Leach has been fired ....

[BerliNY]

So does this mean Robert Anae could be leaving? He came from TT, he's been a very successful OC, this could be his chance to get a head coaching gig.

Well, if thats true, leach is looking for a job

It seems wierd that they were so quick to hire him after how desperate they were to keep him last year. Without him TT would still be a Baylor. Either he really did something so wrong that there was no way they could keep him or they are just being small-minded and lame.

I would LOVE to have Leach as the OC next year. He is one of the best offensive minds in the game period. I don't think he'd be interested in coming to BYU though ... and for that matter, I don't think he and Bronco would do well together at all. All that said, can you imagine having Leach as OC.

Props to Anae if he goes to TT. He's earned it, and he definitely has a cool enough demeanor to be exactly what TT is looking for. But I must say, if you are looking for a head coaching job right now TT is looking about as appealing as HC for the Raiders right now. No thanks.

[snoscythe]

The fake outrage by ESPN analysts is driving me crazy. I was watching Mike&Mike this morning and whoever the two guest yahoos were on there were so outraged that a coach would put a player (grown man) in a dark room -- "If he did that to my son, his job would be least of his worries..." Are you freaking kidding me!!?? Because he told the kid to relax in a dark room to ease a concussion? This is super fishy and I suspect that ESPN has played a HUGE role in it.

Especially when the kid, cleared to practice by doctors, show up to practice without pads and in sunglasses, and tells the coach the sun is making his head hurt, so he won't be practicing....twice.....and we're outraged that the coach sent him to a dark room away from the sun? Even after the team doctor issues a statement supporting Leach's actions stating they helped the athlete?

I have yet to understand where Leach did ANYTHING wrong.

[Alphaleonis]

Just watched the ESPN discussion of the Leach firing during halftime of the Holiday Bowl. It was totally one sided in favor of the firing. Full of half truths. My new name for ESPN: BCS (Bull Crap Station)

[scott715]

It sounds like James is misusing his position at ESPN for personal gain.

[BerliNY]

Word. Even ESPN is having a tough time spinning this in favor of Tech. After listening to Tech's "Chancellor", who sounds more like the caller at a square dance competition than a university head, make a bunch of vanilla accusations about Leach (things like "he was very stubborn" and "he is very hard to help") I'm starting to wonder how this turned from a Leach/James issue into a Leach/Tech issue.

If I were running the show at a lesser member of a BCS conference (maybe Washington State or Vanderbilt or even Baylor) I would be bending over backward to get Leach on board pronto so he has enough time to get his staff and recruits transferred before signature day. Obviously Baylor would be a pretty loaded move, but I would LOVE to see it happen ... can you imagine the revenge matches?

[kiwibacon]

Word. Even ESPN is having a tough time spinning this in favor of Tech. After listening to Tech's "Chancellor", who sounds more like the caller at a square dance competition than a university head, make a bunch of vanilla accusations about Leach (things like "he was very stubborn" and "he is very hard to help") I'm starting to wonder how this turned from a Leach/James issue into a Leach/Tech issue.

I have heard it rumored that the "stubbornness" of Leach is that the James family was pressuring TTU to have Leach sign a letter of apology or publicly apologize to Adam James. Leach was unwilling to apologize thus he was viewed as not wanting to "resolve" the situation to the liking of TTU via the whining of the James family.

[Schmoe]

Word. Even ESPN is having a tough time spinning this in favor of Tech. After listening to Tech's "Chancellor", who sounds more like the caller at a square dance competition than a university head, make a bunch of vanilla accusations about Leach (things like "he was very stubborn" and "he is very hard to help") I'm starting to wonder how this turned from a Leach/James issue into a Leach/Tech issue.

I have heard it rumored that the "stubbornness" of Leach is that the James family was pressuring TTU to have Leach sign a letter of apology or publicly apologize to Adam James. Leach was unwilling to apologize thus he was viewed as not wanting to "resolve" the situation to the liking of TTU via the whining of the James family.

In the video of the alleged "shed & closet," Leach's lawyer claims that this, too, is a blatant lie and that the University didn't even try to work with Leach at all.

[Wickchad]

Once again a member of the James family is leaving a football program decimated in their wake. It only took SMU 25 years to recover from Craig. I wonder why nobody calls these athletes on what they did to give SMU the death penalty. In the next interview that Craig does in defense of his son, I would love to have the interviewer ask him about being paid to play for SMU. Then compare his actions versus Leach's. Which are worse? Which caused the most harm?

[UVACoug]

When this type of story breaks, however, I think that (CougarBoard's) format is a little better suited.

I agree. CougarBoard is nice for breaking news because it has the heaviest traffic of the boards. When it comes to discussion though, I like a little less yelling, a little more debate, and a lot more restraint.

Seriously. Also, I happen to like being from Utah (Rumorboard: How could ANYONE live in Utah?) and from the West Side of SL Valley (RB: But if you do live in Utah, the West side of SL is the worst!). I also like Arby's (RB: Arby's is crap and only losers eat there) and Applebee's (RB: Applebee's is crap and only losers with slightly more money eat there).

Cougarboard is far too full of d-bags. Cougarblue is on its way, though. I'm glad we have Cougarcorner!

CougarBoard just has a ton of people on it. That is both a blessing and a curse. Lots of discussion, but a lot of it is dominated by d-bags and morons. There are some good posters over there though, and you can get some interesting information. For example, this set of emails between members of the Texas Tech administration gives some interesting insight into the real reason behind Leach's firing:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... wleach.pdf

All the emails were sent during his contract negotiations last year, but they give an idea of how the administration really felt about him and even hint that they had planned to get rid of him all along.

Here's some examples:

"I hope he doesn't sign, that gives us a full year to find another coach after we fire him after next season and pay off the remaining year on his contract." [from Jim Sowell, President of Board of Regents to Chancellor Hance]

"Gerald [the AD] has always had a hard time with Leach . . . Love him or hate him, you guys should not be bowing your necks and running him off because you can't get along with or relate to some city slicker Yankee. . . . lets get off that inner circle ego trip and get this done." [Anonymous to Chancellor Hance]

Also indicates that the $800,000 was supposed to be a signing bonus that Leach wanted up front, but they reserved it until he completed his first year on the contract. Looks like he won't get it now that he doesn't get to complete the first year.

Then Hance had the gall to go on Sports Center tonight to say that he and the AD had been supporting Leach all along and that the only reason he got fired is because he refused to follow their directions (i.e., sign a list of demand and make an apology).

[Mars]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... wleach.pdf

Jim Sowell to Kent Hance, Re: Mike Leach Offer: "Did you see the 2 sentence story in todays paper that Gary Patterson signed an extension with TCU until 2014 today. No fanfare or drama... kind of like his football program... he has had four 11 win seasons in 6 years. He may have done the best job of any coach in the country the last 6 years. He probably makes half of what Leach does. Think what we could do with that 1 million a year in savigs."