and TT will suck for years to come, but the chancellor's headaches might go away.
 
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crimson mo

1st Team
Nov 26, 2001
588
2
137
58
columbus,MS
but I don't think I get your point either. I thought you have been arguing that Leach put the player in a bad situation regarding his health. .
I think you do get my point.
I never said that it was bad for the kids health to be put in the shed, I was saying it LOOKS BAD.
In my first post I stated that I felt like Coach Leach brought this on his self.
Since the kid was (according to news reports) suffering from a concussion, putting him in the shed just looked bad.
Along with the Fat Girlfriends remark, he was starting to come off as an a-hole.
As long as the PTB were happy then hey "he was just getting the boy out of the sun because of his condition" but as soon as he was not the Golden boy anymore then "it is a shame to put a poor boy suffering from a concussion in a dark shed for punishment."
I have no clue what was going through Coach leach's mind but regardless it didnt look good and when (according to the University Pres.) he was asked to appologize he refused.
I still don't think he should have been fired... but I didnt think Imus Should have been fired either, so what do I know.
 

lostinNala

3rd Team
Nov 6, 2007
211
0
0
Guntersville, Alabama
Is due process required in this instance? If they had a contract and TT felt as though he had breached that contract and they had a reason to fire him with cause, then allowing him any opportunity to keep his job is simply a courtesy on their part. Now, if he is not paid there will certainly be a lawsuit to follow, but that will never happen as this will be settled.

And let me just say that I am fully behind Leach on this one. But I think he gave them the rope to hang him, particularly in the pansy society in which we live.
Unless I am completely missing something, yes, a due process "hearing" is absolutely required before a State employee is fired. The fact that he was a contracted State employee rather than an employee at-will (not under expressed employment contract) makes it an even stronger case.

Due process in an employment setting is foreign to most of us, because private individuals or companies are not required to give due process; but all State actors (including the U.S. govt. and the separate State govts.) are required to provide both substantive and procedural due process before depriving any person of life, liberty or property. Procedural due process means that before the State can so deprive a person, they are required to provide a hearing where the person can voice any opposition, before a neutral judge/arbitrator, with adequate notice so he/she can obtain legal counsel and prepare. This is a minimum. Some circumstances require more.

Leach had a property right/interest in his employment. Firing him, deprived him of his contractual right to receive money (property). Leach's employer is the State of Texas. Thus, this is a very clear cut case. He was entitled to due process. He did not get it. Usual damages in this instance are back-pay, plus re-instatement, or back pay plus front pay, for the entirety of the contract, where re-instatement would be impractical.

I realize this doesn't seem to impact who was right or wrong on the underlying issue, but the fact that TT neglected to provide such a hearing screams that this was a rush to judgment motivated by some animosity. A university the size of TT has general counsel, HR departments, and massive beauracracy (sp?). Everyone who works at a state university, from the chancellor on down to the custodian knows that you have to give a hearing to ANYONE before firing them for cause. I think they can contractually waive the right, but doubt it would be waived for misconduct issues.
 

Boclive

All-American
Sep 6, 2002
3,131
0
0
68
They may think the Adam James treatment was just the ticket they needed, but I think a better case can be made for the truth:

TTU destroyed the program in order to save the $800,000.00.

Only question in my mind is how much money are they willing to spend in legal fees to try to avoid the contractual obligation.

Cause Mike Leach is going to get a high paying job somewhere that will enable him to pursue his rightful due from TTU. :cool:
 

Crimson Speed

Hall of Fame
Oct 2, 2005
5,009
474
102
The Shoals, North West Alabama
Wow!!! The TT administration certainly were POed at Leach. If the feelings were that strong against him, I don't understand why they kept him this past season. But, that is a mute point now. Those emails prove:

1) They wanted to get rid of Leach for the past year and were just looking for a reason.
2)Internet emails never, never disappear. Careful what you type, it can come back to haunt you.

TT would have been well advised to simply terminate Leach and never bring the James kid into the issue. Instead, they are going to spend millions to settle this thing and it will be impossible to get all that egg off their face.
 

dtgreg

All-American
Jul 24, 2000
3,705
2,586
282
Tuscaloosa
www.electricmonkeywrench.com
I'd also like to point out that this is how I feel. I don't think Leach was sending him to a dark room to benefit or help him in anyway in regards to the concussion, but it certainly didn't hurt him.

This is how I interpreted the situation:

Leach: "Whats with the sunglasses?"
James: "My Dr. told me I needed to stay out of the sun to help with my concussion, so I thought I'd wear 'em"
Leach: "Oh you need to stay out of the sunlight eh? We can make that happen..."

Sarcastic, odd, weird, bizarre? Sure, probably all of those things.

But it wasn't hurtful or harmful. And he didn't deserve to get fired for it. Again, people are wanting to take away a coaches ability to discipline a player.

I'm sure many of the military guys in here will agree. When someone is being an individual in a team or family like atmosphere, you have to break them down to build them up. That's what it appears Leach was doing. If he didn't want him on the team, he would have kicked him off. There's a reason he was kept on. If nothing else, Leach hadn't given up on James yet, but James is probably too arrogant to see that.
From the quotes I've read from Assistant coaches, Leach was the only one who didn't give up on this kid. I'm guessing he saw a kid from a privileged background who was being MAJORLY messed up by his doting parents. He tried his best to show this guy that he was part of a team, hell, gave him the chance to BE part of the team, even after the guy had screwed-up/screwed-off several times.

Don't know if the assistant coaches were right and this kid will never get it, but if he ever does, he'll be eaten alive by guilt over having a hand in Leach's dismissal.
 

Hamilton

Suspended
Dec 5, 2002
2,080
1
0
Hamilton
bama.ua.edu
I will say this...Leach really ripped Texas Tech and Craig James a new one on ESPN. And the "big microphone" comment was a dig at ESPN, too.

That's why I love this guy. You never know what he's going to say.
 

twofbyc

Hall of Fame
Oct 14, 2009
12,222
3,377
187
I will say this...Leach really ripped Texas Tech and Craig James a new one on ESPN. And the "big microphone" comment was a dig at ESPN, too.

That's why I love this guy. You never know what he's going to say.
But, bizarre or not, he shoots from the hip; I didn't hear his presser, but I bet he didn't sound near as whiney as the "James Gang"...:biggrin:
 
Wow!!! The TT administration certainly were POKed at Leach. If the feelings were that strong against him, I don't understand why they kept him this past season. But, that is a moot point now. Those emails prove:

1) They wanted to get rid of Leach for the past year and were just looking for a reason.
2)Internet emails never, never disappear. Careful what you type, it can come back to haunt you.

TT would have been well advised to simply terminate Leach and never bring the James kid into the issue. Instead, they are going to spend millions to settle this thing and it will be impossible to get all that egg off their face.
Leach should have been gone last year for his insubordination. Leach thought he was larger than the school.
 
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