The war between Texas Tech and fired former head coach Mike Leach has escalated this afternoon as the school released a pair of sworn affidavits from two of the principle characters in this off-field drama.
And, let’s just say it’s a shift from some of their previous statements.
In Steve Pincock‘s affidavit, which can be read in its entirety HERE, the head football athletic trainer stated that he felt “Leach’s treatment of [Adam] James was inappropriate and I did not agree with it.”
James, the son of ESPN analyst Craig James, had suffered what was diagnosed as a mild concussion during a practice on Dec. 16, and was advised by team physician Dr. Michael Phy that he “should not practice and that he should not perform exercise that would increase pressure on his head, and be symptom free for one week.” The next day, “James arrived for practice wearing street clothes, his cap on backwards, and sunglasses and began walking around the field in a very nonchalant way.”
That’s when, as Toby Keith puts it, the fit hit the shan.
According to Pincock in his affidavit, Leach called him over after viewing James’ nonchalance “and asked what James was doing.” Pincock told the coach “that James was walking the field. … Leach was upset and concerned about James’ appearance and attitude” and did not want the receiver “loafing while other players were working.”
At that point, Leach instructed Pincock “to place James in a dark place near the practice field.” Leach then put the exclamation point on the order with the following blast, the words of which will likely become an instant Internet sensation.
“Lock his f-cking p-ssy ass in a place so dark that the only way he knows he has a d-ck is to reach down and touch it,” Leach reportedly told Pincock.
(And here we all thought “fat lil’ girlfriends” was colorful.)
Perhaps the most damning part of Pincock’s new statement is that Leach “wanted James to be uncomfortable.” Needless to say, in this new age of sensitivity to head injuries, that will not go over very well in some corners.
Pincock also remarked that he apologized to James “for having to place him in a dark shed”. He reiterated that he did “not agree with this form of treatment for anyone”.
The affidavit of team physician Michael Phy – the entire affidavit right HERE – and the doctor confirms the concussion diagnosis. He also stated that he did not agree with the way James was treated.
“I did not instruct anyone with Texas Tech to place James in an enclosed and dark place, and in my medical opinion there was no medical reason to require James to stand in an enclosed dark space for up to three hours. In spite of the fact that James may not have been harmed by these actions, I consider this practice inappropriate, and a deviation from the medical standard of care.”
Needless to say, Tech will use these statements as ammunition in their expected legal battle with Leach and his attorney. Of course, Leach’s attorney will be very interested to find out why there was such a difference in statements made previously by Pincock and Phy.
Either way, this situation has gone from bad to worse to “holy crap!” in a span of less than a week.
If this is true, Mike Leach is the perfect guy for another coaching job — Gitmo.
Both trainer and doctor are employed by the university, thus it would not be surprising to find out there were some strong arm tactics applied where as these gentleman had to reverse their course to keep their jobs.
I would be interested to hear these two on the stand explaining the swift change of opinion.
Ok, two things. The new affidavit does not favor Leach NOR does it favor James AND it also proves my theory that there was an electrical closet in the media room and that he was NOT put there and in fact, was told by the trainer NOT to go in that room but he deliberately went into that closet and shot the video and made it appear as if he was put there instead of the media room. The trainer also NEVER mentioned locking James in either place.
Oh and you must mean “he also stated that he did not agree with the way James was treated.” and not Leach. I still have to read that one, though to be certain.
If you read the affidavit, you’ll see that Adam James’ video is nothing more than a SHAM and also, he was NEVER locked in any place as he and his dad continue to say. Leach isn’t coming out of this looking like a saint but it also shows that that AT LEAST ONE James is lying (Adam) and the other one (Craig) may have put him up to producing false evidence by having him to into the closet that he was told NOT to go into by the trainer. If you listen to the video that James made, you will hear him tell his dad (He uses the word “Dad”) that he’s turning the lights on in the closet so Craig was aware of where he was. Now, whether Adam cooked that up or Craig came up with it, one of them had the idea to produce false evidence.
Since I never followed any TT stories until it became a hotbed of helicopter parenting vs. throwback coaching, I missed the whole “fat lil girlfriends” episode. Just looked it up. And I thought all they had in Texas were big-haired Barbies. Huh.
Speaking of which, has anyone noticed that Craig James looks like a Ken doll?
Who is this Affidavit fella? Is he a coach? Sounds Indian…
“Lock his f-cking p-ssy ass in a place so dark that the only way he knows he has a d-ck is to reach down and touch it,”
After that comment, I have a new found love for Coach Leach. That was priceless.
Yet, some numskulls will continue making excuses for him . . .
If you actually go read their previous statements, there is no contradiction. They simply added the things they previously left out. They did not know if Leach was going to stay coach, and they were not going to get on his bad side. There were no lies here..they simply lateer decided to tell the entire truth…who care what their motives were. Sounds like the kid is a first class jerk, but the reality is that this coach did not care that this kid had a concussion diagnosed by a dr, and his motives were to punish the kid. Therefore the coach deserved exactly what he got.
Nothing new about these statements. They were taken 12/21-22 and signed and released 1/1/10. The Leach atty statements from the same two people were dated 12/25 & 12/31
The statements released by Leach’s atty did very little to exonerate Leach; you could quickly cut and paste phrases from the affidavits released by TTU and get the Leach atty statements.
I’m guessing he either didn’t find it or aligator armed the reach. In either case he would have dropped it.
For the record, Leach was NOT fired for putting James in a dark shed. He was fired for first refusing to sign and agreement clarifying his contract that he not interfere with the treatment of injured athletes and then turning around and suing the university. It’s always a bad idea to sue your boss.
No contradictions? I guess if you’re Craig or Adam James or a member of their family, I guess that’s true. But….
1. Adam says that he was locked up but the trainer says that he wasn’t – contradiction.
2. Adam claims to be locked in an electrical closet but the trainer said that he never put him in the closet AND he specifically told him not to go in there – contradiction.
3. Going along with #2 was the fact that Adam hands over a video that proports to show him locked up in the closet and YET, he was not put in there by the trainer so he falsified evidence against Leach – GIGANTIC contradiction.
Leach isn’t coming off looking like Mother Teresa but Adam James is looking like a liar who will do anything to get his way, even if that includes falsifying evidence against his coach.
That obscene quote has the ring of authenticity. Nobody could have made that up. Why the heck would such a crude, bone-headed comment about a kid with a concussion make you “love” the guy, Thor? On top of everything else, Leach is lying like a Republican about what happened.
Wow – where is my popcorn.. this one is going to get bloody, have a ton of drama, and a bunch of great one liners!
It appears there was great stupidity on both sides of this story… a little entitled and lazy kid and his helicopter dad against an old school coach with an ego the size of the state of Texas itself. Fantastic stuff
Nothing Coach Leach did was detrimental to AJ’s condition. He should have went to the coach and told him he was diagnosed with a concussion and the doctor recommended he not practice until he was over it. Instead he show up to practice acting like the punk he obviously is. Disrespecting the coach and the team, that is why he was punished.
A few points: (1) why was James even allowed out on the practice field after the team doc told him not to practice based on a “mild concussion”, (2) it doesn’t sound like Leach was punishing the guy for having a concussion (even if he probably didn’t think it was “severe” enough to warrant a complete sit out of practice) but rather punishing the “hey I don’t have to practice” attitude that seemed to be exemplified by James. Guarantee had James gone to the coach, after receiving the docs orders not to practice, with an attitude that somewhat communicated the only reason he wasn’t practicing is purely because of the docs orders, none of this happens.
Bob Knight had his hand in Mr Myres A– and got away with well a lot more crap than Leach. Mr Leach is the best coach TT has had in a long time. If TT does not want him we will take him @ OU.
Adam James is a little “B!tch”. Yes I would tell him to his face. As our football coach told us scared say your scared. This punk @$$ kid feels entitled because of who his daddy is. Texas Tech administrators are a bunch of punk @$$ B!tches too. I hope Texas Tech loses to a mid teir Big Ten school tonight and falls off the planet next year. Mike Leach is a brilliant coach that takes you back to the days of Bear Bryant.
ejs says “Leach is lying like a republican about this”
I think he’s partially right, Leach, both James & Tech people are all lying to some extent, lying like a Republican or John Edwards or Bill Clinton. Get real, almost everyone in power lies. Not just Republicans.
gee… hard to fathom that the same administration that tried to strong-arm Leach is now strong-arming other people associated with the program to alter their initial statements to better align with the university’s side. total bullshit. the guvna’s gonna have to send the national guard into lubbock before this is all said and done!
that is all.
@RichattheLake …
Oh, this is good!
Leach gets to be the Big Dog (that’s Clinton). Love the Big Dog.
James, he can be John Edwards. Pretty Boy. Plastic smile. Totally smarmy.
Myers–he’s the crafty old AD who hates Leach and wants to get rid of him, right? Some of the Tech fans think he’s been setting up Leach, don’t they? Kind of the conniving, Machiavellian type? Dick Cheney!
I’m with Arizona Buckeye–pass the popcorn!
Re: “Lock his f-cking p-ssy ass in a place so dark that the only way he knows he has a d-ck is to reach down and touch it,”
Bahahahahahahaha….priceless. If nothing else, AJ’s initials should be changed to FPA.
According to ESPN, Adam James ought to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery and valor. I’m sure they’re not biased, or anything.
ejs says, “On top of everything else, Leach is lying like a Republican about what happened.”
How did I know while reading ejs’s comment that he was a touchy-feely lil’ sissy who was probably sitting down to pee while composing his little missive? Then he ended with the statement above which indicated to me that he was offended because Leach’s statement about James would fit himself as well. He needs to to leave the football forum and get on over to the women’s badminton boards.
Anyone care to point out that being in the dark and without stimuli is the proper way to treat a concussion, not being out in the sun running around? This kid sounds like a winner and was treated like one. Another waste of college scholarship on another overly entitled football player that we will never see on Sunday.
How can you fire a coach based on this? Let’s assume the latest affidavits were true. Craig James makes me sick. He is an arrogant jerk and would like do anything to get even with someone who ignores his perceived power with ESPN microphone.
ifdelta: Leach is an ass. Point blank. Adam James might be a jerk, fine, cut him, take away his schalorship. But don’t do something that stupid. Commonsense. BTW, did you have a run-in with Craig James. Did he tap your girlfriend? Or do you just point blank have issues??? If you honestly think a coach shouldn’t be fired over this, especially with head injuries getting as much attention as they are, you are truly a jackass. Leach needed to be the bigger man and he wasn’t. It’s that simple
Oh yeah, if this makes you feel better, CRAIG JAMES IS THE GREATEST FULLBACK IN THE HISTORY OF THE NCAA!!!!!!
FYI, that was a joke. I know you probably can’t detect sarcasm
Re: “Lock his f-cking p-ssy ass in a place so dark that the only way he knows he has a d-ck is to reach down and touch it,”
Now how are you going to sit down @ the old dinner table with Mother, Father and the hot recruit that you want to sign for your college football team after saying something a stupid as that? (Then take your school to court to get rich off of them.)
The standard “I’ll treat him as if he was my own son.”…. will not work for Leach after this fiasco.
All this from a guy who never played a down of college football…….but he sure has that law degree.
Looks good for June Jones! Come to Dallas……..forget Lubbock. Heck even Buddy Holly left town & moved to NYC.
By law doesn’t the Doctor have a duty to act since he was a lisenced physician by Texas. Leach can say what he wants but the doctor did nothing to help the kid if he thought it was wrong. That alone should be alarming because he is lisenced and he should be making the desicions medically not the coach.
StreatorDave, I don’t think you’ve known too many sons of coaches or else you’d understand that they get as much or even more shit from their dad’s who don’t want to be embarrassed by their kids. I knew a few that didn’t even try to play for their dads because they were hard on them, even in the stands as a parent watching someone else coach them.
BTW, if you ever saw some of the things that Bobby did to Pat, you’d understand that he didn’t stray far from what he said to the other parents and don’t forget that most of the parents had coaches like Knight when they grew up and they KNEW what went on and they still sent their kids to play for him.
I don’t think that June Jones would want a lazy, talentless kid and a meddling father, who has the kind of stage that could ruin HIS program if he so much as keeps the kid on the field practicing .11111119981911938329 seconds longer than Craig deems it.
Oy, I meant HAMILTON Burger.
Well, I’m outta here. BTW, while it’s still ongoing, the poll numbers at this moment are:
Who Do You Believe? [Number Of Votes]:
The James family. 1% [ 3 ]
Mike Leach. 83% [ 174 ]
Both. 0% [ 0 ]
Neither. 9% [ 18 ]
Who Cares! 7% [ 15 ]