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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Mike Leach
Read between
December 26 - December 30, 2023
Reputations fluctuate based on what people think, and you can’t control what people think any more than you can control the weather.
Marsha and I didn’t want Chancellor Smith to go anywhere because he was a voice of reason and balance. We held a fundraiser for him that would not only help the school financially, but would also spark some positive publicity and show a strong indication of our support for him. We threw it together in a month and raised $65,000. Bob Knight, Gerald Myers, and several regent members tried to get us to nix it. Hance, who was not chancellor then, actually called me and told me not to do it. I said, “Why wouldn’t I do it? He’s my boss and the chancellor of the school.”
Adam James, who had become known amongst his teammates and coaches for his unjustified sense of entitlement and bad attitude. He was also the son of former SMU football player and ESPN announcer Craig James, the ultimate little-league dad.
In August 2009, Craig James told me he was in business with Chancellor Hance. No doubt Craig was telling me this because he thought it might influence me into giving his son more playing time.
I met with Adam James. “If we were interested in what your dad has to say, we’d invite him to the meetings,” I told him. “We didn’t invite him to the meetings. We’ve got 12 people that evaluate everything you do. Once in a while we might be wrong, but it’s not very often. We arrive at a decision based on the wisdom of those 12 people, not your dad, who is totally biased. We coach you, not your father. If he ever calls here again, we’re going to play it over the speakers to the entire team.”
Bad effort is the kiss of death when you’re evaluating someone.
We could never get him to move out from behind his father’s coattails. Together, they believed that playing time was determined by politics and influence rather than hard work.
I suggested a way out. I said, “Listen, if you don’t want me here, then why don’t we negotiate an exit strategy. We have committed the best recruiting class in the history of Texas Tech. It was ranked 14th in the nation by the online recruiting analysts. We have a great team coming back next season. We have a great chance to have an even more successful team than we did in 2008. If I’m not your guy and you don’t want me here, let’s negotiate an exit strategy. We’ll sign a great class, have a great season, and I’ll resign in December. I will find another job and you can hire somebody that
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People know what I’m like. They knew I’d never abused players, and they knew about Adam James being a malcontent. They knew that his dad was meddlesome. There were even these people from Celina, Texas, where the Jameses live, who would tell me, “Adam’s been a spoiled brat since the beginning.”
The truth of the matter is, I believed the facts would actually come out, which they did for the most part, except for one media entity that appeared ridiculously biased. The other outlets had portrayed things more accurately, but they were overshadowed by the magnitude of ESPN. NBC had it right. CBS had it right. The New York Times had it right. Fox had it right.
Adam went on to say while being deposed under oath that he did not believe that I should have been fired.
“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.” –Abraham Lincoln
head coach, you grow close to the wives and their kids, especially through all of the bowl weeks, when our families hang out in the hospitality rooms and attend all the events together. You see families grow and children get bigger. They become your family too.
I had student assistants sit in on meetings all the time at Tech. They’re entitled to say what they think. I know that’s irregular at most schools, but a fresh set of eyes can be invaluable.
“I did the best in classes that I enjoyed, which is why it’s important to me that my coaches have the ability to make our players enjoy practices and meetings.”
Andy’s a talker, not a shouter. If he saw something he didn’t like, it was, “Listen man, I’m not into that.” He has an offensive lineman’s mentality in terms of accountability, and that really resonates with me.
Something that seems to get overlooked a lot is how important it is to have good energy at practice. The coaches are responsible for that.
Attitude is contagious. It’s the personalities of the coaches and the players interacting that helps keep things interesting, way more than changing up the practice schedule.
Animals don’t stretch before they chase prey. We’ll just start out one-quarter speed, then go to half speed, and then we’re ready to go.
Respect everyone, but fear no one. Do NOT talk to the other team. Make sure we’re great on the sideline. Make sure we have great body language. Make the routine plays. Expect good things to happen. Be a team. Be the most excited to play. Be the best at doing your job.
