Leach Firing: Adam James in the ‘electrical closet’

You’ve heard the news, of course, but what exactly went on to lead to Mike Leach’s firing at Texas Tech?

I’ve read multiple stories on the firing and the incident where Leach allegedly locked student-athlete, Adam James, son of ESPN analyst Craig James, in an ‘electrical closet.’  It’s fascinating.  Was this a disgruntled 2nd stringer who wanted to get his coach, who was already on thin ice because of previously contentious contract negotiations, in trouble by uglifying a somewhat normal procedure (sending an injured player to a training room during practice)?   Or was this strictly a zany move by a somewhat eccentric coach?  Despite the truth being under investigation, it resulted in Leach’s firing and ESPN is now pretending we actually care about James’ playing status for the Michigan State game.

As James’ father said, it is indeed a ‘delicate’ situation.  Of course, if Adam was in fact locked in a ‘closet,’ or a confined space, for an appreciable amount of time, there could also be legal consequences for Leach (false imprisonment).  Common sense will tell you that putting a student-athlete in a small, dark room is no more normal as it is ethical.

Is that what really happened, though?

This is an alleged video of James in the closet that day, recorded on his phone.  Representatives of James’ family gave this video to a TV station in Texas claiming it to be legit:

If that’s a real video from that day, then it (as expected) doesn’t line up with Leach’s attorney’s explanation:

My observations:   Leach’s attorney is not articulate and thus, his stuttering makes him sound awful — like he’s lying.  It also seems somewhat odd that he’s even doing the detailed TV interview in the first place. Ultimately, I’m not convinced by his side of things from this segment.

Then you have Adam James, who former teammates and Leach have called a slacker (Current teammates, however, back James).  James is the son of ESPN-analyst, Craig James, who supposedly hangs around his son & Texas Tech like a… leach (zing!)  With James’ ties to ESPN, any story against Coach Leach would most likely be slanted in favor of the network affiliate’s son, making it much easier to take to the public any of Leach’s questionable coaching tactics.  As alluded to before, Leach’s disagreements with Texas Tech regarding his contract and loyalty to the program already painted him on the wrong side of things.  It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if this was all contrived as some sort of way to get rid of Leach, who has otherwise done nothing but amazing things for Texas Tech’s program. I’m not typically gung-ho on intricate conspiracy theories, but there are a lot of variables at play here that could make it plausible.

What do you believe?