Sportshistory

Sports History, News, and Opinion

Failure to Apologize to Player’s Family Led to Mike Leach Suspension

Written By: Sportshistory - Dec• 30•09

An ESPN blog post (and that company would obviously have an inside lead on the details of this story), reports that Coach Mike Leach’s failure to apologize to the family of player Adam James led to his suspension, with pay, from his coaching duties at Texas Tech.

According to Tim Griffin’s post:

“Mike Leach’s reluctance to apologize to Adam James and his family led to his school-mandated suspension for the Valero Alamo Bowl.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported Tuesday that the Tech coach did not dispute the facts after ESPN analyst Craig James had complained to school officials about Leach’s treatment of his son, Adam, after he suffered a mild concussion last month.

The Avalanche-Journal reported that the school completed an initial investigation before suspending Leach. Leach did not dispute the facts, but also did not believe he had done anything wrong. The Tech coach also told officials that Adam James was “a slacker” and that Craig James was too involved in his son’s football career.

Leach had until Monday to write a letter of apology to James and his family. When he didn’t, Tech officials took action.

It led to Leach’s suspension, with pay, from his job as head coach.

Leach’s attorney, Ted Liggett, told the Avalanche-Journal that he hasn’t given up hope that Leach will coach the Red Raiders in Saturday night’s Valero Alamo Bowl against Michigan State in San Antonio. Liggett said he could consider legal action to get him back on the sideline.”

This sorry story is not over by a long shot.  The attorney for Coach Mike Leach says they will resolve this in court.

I pity the poor players who have to deal with this drama so near to what for the seniors will be their last game as Red Raiders.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply