Texas Tech Players Ready To Move On, Suggest Leach Do Likewise

Ousted Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is preparing for a fight to get his old job back.

But the message he should have received from the Red Raiders is clear following Saturday night's 41-31 win over Michigan State in the Valero Alamo Bowl: move on because the team and school have. Leach, the winningest coach in Texas Tech football history, was dismissed last Wednesday because of his alleged mistreatment of receiver Adam James.

The crowd in the Alamodome on Saturday night was definitely pro-Leach, even to the point that the boos directed at James, who was in street clothes on the sidelines, drowned out the band.

"I think the best thing for Tech and for Tech fans right now is just to move on," said running back Baron Batch. "I looked up in the stands and I saw 'Team Leach' and 'Bring Back Leach' (signs) and Leach ain't coming back. That's how it is. We got what we got. We got the coaches we've got. We got the players we've got. The best thing right now is to move on and understand we're still a very good football team with good players and good coaches."

Cornerback Jamar Wall went as far as to say he would offer Leach a bit of a pep talk with the emphasis it's time to spin it forward if he could have a conversation with the embattled coach.

"(I'd tell Leach) that I'm sorry that it happened. It's part of coaching," Wall said. "You can be here today and gone tomorrow. No days are ever promised.

"I'm sure he won't have any problems finding jobs. Maybe now because all the jobs are taken but next year he'll definitely find a job somewhere."

But it had definitely been a turbulent week for the Texas Tech Raiders, who arrived in San Antonio on Monday only to find out 30 minutes later that Leach had been placed on indefinite suspension for the way he dealt with James after he suffered a mild concussion. The school investigated accounts that twice Leach ordered the training staff to seclude James, the son of former SMU star running back and current ESPN college football analyst Craig James, in a shed during practice one day and then an electrical closet the following practice as the team prepared to meet the Spartans.

Leach was said to have ordered the trainers to find the darkest space they could find both days to house James. The belief is that he was seeking to punish and demean James.

Two days after the suspension, Leach was fired with cause after filing a court motion to have the suspension lifted. Leach then went on the offensive, blaming the school for not wanting to pay his contract and also calling out the James family. Leach is seeking either his job back or the money he is owed from a contentious five-year, $12.7 million contract he signed this past February.

Reports also came out Saturday that the team trainer and physician disagreed with Leach's treatment of James.

All the while, the Red Raiders were trying to block out the controversy as they prepared for the Alamo Bowl. The team seemed to rally around James and hint that his mistreatment was not the first incident by Leach.

"We stay together as a family," said senior defensive end Brandon Sharpe. "I mean Adam James, it wasn't all him that did it, there were things leading up to it and we're going to stick behind him 100 percent. As long as we're together and we're still winning we should have our fan base."

Offensive lineman Brandon Carter, who had been temporarily suspended and stripped of his captainship by Leach this season, agreed.

"This was not the first situation," Carter said. "This was just the last straw. Sooner or later, something was going to come out. Adam is part of our family. Hopefully, this washes over for Adam and he can stay and he won't have to go."

The lack of support for Leach was telling. The team's support for interim coach Ruffin McNeill was louder. McNeill, easily the most popular coach on the staff as the defensive coordinator, pulled off a major win that should go a long way during his scheduled job interview with Tech on Monday.

"Speaking for everyone we all want Coach Ruff to be the next head coach," said running back Baron Batch. "That was kind of us just showing that. There's no divisiveness amongst the team or players or anything for that matter. We fully support Coach Ruff and we're ready to run through a brick wall for him."

The school has announced it will do a national search for Leach's replacement. But bringing in a new coach could mean a huge transition from Leach's quirky passing offense that is always at the top of the nation in yards in scoring. Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville has been the first to express interest in the job.

According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Texas Tech administrators are said to be interested in coaches who will keep much of Leach's staff intact, particularly on the defensive side, if they go outside. But clearly the players would just as soon keep it in the family.

"I'd like Ruff to be the coach for everyone's sake," Wall said. "New coaches mean you have to bring in new staff and everything changes. A lot of our guys are already well known to our system and to our defense. ... I think if he (Ruffin McNeill) stays in the system, nothing will happen but us getting better."