Mike Leach really wants the Minnesota job

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mattw1067 said:
You don't think he hasn't already tried that? I am sure he has.
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If he has and was found wanting, why didn't he accept the inevitable as opposed to this "parting shot?" Granted, Miller is the guy doing the interviewing and it appears that Colorado has an even less-inspiring set of candidates than we do, but why doesn't Leach mention Colorado and Indiana? Is he/was he on their short lists?

Leach does appear to be a guy who makes these things about himself and by going public with statements like these, he simply reinforces that image, which isn't going to help him here (or anywhere else for that matter).

I'd be fine with him as a coach, but the "me against the world" stuff that has been his brand is really stale.

To the other poster who cited by post, yes, I meant Mullen to Minnesota.
 

positively4thstreet said:
That quote should be framed and delivered to Maturi.
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If Maturi is concerned about appearances he should check the mirror. He looks like an angry elf and talks like Jerry Lindegard from the Movie Fargo. If you slapped a pair of pointed ears on him he would look look like Spock's bastard son.
 

ruralgopher said:
No. He was far more diplomatic 5 weeks ago with Mike Max. What more does he have to do? I am 100% sure that his agent has either contacted Maturi or the search firm. Leach is turning up the heat on Maturi the only way that he can at this point. Again, if he had no chance, how did this backfire?
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You get more flies with honey than with vinegar. If he had no chance, accept the fact that he had no chance and move on instead of running to the press with a slap at Maturi, who he likely knows is under a lot of fire for the Brewster business (among other things).

I'm an old guy and yes, I believe in some measure of protocol. If you lose, just accept the fact that you've lost.
 

50PoundHead said:
You get more flies with honey than with vinegar. If he had no chance, accept the fact that he had no chance and move on instead of running to the press with a slap at Maturi, who he likely knows is under a lot of fire for the Brewster business (among other things).

I'm an old guy and yes, I believe in some measure of protocol. If you lose, just accept the fact that you've lost.
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I'm a young guy and I believe it ain't over til its over. Apply pressure on a lame duck AD.
 

scools12 said:
This guy has never had to recruit outside of Texas now he is going to come here and suddenly recruit the whole country? Highly doubt it.
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First of all, he has coached college football in practically every corner of the US, so that statement is obviously false if taken at face value.

If you meant by that statement that he never recruited outside of TX while at Texas Tech, it is also false. Sure, he primarily recruited in-state (as any sane coach who heads up a TX program would do), but he also signed recruits from the following states as their head coach:

TN, LA, OK, AZ, KS, CA, NM, HI, SC, AR, KY, MS, and OR

He has signed recruits from as far west as Hawaii, as far east as South Carolina, and as far north as Oregon.

Another benefit to his hire is that he has lived, worked, and coached in many disparate areas around the country. He could easily relate to a lot of different people on their level.
 


Maybe this is all part of the smokescreen. Maturi and Leach are making it seem like there's a 0% chance of this happening... and then voila! The smoke clears and Leach is the coach!!
 

ruralgopher said:
I'm a young guy and I believe it ain't over til its over. Apply pressure on a lame duck AD.
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As you age, you will realize that sometimes it is over and when it is, take your medicine instead of complaining about it. That was directed at Leach and not you.

Again, I'm fine if Leach is the coach, but articles like this should show us the "dark side" of Leach. We will be talked down to win or lose because it's obvious that Leach is the smartest guy in whatever room he enters.
 


50PoundHead said:
it's obvious that Leach is the smartest guy in whatever room he enters
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Honestly, it's probably true for him in most cases.

Burrito wishes he was 1/10th as good at anything as Mike Leach is at being a coach.
 



positively4thstreet said:
Mike Leach, meet Dan Barreiro.
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I would love to hear Barreiro's reaction to a Leach hiring and his subsequent behavior during a Leach tenure. One thing I've noticed about Barreiro is that he's either combative or obsequious. There is very little in-between with him. I love the fact how he used to absolutely dump on Mason and now when he's on the air with Glen, you can almost hear the shoe-polishing in the background.

dpodoll, I hope you're not contending that because Leach has a law degree that it's a mark of remarkable intelligence. Working with as many lawyers as I have, I can say that some of the least reflective people I've ever met are lawyers.
 

Hes hungry for the job. Hes overqualified football resume wise. He graduates with the best of them. And he locks cry baby rich kids in sheds. Give him the job
 


If you want to get Leach an interview than bypass Maturi, go to the regents, go to Bruininks, go to Kaler. See if you can get them onboard.
 



The dude sounds desparate. Yikes how many more red flags is this guy going to have to raise for us to see them?
 

This is hilarious...

I'll go on record saying that I would be absolutely fine with the U hiring Leach. I've always liked the guy and his offense would be fun to watch week in, week out.

But if you guys think it's that simple, you've got your head up your hind end. If he were the hot commodity that the rabid pro-Leach folks think he is, why isn't he at the top of every other school's list?

Try to remember, I would imagine the FIRST thing the search firm did is research people like Leach and they likely have INFINITELY more detailed and inside information regarding Leach's past than anybody on here claims to. The things that have hit the media about Leach's antics may only scratch the surface for all we know.

I also doubt that the University of Minnesota, or any other BCS school in the country is at a "win at all cost" point. Winning is all that matters. Period.

By most accounts, Leach is a very very good (if not great) coach who is an absolute f'n Human Resources nightmare. I would imagine that 99% of the people who are clamoring for Leach to be hired have never had the responsibility of hiring somebody who will ultimately be the face of their organization.

Again, if it happens, I will support it fully and say it's great (especially because it's not my ass on the line to be responsible for anything that Leach does when he takes over).
 

point being that he mainly recruited Texas. he will no longer have that type of talent base to pull from if hired here. there is no way of knowing if any of the same type of recruits would follow him north. his highest team ranking as far as recruiting within the B12 was 6th. doubt he would do any better in the B10. probably worse with all the negative recruiting he would face from other schools.

as far as how he relates to people on any level is an unknown and just simply saying "...coached in many disparate areas around the country" therefore he can "relate" to people is ridiculous.
 

The James kid admitted he went into the closet on his own (he was put in a large dark room that is part of the football facility). Then he photographed himself with his cell phone, to make a case. Still, Leach definitely is not a good candidate for a politically correct atmosphere, which Minnesota has in spades. After we hire a loser, in a few years the "We could have had Leach" chorus will swell to an anthem - unless Leach self-destructs somewhere else, in which case it will be "I told you so" from the U. He would give us an instant, unique football identity and would play the Twin Cities media like a violin, winning most of them over. I have no doubt he'd be a winner, but would be amazed if they'd hire him. Look instead for a coach with two or three years experience: Sumlin, Shannon, Calhoun, etc.
 

Leach never recruited 5 star guys. He took the guys Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M passed on and turned it into a solid product. Why did Craig James have to get involved. Can't believe people would listen to a guy who destroyed SMU.
 

scools12 said:
point being that he mainly recruited Texas. he will no longer have that type of talent base to pull from if hired here. there is no way of knowing if any of the same type of recruits would follow him north. his highest team ranking as far as recruiting within the B12 was 6th. doubt he would do any better in the B10. probably worse with all the negative recruiting he would face from other schools.

as far as how he relates to people on any level is an unknown and just simply saying "...coached in many disparate areas around the country" therefore he can "relate" to people is ridiculous.
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I think this proves that he is a good coach. If he can't recruit worth a darn and since he lived in Texas these kids just fell into his program; he must have had to coach them up. I don't care where our kids come from if we are up to #2 in the BCS or even if we are in the Insight Bowl but we come from 28+ points down to win the game.
 

Ogee, unfortunately everyone will ignore your post because it is thoughtful and rational. The Gophs have probably talked to tons of people about Leach. If they said the James incident and the suits were not indicative of Leach as a person and that he's a quality person, he'd probably be our coach right now.

For all of you guys beating the drums for Leach, ask yourself one question: If you did your due diligence on Leach and the majority of people you talked to told you to stay far, far away from Leach, would you still hire him?

Any way, this is an absolute public relations train wreck.
 

The ESPN ombudsman came down on ESPN pretty hard for the Alamo Bowl broadcast after Leach was let go.
 

What would be the harm in interviewing him, and hearing his side of the story? It seems like the most basic of due diligence to me.
 

Leach may have an ulterior legal motive...

50PoundHead said:
You get more flies with honey than with vinegar. If he had no chance, accept the fact that he had no chance and move on instead of running to the press with a slap at Maturi, who he likely knows is under a lot of fire for the Brewster business (among other things).

I'm an old guy and yes, I believe in some measure of protocol. If you lose, just accept the fact that you've lost.
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Obviously, he does want the job. But even if he loses, he wins. By publically going after our job and not getting an interview, this becomes exhibit A in his defamation lawsuit against ESPN and TTech. The burden on the party pressing a slander claim is to prove damage. Not getting a chance at a job he's clearly qualified for is pretty damning evidence. Especially if we wind up hiring a bozo like Trestman. What would be really funny is if Maturi gets subpeanaed to appear as a witness in the trial.
 

Too Long in the Wasteland said:
Obviously, he does want the job. But even if he loses, he wins. By publically going after our job and not getting an interview, this becomes exhibit A in his defamation lawsuit against ESPN and TTech. The burden on the party pressing a slander claim is to prove damage. Not getting a chance at a job he's clearly qualified for is pretty damning evidence. Especially if we wind up hiring a bozo like Trestman. What would be really funny is if Maturi gets subpeanaed to appear as a witness in the trial.
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I hadn't thought of that angle, but it makes sense. Have to show putative damages.
 

Too Long in the Wasteland said:
Obviously, he does want the job. But even if he loses, he wins. By publically going after our job and not getting an interview, this becomes exhibit A in his defamation lawsuit against ESPN and TTech. The burden on the party pressing a slander claim is to prove damage. Not getting a chance at a job he's clearly qualified for is pretty damning evidence. Especially if we wind up hiring a bozo like Trestman. What would be really funny is if Maturi gets subpeanaed to appear as a witness in the trial.
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God i would love this. Anything to make badger POS joel's life a living hell if he screws up this hire is great by me. HOW IS THIS GUY MAKING THIS HIRE!?
 

The interesting thing here is because most of the universities doing these searches are publicly-funded, are search committee documents and conversations more accessible to those involved in litigation? Leach can really push the envelope here and drive up the settlement value if that's the case.
 

Its not about coaching.

I am pretty sure the problem with Mike Leach is about everything besides his coaching ability. If it was about coaching he would have a job right now. The problem is if you hire Leach as your coach you have to deal with a gigantice PR problem that will never get better. The only thing that kept him at Texas Tech was his ability to coach and win. The problem was his attitude and then his actions towards his players.

It would be one thing if Leach was just quirky and odd but the problem is he acts like a 3 year old who doesnt get their was and cry's all the time. On top of that he likes to lock his captives in the brigg.

Mike Leach is going to be a huge problem no matter where he coaches next, if he coaches again. If you some of you have not noticed we are not the only school not looking at him. It would be horrible to hear the other schools recruiting against us for players with Leach as coach.
 

Ok I know lame duck Joel was AD at Wiscy but isn't he Notre Dame alum?
 

Kuato Lives! said:
My mind is racked with trying to figure out why Maturi and Co. won't at least consider Leach. The guy is a PROVEN winner who runs a clean program and graduates 79% of his players. 10 winning seasons. A name that will instantly energize the fan base. Coach of the Year honors. Also, the guy "understands Minnesota". He's aware of the challenges and is eager to face them and actually WANTS to coach here. It's clear the pros far far outweigh the cons and if Maturi is doing his due diligence like he should be, he should of had Leach number 1 on his list. This to me is the most frustrating thing about this whole search process. There are many other candidates that I would be happy with but to not even speak with Leach is absolutely mind boggling.
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I think part of it is administrations may pass along notes among one another and have a preferential belief in what they say amongst each other.

That may also be why Leach is trying so hard to clear his name. He knows that unless he is vindicated, he will never be hired by any major university again. Regardless of talent, a school can only handle so much controversy. The UofM has had far to much controversy the past 50 years all the way back to the 70s with the BB program. They are a little worn out of it I suspect.
 

I'm surprised that Leach is the only guy out of football that is openly campaigning for the job. You would think that if Belotti or Fullmer really wanted to get back in, we would see more of what Leach is doing. Leach obviously still has the fire.
 

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