Excerpt from Mike Leach's book Swing Your Sword

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It is not surprising that Leach's book paints himself in a good light. He's not exactly an unbiased observer.
 

I'm not saying he wouldn't paint himself in a good light but he didn't hold any punches back either. He made it very clear how he feels about the James family.
 

I work for a minor league baseball team and Mike Leach will be at our ballpark Friday night to give away two of his books. He's down here for a camp at Iowa Wesleyan University. That's where his first head coaching job was. Hal Humme (former Kentucky coach) and Pat Poore (Gophers WR coach) will be here as well. I'll try to post pics if I get a chance.
 

SMU GOPHS FAN said:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...11/leach.book.excerpt/index.html?sct=hp_wr_a1

Wow, some scathing comments about Adam and Craig James. I may actually have to purchase this book just to see what Leach all has to say about the whole sordid affair. Put me in the camp that has said from the get go that Leach got royally screwed in this.
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I'd wait on purchasing the book. It will be on the remainder table for about 1/4 the price in a month or two.

Whether or not Leach is right or wrong on the James' affair isn't that relevant to me. I realize I'm older than most of the fans who post here, but Leach has always struck me as a self-righteous gasbag who thinks he invented water when he turned on a faucet.

The fact that Michael Lewis--a brilliant writer and thinker who has somehow become the patron of lost causes when it comes to sports--adopts these rebels and classifies them as visionaries (how's that Moneyball thing working for the Oakland A's these days Mike?) has already become hackneyed.
 


50PoundHead said:
I'd wait on purchasing the book. It will be on the remainder table for about 1/4 the price in a month or two.

Whether or not Leach is right or wrong on the James' affair isn't that relevant to me. I realize I'm older than most of the fans who post here, but Leach has always struck me as a self-righteous gasbag who thinks he invented water when he turned on a faucet.

The fact that Michael Lewis--a brilliant writer and thinker who has somehow become the patron of lost causes when it comes to sports--adopts these rebels and classifies them as visionaries (how's that Moneyball thing working for the Oakland A's these days Mike?) has already become hackneyed.
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+1
 

There's no doubt that Mike Leach is not perfect. However, it is inarguable that he is a great coach and, in my mind, was the victim and not the perpetrator in this particular incident. Adam James was definitely in the wrong, and frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he was "planted" or otherwise used by the Texas Tech administration to get rid of Leach. They wanted to get rid of him for whatever reason (personality, salary, etc.?) and they knew they couldn't do it on the basis of performance, so they either manufactured a scenario to make it happen or, serendipitously, waited for one to appear. They got their opening and fired the "kill shot".
 

Of course Leach's account is going to be slanted. But there is a lot of evidence pointing to James being the bad guy. Check out the e-mails at the end of this Yahoo sports article. They include correspondence between Craig James and his PR firm talking about how they can use ESPN and social media to smear Leach.

13. Email from Rebecca Shaw to Craig James regarding Spaeth press releases in Adam James matter.

From: Rebecca Shaw
To: James, Craig
Sent: Monday, December 28, 2009 11:30 PM
Subject: RE: ESPN 6:29 PM

Craig - Merrie's position - and I agree - is that the story has been put to bed tonight.
Let's take a look at the coverage first thing in the morning and make a decision then if we want to forward the players' names and numbers exclusively to Joe, whether we want to include the AP reporter, or if we want to hold off a day to see if the university makes a statement. I’ll be up early checking the coverage. Merrie's good with the statement that I drafted for you for ESPN. Would you like it circulated to Kevin and Jim or do you want to noodle on it awhile?

Rebecca Shaw
Executive Vice President
Spaeth Communications, Inc.
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14. Emails from Marrie Spaeth, Brooke Robbins, and Rebecca Shaw regarding best practices for popularizing online video.

From: Merrie Spaeth
To: Brooke Robbins, Rebecca Shaw Cc: Maggie Moran, Katie Hiatt, Emily Turner
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 3:12 PM
Subject: Re: You Tube Concussions

Can you send me the link? And how can we link it to the awful comments in lubbock?

-------Original Message-------
From: Brooke Robbins
To: Rebecca Shaw
Cc: Merrie
Cc: Maggie Moran
Cc: Katie Hiatt
Cc: Emily Turner
Subject: Re: You Tube Concussions
Sent: Dec 31, 2009 2:37 PM

When I Created the You Tube account, I put in the following key words: concussion, James, Leach, Coach Leach, Mike Leach, Adam James, Craig James, sport concussions, Texas Tech sports ... And a few more.

When people google any of the words ... Our you tube will EVENTUALLY come up. It takes a while for search engines to find these new things.

What could expedite the process is if a few of YOU have the time and desire to go onto some of the blogs and say things like ... "Hey I came across this new you tube ... Then paste in the link ... That really has great info on concussions ... "That’s one grass roots way of generating hits ... We can also just keep hitting it ourselves. But remember ... Anyone can research ip addresses and it’s all too easy to determine that all the hits are coming from just a few computers.
LOL ... LSL knows all about that’ Happy New Year!

Brooke
www.brookerobbins.net

On Dec 31, 2009, at 11:25 AM, Rebecca Shaw wrote:

> Nice job. This has great information in it. Unfortunately, it’s only
> had 2 hits. Does anyone have any ideas about how to get more
> visibility? Do we need to send it out on PR Newswire?
>
> Rebecca Shaw
> Executive Vice President
> Spaeth Communications, Inc.

***

15. Email from Merrie Spaeth regarding the use of pseudonyms when commenting on Mike Leach and Craig James in blogs.

From: Merrie Spaeth
To: Brooke Robbins
Cc: Katie Hiatt, Rebecca Shaw, Brooke Robbins
Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 2:53 PM
Subject: RE: my thoughts

Brooke of course, if you felt you could log on with a pseudoname (sic) onto the blogs and share these thoughts, it would be wonderful....
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18. Emails from Brooke Robbins and Merrie Spaeth regarding best practices for spreading information on concussions via YouTube in relation to the Adam James matter.

From: Brooke Robbins
To: Merrie Spaeth
Cc: Rebecca Shaw; Katie Hiatt; Kevin Brannon
Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 2:13 PM
Subject: Re: URGENT FW: Concussion

Leach was just fired. Does this impact the you tube piece?

Brooke

On Dec 30, 2009, at 8:24 AM, Merrie Spaeth wrote:

Brooke - we have the go ahead. I envision this as the simplest of interview(s) with you and doctors, etc., posted on YouTube. We need to get something up today. I envision all of these would go something like this:

"I'm Brooke Robbins, an independent journalist. We've all heard the news about Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach and the player who had a concussion. The Coach is saying it was "only" a "mild" concussion. Over the past year or so, there have been a number of high profile stories about player concussions. We’re going to ask some leading doctors, sports medicine experts and trainers - what’s the proper treatment for a concussion? Can you "fake" a concussion, the way coach Leach charges, just how serious is a concussion? If you have a child who plays football, or you’re just a concerned parent or citizen, let’s look into this together ... "

And then ask anyone you can get your hands on this morning: - should concussions be taken seriously?
- what are the signs of a concussion?
- can you “fake” a concussion? (and how could a coach on the field just tell by looking at a player ... )
- what's the proper treatment? (e.g. rest, etc ... )
... and I know there have been some high profile examples ... Liz says that an NFL player committed suicide this year because of a series of concussions left him damaged …
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dpodoll68 said:
There's no doubt that Mike Leach is not perfect. However, it is inarguable that he is a great coach and, in my mind, was the victim and not the perpetrator in this particular incident. Adam James was definitely in the wrong, and frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he was "planted" or otherwise used by the Texas Tech administration to get rid of Leach. They wanted to get rid of him for whatever reason (personality, salary, etc.?) and they knew they couldn't do it on the basis of performance, so they either manufactured a scenario to make it happen or, serendipitously, waited for one to appear. They got their opening and fired the "kill shot".
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I don't disagree. The Texas Tech administration had motive, the James affair gave them opportunity. Call Jack McCoy!
 



dpodoll68 said:
There's no doubt that Mike Leach is not perfect. However, it is inarguable that he is a great coach and, in my mind, was the victim and not the perpetrator in this particular incident. Adam James was definitely in the wrong, and frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he was "planted" or otherwise used by the Texas Tech administration to get rid of Leach. They wanted to get rid of him for whatever reason (personality, salary, etc.?) and they knew they couldn't do it on the basis of performance, so they either manufactured a scenario to make it happen or, serendipitously, waited for one to appear. They got their opening and fired the "kill shot".
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None of which negates 50lb's comment that Leach is a self-righteous gasbag. The guy who believes he is the smartest person in the room never learns from others or his own mistakes. There is more to being a "great coach" than the Xs and Os. You also have to be able to handle people (including parents) and the media. Leach always appeared to feel he was above that part of the job.
 

Well Said!

TAW said:
None of which negates 50lb's comment that Leach is a self-righteous gasbag. The guy who believes he is the smartest person in the room never learns from others or his own mistakes. There is more to being a "great coach" than the Xs and Os. You also have to be able to handle people (including parents) and the media. Leach always appeared to feel he was above that part of the job.
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There were a lot people here when we were looking for a new coach that said that we need to go after Leach. I for one thought that he would have been a very risky choice given the size of his ego.

Fortunately, we got a great coach who is able to control his ego. This allows Kill to do the things that are needed to change the culture without all distractions you get from person with a large ego. If Leach would only realize how much damage is caused by his ego he might be able to change, but until he does, he is a walking time bomb.
 


How the heck did Craig James get this much power? I've never thought he has done a good job. There are much better analysts out there then him. So where does this power come from?
 




Killjoy said:
There were a lot people here when we were looking for a new coach that said that we need to go after Leach. I for one thought that he would have been a very risky choice given the size of his ego.

Fortunately, we got a great coach who is able to control his ego. This allows Kill to do the things that are needed to change the culture without all distractions you get from person with a large ego. If Leach would only realize how much damage is caused by his ego he might be able to change, but until he does, he is a walking time bomb.
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im trying to understand this post? what are all the distractions? give an example of his ego ruining how he coached etc.
 

lakesgopher said:
im trying to understand this post? what are all the distractions? give an example of his ego ruining how he coached etc.
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I don't have the desire or time to give you a complete answer to your question so I will limit my answer to just one negative aspect of his ego. Because of his ego and his argoance he became a liability to his school and its administration. For a lot of people wining is all that counts, but for the decision makers Leach's ego became a liability.

There is a great deal more that could be said on this subject but I will just end it by saying that Jerry Kill has a great deal of confidence in himself but is smart enough and mature enough not to let his ego get in the way of what he want to accomplish. If you don't think his ego is problem you might want to ask the question why aren't people knocking at his door given his accomplishments. He has become known as a loose cannon because he can't control his ego.
 

Long time reader, first time poster.

Purchased the book earlier this week ($9.99) and finished Thursday. Great read.

I came to the conclusion that Coach Leach is probably one of the most fascinating coaches that I have ever read about. I found his curiosity for learning about many different things and his approaches to coaching athletes interesting and informative. He is a very intelligent person contrary to what some may think.

Suprisingly, there are numerous similarities with how Leach does things and how Kill does things in relation to how they deal with the individual player and team concept. The major difference lies in the way they deal with the media.

Before one passes judgment on his ego and arrogance, I would suggest reading the book. In fact, he addresses ego in his book as well.

I personally don't find his "ego and arrogance" to be a problem. The world of college football is full of ego and arrogance (eg. Saban, Bielema, Kiffin, et al.)

There was much, much more to the problems he had with administration (namely Kent Hance), than just his ego. Again, outlined in the book.

Great to finally be on the board!

Buck
 

Badger2010 said:
Just awful. Bruce Feldman is one of the best journalists in the business. Craig James is a piece of s**t. I truly don't understand why he still has a job at ESPN.
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And espn suspended bill Simmons ( for a short while) for comments about an espn affiliated radio station, one of their best writers, yet Craig James still has a job. I will never understand it.
 

Met Leach tonight and he was a nice guy. Got a hold of his book and am excited to read it. Also was able to chat for awhile with our WR coach, Pat Poore. Very cool and down to earth guy.
 

because you dont have an answer! you have based your opinions on leach due to the james case and thats good enough for you. winning is all that counts, if it wasnt the most important thing glen mason or brewster would still be here. but in my world i want a team that graduates and wins-that is what leach did. we have kill and i hope he has that kind of success. but the list of players that are on leach's bandwagon and not on the james kid makes me believe leach didnt lie, he just had a personality that rubbed the admins the wrong way. personally, i think leach would have been great when it comes to dealing with maturi! but we have kill, a guy who has the same coaching record in the fbs as i do. i think he has a lot of positives and im excited for our future, but im not going to go out on the limb and say he is a great coach , that has yet to be determined!
 



Looking at the politics and personalities of the University, the state, and the average Minnesotan, how can anyone say with a straight face that Leach would have had a long stay at The U?

lakesgopher - if winning is all that counts, why isn't Tressel still the coach at OSU?
 


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