Craig James Interview

[derek4tide]

I haven't heard much that indicates that facts of what happened are in doubt. What happeded is pretty much agreed upon. The issues seems to be that the James' take is that the kid was segregated/punished for not being able to practice due to mild concussion. That the coach's actions needlessly embarassed the player and perhaps placed him in jeapordy due to his concussed status. The coach is saying the kid was supervised/not endangered and his actions were meant to motivate the player to doing better. The team drs statement appears to back the coach re the player was not in any danger. This sorta leads me to siding w/the coach w/TT taking advantage of the situation to try and get rid of him. Embarassment is used as a motivation tool in a lot of training/team building situations.

If this is true, I can see why Leach did what he did. However, in this day and age of lawsuits over anything, I would have just kicked him off the team.

 

[dvldog]

If this is true, I can see why Leach did what he did. However, in this day and age of lawsuits over anything, I would have just kicked him off the team.

Ya, but then we would be hearing about how the coach kicked a kid off the team for having a concussion. Same deal.

 

[NYBamaFan]

I think that the James family handled this about as poorly as Leach did, but that doesn't excuse Leach's behavior...

 

[GrayTide]

IMO letting Craig James have air time to comment on this was in poor taste, but what the hell would you expect from ESPN. The facts need to revealed before any one is accused, but I guess that ain't going to happen either.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

One thing that struck me as "odd" was last night Rece Davis, Granny Holtz and Mark May commented on this. Strangely none of them openly gave support for the James' case. Matter of fact they leaned more toward Leach's case citing it was very odd that in 10 years NOTHING even remotely like this has happened before and they would like to hear more of the story before they commented further. Interesting...

 

[BLAKE55]

I haven't followed Leach as closely as some but I seem to recall that TTU didn't care for Leach and how eccentric he is but they either didn't really have any reason to fire him...especially after bowl appearances, beating Texas, etc.

It seems like the James situation is a "reason" to fire him and keep from paying him the bonus he is due. They will have to pay a lot more than the $800k bonus if they have smeared him for something he didn't do prior to a thorough and unbiased investigation.

I never heard anything for sure on Levitt and USF but it would initially appear that TTU could learn a lot from USF...that is unless they are trying to lose a coach who has been successful at their school. Then I suppose they are accomplishing their objectives.

 

[BAMAFEVER50]

Maybe adam has a fat girlfriend?

 

[WishIwasInBama]

I know it may be a stretch but I think Craig James and his son are doing all this to get a hardship transfer. There have been rumors out there that he is trying to transfer to SMU and I would bet "pony" isn't above cheating to ensure his son doesn't have to sit out a year.

To me the issue is this, If I have a son who is slacking and causing problems for a team I have no problem with a coach making an example of him but the james family is making this an issue of him being punished for being hurt, I don't buy it. Why would Leach care if a 5th string WR is hurt? I think it is getting to be well documented that Adam James is a spoiled little brat and the way his father is acting totally explains why.

 

[NYBamaFan]

I know it may be a stretch but I think Craig James and his son are doing all this to get a hardship transfer. There have been rumors out there that he is trying to transfer to SMU and I would bet "pony" isn't above cheating to ensure his son doesn't have to sit out a year.

To me the issue is this, If I have a son who is slacking and causing problems for a team I have no problem with a coach making an example of him but the james family is making this an issue of him being punished for being hurt, I don't buy it. Why would Leach care if a 5th string WR is hurt? I think it is getting to be well documented that Adam James is a spoiled little brat and the way his father is acting totally explains why.

You may be correct, but coaches are not going to be very receptive of a player that talks about things like this outside of the program. Adam has wrecked his football career. This is the kind of thing that will not be forgotten...

 

[WMack4Bama]

Now I'm not a lawyer, but I watched a ton of Perry Mason & Matlock growing up (hehe), but Texas Tech is a public institution. Mike Leach is a public employee. He was suspended without due cause. If TT has that much of a problem with Leach (so much so that they were threatening to fire him last year this time if he didn't sign an extension), they should just go ahead and pay him that buyout and chalk it up as the cost of doing business. It is what it is. Sometimes, you have a take a step back to take two forward.

From Craig James's side, that comment that he made ("A lot of people know me as an analyst and football guy, but I'm a dad") was a subtle ploy to win over the public opinion. It actually almost worked on me as I empathize with him as a father wanting to protect your children. But there comes a time when you have to let your kids grow up. I do think Leach should've figured out another way to handle the situation with the heightened awareness of the after-effects of concussions.

That being said, all the stuff I'm hearing about with coaches mistreating players, etc., etc. etc...What in the WORLD are we coming to? Like I say all the time, they just don't make 'em like they used to. Getting cursed at and grabbed and even sometimes getting banged around by coaches was common place for every team I played on from Pop Warner on up. And all but a few on those teams are now productive members of society. We turned out fine. These kids are getting softer as the days get longer. I call it the sissification of America.

 

[NYBamaFan]

Now I'm not a lawyer, but I watched a ton of Perry Mason & Matlock growing up (hehe), but Texas Tech is a public institution. Mike Leach is a public employee. He was suspended without due cause. If TT has that much of a problem with Leach (so much so that they were threatening to fire him last year this time if he didn't sign an extension), they should just go ahead and pay him that buyout and chalk it up as the cost of doing business. It is what it is. Sometimes, you have a take a step back to take two forward...

It happens all the time if a teacher is thought to be a possible risk to their students. In other words, the university meerly needs to claim that they were taking this accusation of intrusion into the medical treatment of a brain injury seriously and suspending Leach with pay until they had all the details.

 

[HELENKELLERMRI]

I think the kid got his feelings hurt and decided to use his dad. Some kids(alot of kids) are really spoilled today and like pay back for someone hurting their feelings. Craig like a lot of dads are going to automatically take their kids side. ESPN should not of aired the interview. This is just a spoiled kid crying in his cereal.

 

[RedStar]

I think the kid got his feelings hurt and decided to use his dad. Some kids(alot of kids) are really spoilled today and like pay back for someone hurting their feelings. Craig like a lot of dads are going to automatically take their kids side. ESPN should not of aired the interview. This is just a spoiled kid crying in his cereal.

And ^this^ coming from someone with MRI in their username.

That's all we need to know about whether or not Leach's treatment was cruel.

 

[Tennessee]

I think James' son is not happy at TT and TT is looking for a reason to fire Leach and I didn't buy James' interview for a second...I like James but I think he's gonna come out on the bad end of this...I think his son probably gave him some exaggerated info, but now James has to see it through...

Maybe I'm wrong and Leach is at fault here but from what Ive seen and heard I don't think so...

 

[termite]

Leach will have his time in front of a judge this morning and we will see what comes of this. In the meantime my opinion hasn't changed. I have read, listened and watched just about everything available and it's a lot of he said, she said and people's opinions. I read Adam's position coach told Leach that Adam wouldn't make the roster on a Div II team and his reputation is he is a slacker both on the field and in the classroom. Mike Leach is the one who didn't give up on him saying he thought he might be able to contribute and did get Adam into the games for 5-10 plays which might be more than if he were in another program. Mike Leach, like any other coach, is going to make the walking wounded attend practice if only to watch, walk the track or ride an exercise bike. From what I gather Adam wanted to hang out on the sidelines wearing his cool shades and cut up with the players. Maybe that is what set Leach off and he had enough of Adam as a distraction and sent him into isolation. Adam was diagnosed with a mild concussion, my expertise is not in medicine so I don't know how mild it is or what is the difference between a mild concussion and a concussion but from reports made by his team mates Adam was fine to go out partying every night. I think it was highly unprofessional of ESPN to allow Craig James a spot to take a shot at TT/Mike Leach but they also let Reece Davis, Mark May and Lou Holtz offer opinions. Based on opinions so far it looks like Leach is favored over the TT Admin and the James family. Personally I hope Mike gets to coach the bowl game.

I'm with you on this, Bayou...

 

[BAMA504]

I think it was extremely unprofessional of espn to put Craig James on air to talk about the situation. Craig is using his position in the media to hurt Leach. The people need the facts, not daddy's emotions. Most fathers would defend their son, so obviously Craig is biased. As it stands right now, everything that his lawyers and assistant coaches have said makes Leach look innocent. Regardless of what happens, Leach wont be at Tech much longer. I mean, why would he want to be after all of this? Tech probably wants him to be guilty of mistreating the player so they can fire him without having to pay anything.

I think Texas Tech and Craig James are going to end up with egg on their faces after its all said and done. Leach is a really weird guy, but he doesnt seem like the guy that would be cruel to his players.

110% agree with this~!~

I could not beleive that espn let him get on and talk about an ongoing investigation to start with... I will say one thing the big12 certainly has some soft players crying about coaches talking to them bad or this kid talking about how he was locked in some place..
I played 4 years in the USMC at 29 Palms Calif, my head coach was a Gysgt so you can imagine the abuse that we took just to be honored to play football... I cannot EVER remember a time when one of my teammates cried about abuse, heck we lived for that crap...
Sad state of affairs in the big12 and honestly their reputation will suffer more once Leach moves on.. I hope he gets a job in the SEC like maybe UK.. Not sure I want to face one of his teams but at least the SEC won't be crying over the coach being to rough or talking bad to a player~!~

 

[rickvox79]

 

[BAMA504]

Maybe adam has a fat girlfriend?

ROFLMAO~!~ Now that's funny~!~ :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin2::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[HELENKELLERMRI]

And ^this^ coming from someone with MRI in their username.

That's all we need to know about whether or not Leach's treatment was cruel.

Hey maybe it happened the way he said. I just think and its only an opinion. He's using his dads influence to get back at Leach. Who knows with this but I bet we find out. Either way Leach is probably gone.

 

[bamagradinATL]

That being said, all the stuff I'm hearing about with coaches mistreating players, etc., etc. etc...What in the WORLD are we coming to? Like I say all the time, they just don't make 'em like they used to. Getting cursed at and grabbed and even sometimes getting banged around by coaches was common place for every team I played on from Pop Warner on up. And all but a few on those teams are now productive members of society. We turned out fine. These kids are getting softer as the days get longer. I call it the sissification of America.

I agree 1000%!