Texas Football

By Travis Stewart/Texas Football -- Mike Leach's comments don't really mean very much.

News broke this morning on both ESPN and other sites that former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who was fired before the Alamo Bowl for his treatment of receiver Adam James, had "dressed down" his players on a number of occasions in the 2009 season. Videos obtained by OrangeBloods.com -- a final shot from Longhorns at their rival before he disappears from the radar? -- show the embattled coach targeting unseen players who, apparently, were settling for mediocrity, and then, in a seperate video, utilizing the Bible and some of his team's religious convictions to make a point.

So what?

The videos were tagged as "profanity-laced." I listened to them both and heard one swear. Granted, it was a bad one. But if you played football at some point and didn't hear that word ... well, I'm not sure you where you were playing. And in that video, Leach told his players that some of their living arrangements were going to change. He said that, last he checked, TTU was paying the bills for their housing. Sounds about right. He also said that certain players would no longer be living together, because they were bringing each other down. And so I ask -- where's the harm in that? Leach has a right to tell players that aren't living up to snuff that they're scholarship is at risk. If I went to school on an academic scholarship and my GPS hovered around, say, 2.3, I'd expect to get a talking to. Football players are not exempt. If you slack off, you lose the right to be rewarded. Leach is well within his right to say so, and I'd bet that 80 percent of college coaches nationwide have used the same threat at some point.

The second video, however, is different. Leach turns to the Bible to make his point, referencing his "God Squad" players and a certain passage about God spewing out the "lukewarm." He says that, when his players are on the field praying, he wants them to be tying in those prayers to football. Several players can be heard in the background calling out Amens -- in my mind, almost mockingly.

Look -- I understand the point that Leach is trying to make. I also know he's got a brilliant mind, and I have a sneaky suspicion that the man can quote scripture far better than many of us. I'm not sure if he crossed a line there, but if he didn't, he certainly slapped his big toe on it. Telling kids that their program-granted perks for excelling are at risk is one thing. But telling kids what to pray about is an infringement on an indvidual's right to privacy. What if they were praying for a sick grandparent? Or a friend at risk? Certain things are more important than football, after all. Was Leach way out of line? No, not really. But are his detractors going to use this as fuel on the fire? Without question.

The bottom line is that Tech chose to live by the sword in hiring a coach who was as devisive as he was brilliant. His ability as a tactician and schemer was only surpassed by his perplexing inconsistency and oft-alarming lack of tact. But unlike taking the reprecussions of employing and loving a guy like Leach with the appropriate aplomb, administration is now trying to dodge dying by the sword they once bought into. If you told me that Tech administration wasn't 100 percent OK with those videos hitting the main stream public, I'd call you a liar. And honestly, it almost reeks of desperation and slander -- an effort to whip up some sour advertising on a guy that has a legit case for wrongful termination.

At one point, I believed that the Texas Tech players were united in their support of their dismissed leader. I stand corrected on that, and it's obvious that Leach's methodology was not well-received by all of his players. But how does that make him any different than the vast majority of college football coaches across America? Sure, there are a rare few that have the unified respect and adoration of their kids. But I knew players that didn't like Mack Brown, and he's supposed to be one of the country's class acts. 

Here's the point -- Leach was a jerk sometimes, and that has become painfully obvious if you didn't know it already. But these videos bring nothing to the table except immediacy -- here to dominate a 24-hour news cycle, throw Leach under the bus, and then disappear. And the people that broke them as earth-shattering news should be ashamed of themselves, because it reeks of tabloid journalism. It plays on our natural tendency to WANT to be offended by something instead of actually being offended. Maybe we should be ashamed, too. Who knows.

But I do know this. Efforts like these to further dirty the murky water of Leach's legal case shouldn't have any effect on the proceedings, but I bet they will. And it looks more and more likely that we'll never know the full truth of what happened out there in Lubbock. Guess we're stuck with half-truths for another news cycle.