Canzano on Mike Leach

[Mic]

Nice article on one of our coaching greats:

Canzano: Mike Leach left the world wanting more

WWW.JOHNCANZANO.COM

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A football coach... a fan... and their friendship.

 

[Jon Joseph]

Come On Wazzu! Make Bucky Badger walk the plank in Pullman!

 

The Pirate (RIP) was one of a kind.

 

 

[Mic]

On 9/6/2023 at 11:58 AM, Jon Joseph said:

The Pirate (RIP) was one of a kind.

Yes he was. Alas -

[Log Haulin]

Mike Leach was fun. Love having him coach in the Pac. I am boycotting Zano. Stopped listening ro his radio show years ago. Only read a few articles from time to time. 

 

 

[Mic]

On 9/6/2023 at 12:10 PM, Log Haulin said:

Mike Leach was fun. Love having him coach in the Pac. I am boycotting Zano. 

Same here - but anything on Leach I'll read.

[Charles Fischer]

Search Mike Leach and this comes up the most often...  (when he was at Texas Tech)

 

 

When he was at Mississippi State....

 

 

 

[EzDucksIt]

WOW, BFT sure has changed but still needs to be a two arms lengths distance, Trust Issues.  JC, Well written the Pirate, would have loved it in a Snarky FNL kind of way.  Going to continue to miss him, even when he left Mississippi St for the Big House.

[Mic]

What Mike Leach offered the CFB was....reality check

[1Ducker1]

What a guy- Miss him at Wazoo.

[Tandaian]

It is amazing how everybody forgets he was fired for abusing his players at Texas Tech.  He wasn't as bad as Bobby Knight, but he wasn't exactly a saint either.

[1Ducker1]

On 9/7/2023 at 10:52 AM, Tandaian said:

It is amazing how everybody forgets he was fired for abusing his players at Texas Tech.  He wasn't as bad as Bobby Knight, but he wasn't exactly a saint either.

I get your point but try playing at Central Catholic when Bill Dressel was there.  And that was just High School football.

[Mic]

On 9/7/2023 at 10:52 AM, Tandaian said:

It is amazing how everybody forgets he was fired for abusing his players at Texas Tech.  He wasn't as bad as Bobby Knight, but he wasn't exactly a saint either.

Saints are very rare.  But your point is well made.  Some say it was his attempt at motivating players.  Others that his attempt went too far. 

[DrJacksPlaidPants]

You won’t find a TTU alum or fan from the Mike Leach era who believes anything Adam James or Craig James had to say about the “abuse” Adam apparently suffered. It’s a well known fact that he manipulated the entire story and TTU chancellor Kent Hance fired Leach because he wouldn’t write an apology letter. 

 

I would challenge anyone to read the emails from Adam James’s former coaches describing his character and work ethic. He even admitted in his own deposition that the trainer took him to the media room and said “stay here”. However, since the trainer was standing near the door of the electrical room, Adam said he “thought that’s where the trainer wanted him to stay”. He then proceeded to take a dramatic video of the room with his cell phone.

 

The kid is a slimeball. He tried to ruin a coach’s career because he didn’t like being disciplined and he thought he wasn’t seeing the field enough. He got booed every time he touched the ball and was heavily booed by his own fans on Senior Day. The only person with less credibility is his father. The guy who said he received only “insignificant” benefits when he played for SMU basically laying the blame on Dickerson and his other former teammates for the teams demise. ESPN did themselves and the college football world a huge favor by washing their hands of that guy.

 

Adam James is the kind of kid who was born on third base, but thinks he hit a triple. To this day he runs a company that his daddy started for him. He calls himself the co-founder, though. He’s still full of BS.

 

Mike Leach, on the other hand, will be inducted into the TTU Hall of Honor this month when they host Houston. I doubt the university would do such a thing if they really believed he abused his players. I believe it’s their way of apologizing to his family.

 

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by DrJacksPlaidPants

[Mic]

Well, there you go everyone. DrJack's brings up equally good points proving once again "there are always more facts" than most of us know about just about everything.  Thanks, DrJacksPlaidPants.

 

But back to my original point (as I hope was inferred with my topic inclusion) CFB is the poorer for the loss of Mike Leach.  

[GatOrlando]

Not defending alleged abuse on players here, but I'm sure in history you could find examples of "abuse" everywhere. They call it hazing today, it was called team building or discipline when Paterno, Bowden, Hayes, Rockne, Holtz, or Bo were coaching. Watch the Junction Boys movie. I'm sure some of that was dramatized , but have no doubt that the Bear forced his players to do things that would get him fired today.

 

Northwestern just fired it's coach, I'm sure Saban, Dabo, Urban, Carroll, Stoops, Harbaugh, Kelly, and just about any coach above the age of 40 has some "archaic" beliefs. Military training and acceptance standards have changed over the years. Hiring laws have been put in place, board member minority rules have been enforced. Females have been hired as referees, coaches, and sometimes even players have been inserted onto football teams.

 

Mike Leach got fired at Tech because he disciplined the son of a prominent ESPN personality. Bad press can get coaches like Paterno fired. You think nobody knew about what happened in Happy Valley before 2011?

 

Getting back to the topic at hand, Leach was the color red in a world full of black and white. He never coached in a big market, at a school with a big brand. He coached the little guy, punched above his weight limit. I often wondered what he could have done with more resources. Could he have recruited at a higher level? Would he even want to deal with powerful boosters? College football became a little more bland last December.