In a bizarre, still developing story, Texas Tech’s Mike Leach has been suspended from coaching in the Alamo Bowl on January 2 after one of his injured players, receiver Adam James, complained about being mistreated by the head coach.
From ESPN.com:
A source close to the family said James sustained a concussion on Dec. 16, was examined on Dec. 17 and told not to practice because of the concussion and an elevated heart rate. The source said Leach called a trainer and directed him to move James “to the darkest place, to clean out the equipment and to make sure that he could not sit or lean. He was confined for three hours.”
A source told The Associated Press that James said Leach told him if he came out, he would be kicked off the team.
According to the source, Leach told the trainer, two days later, to “put [James] in the darkest, tightest spot. It was in an electrical closet, again, with a guard posted outside.”
An attorney for Leach said that while James was secluded twice, the circumstances were not as portrayed in that account.
Ted Liggett, Leach’s attorney, said James “was placed in an equipment room as it was much cooler and darker” than the practice field “after a doctor had examined him and returned him to the field.”
The player claims that he was locked in a closet, yet Leach’s attorney says he was placed in there because it was “cooler and darker?” Something just doesn’t add up here and the entire situation stinks on Leach’s part.
The twist in the story is that James is the son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James, who also played professionally for the Patriots. Given that Craig James is in the media, this could wind up being Leach’s undoing if the investigation turns up that he did something wrong.
We’ll wait and see before more details emerge, but this doesn’t look good for Leach.
