The Mike Leach fiasco has reached the point of ridiculousness. Previously, it was an issue of “he said, she said” but now it’s immersed in absurdity. Now, Texas Tech players and staff are taking sides and video of Adam James has emerged.
Yesterday, SmartFootball shed more light on the quality of lawyer that Mike Leach has hired. Via AvvoBlog, SmartFootball posted an advertisement that Smith & Liggett ran a year or so ago. The ad for Mike Leach’s lawyer included a cartoon gorilla and characterized the lawyers as “AGGRESSIVE Personal Injuries Attorneys.” Here’s the glorious advertisement via AvvoBlog:
Then, more players came forward to support Adam James over Mike Leach. Matt Hinton at Dr. Saturday had a good run-down of the new revelations:
Defensive tackle Chris Perry, to ESPN: “I have no complaints about this decision. [Leach] put Adam [James] in a shed like an animal. Like an animal in a cage. That was bull. You call other players. I think it was a good decision. We have our pep back now. We practice hard this week. We had less stress this week. You know why? Because he’s gone.” (Emphasis added)
Wide receiver Tramain Swindall, to the Associated Press: “I’m supporting Adam and what he’s doing because it’s the right thing to do. And so do most of the players. It wasn’t just about Adam. It was always a negative vibe.”
Cornerback Taylor Charbonnet, to ESPN: “The players make this team, not one coach. As Adam’s friend, I didn’t like it at all what [Leach] did. He was my brother and I didn’t agree with it. I don’t know why [Leach] did that. But I know we our fully behind [interim] coach Ruffin [McNeil]. We love him and support him.”
Charbonnet’s older brother, former Tech safety Daniel Charbonnet, updated his Facebook status to the same effect this afternoon: “For everyone who wants to know what happen [sic], you probably never will. The only thing you should know is Coach Leach and Coach Leach alone is responsible for this. I wish it wasn’t like this.” Combine that with the frustration on the team in September — when veterans Marlon Williams and Brandon Carter used their Twitter accounts to vent over the team’s 2-2 start and call out Leach for showing up late to a team meeting after back-to-back losses to Texas and Houston — and it’s not hard to piece together a much rougher year behind the scenes than we saw on the surface.
On top of their statements, a video purported to be Adam James inside of the alleged “shed” was put up on YouTube. It’s low quality and it was released a full two weeks after the incident. So the veracity of the video is certainly questionable. However, it does seem to be James and he does appear to be inside of the shed. Here’s the video via The Sporting Blog:
And finally, Mike Leach released a statement regarding his firing and the allegations against him. It seems like the damage has already been done even if Leach is cleared of any wrongdoing. And even if he is buried by the truth, he’ll probably still get a hefty settlement for wrongful termination by Texas Tech. Here’s Mike Leach’s statement via SPORTSbyBROOKS:
When I arrived at Texas Tech, the football program was on NCAA probation and the graduation rate was far below the national average. However, in the past 10 years, Tech has been to 10 straight bowl games, has the third best record in the Big 12 Conference, and has the highest graduation rate for football players of any public institution in the country.
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. These lies have led to my firing this morning. I steadfastly refuse to deal in any lies, and am disappointed that I have not been afforded the opportunity for the truth to be known.
Texas Tech’s decision to deal in lies and fabricate a story which led to my firing, includes, but is not limited by, the animosity remaining from last year’s contract negotiations. I will not tolerate such retaliatory action; additionally, we will pursue all available legal remedies.
These actions taken by Texas Tech have severely damaged my reputation and public image. In addition, Texas Tech has caused harm to not only my family, but to the entire Red Raider nation and the sport of college football.
As you know, I prefer to engage in question and answer sessions; however, in this instance my counsel has advised me to simply make a statement. There will be time to answer questions about this issue in the future, but the serious legal nature of this situation prevents me from going into further detail at this time.
