Double T - Double Cross
978-0-9831268-2-9 Double T - Double Cross (print edition)
978-0-9831268-3-6 Double T - Double Cross (electronic edition)
202 Pages - 6 x 9 - Sports - Soft cover - $19.95
November Release
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Double T Double Cross Book introduction by Michael Lee Lanning. Mike Leach growing Texas Tech football. Damaging emails from two Regents. “Contract obligates TTU to pay ‘completion bonuses’ (800K in 2009 and 200K in 2010) only if he is head football coach at University as of December 31, 2009 … but if we fired him on November 30, 2009, contract does not entitle him to receive the completion bonus.” Email from Regent Jerry Turner to Regents John Scovell and Larry Anders, February 20, 2009
Outrage by former Regent. The Adam James video. Craig James’ ever-changing story. Craig James, the helicopter dad Craig James then called Tech Director of Football Operations Tommy McVay, telling him in effect, “you coaches are crazy and you’re screwing my kid.” When he got no satisfaction from McVey, the elder James called Riley and left a message, stating, “You don’t know what you are doing. Adam James is the best player at the wide receiver position. If you’ve got the balls to call me back, and I don’t think you do, call me back.”
… Leach asked Adam to have his father cease his calls to the Tech coaching staff. Adam apparently relayed the request because Craig James did stop his calls to the coaches. He did not, however, stop lobbying for his son. It appears that he soon began telephoning Chancellor Kent Hance, Regent Larry Anders and other school administrators to complain about Adam’s lack of playing time. Craig James & the SMU scandal.
Book Excerpts
As research progressed, I quickly discovered the Leach supporters to be more available and forthright than the Texas Tech University administrators, who seemed to have adopted a deep-bunker mentality. It soon became apparent that something was just not right—morally or legally. From the outset, the firing of Mike Leach appeared to be more the result of the good old boy buddy system at work than any sound business practice in play, more about personal politics for control than basic professionalism, and more about finances than fairness. But I wanted to gather all the evidence and details in order to present a fair analysis.
As Leach boosted his number of wins and earned a bowl game each season, his popularity among the fans rose and so did the revenues he brought in. During Leach’s ten years at Tech, the university was able to invest more than $84 million dollars to enlarge and improve the team’s stadium. Known as Jones Stadium and seating 53,000 when Leach arrived … Tech’s own revenues bought “the house that Mike built,” as it is sometimes known, to a seating capacity of 60,454, a 175,000-square-foot press box...
“I strongly urge you to not close this matter concerning Adam James … I don’t want to eliminate our ability to use this to our advantage should we determine to use it to terminate Leach.” Email from Regent Larry Anders to Chancellor Kent Hance, December 27, 2009
Windy Sitton, the first female mayor of Lubbock and a former Texas Tech University Board of Regents member, emailed Vice Chair Jerry Turner hours after the announcement of Leach’s termination … “I want you to know that I am very upset with the end result of what happened today … Mike Leach is not perfect by any means, but he cares about his students, he wins games, he fills the seats, he has brought us from last to second in graduation rates. I do not understand why TT has never supported him. I guess we just want to go back to mediocrity. Jerry, I know his firing has been in the works since the Chancellor and the AD were out maneuvered by Leach. That is our problem. The problem rests with arrogance of the Chancellor and the ineptness of the AD. Everyone sees through this injustice to Mike Leach and Texas Tech …”
The evidence that Craig James presented to the world was a 16-second, jerkily amateurish cell phone video shot on December 19 showing Adam allegedly confined in an “electrical closet” while the rest of the team practiced for the Alamo Bowl. However, the hairtrigger first response to activate a public relations firm rather than rush his son to a doctor indicates that the James complaint was much more about Adam’s lack of playing time and star treatment than about Adam’s “playing” time in an electrical closet.
Once Craig James accomplished his objective of getting Leach terminated, he seemingly changed his position and his stories. He now claimed, despite the emails and witness statements that proved otherwise, that he was surprised by the firing of Leach and that all he ever wanted was to look out for the health of his son and to receive an apology from the coach … Meanwhile, James and his employer ESPN seemed to be doing everything possible—spiritual or not—to ruin Leach’s reputation as a coach and as an individual.
Leach continued, “I can understand a father being a fan of his son, being supportive of his son. But at some point coaches have to be allowed to coach … Just because you have influence, power and a microphone in front of you doesn’t mean that your son should have any more right to play than the other guys.” The elder James attended so many practices and made so many phone calls to the coaching staff that they soon began referring to him as a “helicopter dad” for the way he kept “dropping in and hovering.” They also less politely called him a “junior high dad” and a “little league dad” because of his interference.
He did admit, however, while under oath in his sworn deposition on March 13, 2010, “I never accepted anything from an SMU administrative official, but I was 18 or 19 years old, and you know, I’m not going to say that I didn’t take 20 or 50 bucks at a party if a booster came up to me.”
Eric Morris played inside receiver … sent a “To Whom It May Concern” letter about James. He stated, “You can find out a lot about a person after playing three years of college football with them … He expected people to baby him and that he was going to make it solely on the fact that his father was a very successful player … he always seemed to have a negative attitude towards the football program the majority of the time.”
Graham Harrell … said that James had a negative impact on the team … “the most detrimental part of Adam was his off the field attitude and actions. In the locker room and away from the facilities Adam used any opportunity he had to tell other players that he was being treated unfairly … Adam pretty consistently talked bad about the coaches or down played the importance of working hard when he was off the field … Because of Adam’s work ethic and attitude, many of the players on last year’s team had a hard time trusting him or relying on him because he was not always practicing and we had seen his laziness during the off season.” On September 10, 2009 receiver coach Lincoln Riley, a former Texas Tech walk-on quarterback, called Adam James into his office. Riley showed him film displaying what the coach called “poor effort” and informed him that he was demoted to third team. James stormed out of the room screaming “Fuck you” in front of Riley, staff, and fellow players. He slammed the office door so hard he caused $1,100 in damages… “On the second occasion … our equipment manager, suggested using the visiting team media room. I walked Adam to the room, which was as least as big as a two-car garage. Inside the room is an electrical closet. I looked in the closet and stated that there was ‘no way Adam would be placed in there.’ I shut the door to the electrical closet, and it was never opened again. At no time during the practice was Adam ever placed in the electrical closet. The door to the media room was never locked, and trainers attending to Adam stated that he was sitting at times during the practice. Adam was never locked in any facility, and was never placed in an electrical closet or tight space, or instructed to do so.” Texas Tech’s initial investigation showed no wrongdoing by Mike Leach. The Pay for Play Board of Regents. According to a 2010 report by the watchdog group Texans for Public Justice, Anders contributed $416,546 to Governor Rick Perry’s campaign between 2001 and 2010. Perry is the governor who appointed Anders to the Tech Board of Regents. Jerry Turner, also a Tech alumnus who graduated in 1968 after being the captain of the football team, was another regent and confidant of Hance’s. He earned his law degree at Vanderbilt University before becoming a partner at Andrews Kurth, L.L.P. in Austin. Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed Turner to the Board of Regents in 2007, where he participated in the Leach contract negotiations as a board member.
On December 31, 2009 Head Trainer Pincock offered his statement, “… Adam was placed in the sports medicine garage, there is no lock on this building. Normally, injured players are asked to perform exercises, however Adam could not participate in these drills, and was originally asked to walk around the field during practice. Adam showed up to practice in street clothes, no team gear, and dark sunglasses. Adam walked about 40 to 50 yards, very slowly and with a noncaring attitude. Coach Leach noticed Adam’s poor effort and non-team attire, and asked that Adam be placed in a location where sunlight could not bother him as he was wearing sunglasses. Two trainers, including myself, monitored Adam at all times. I instructed Adam to stay in the garage and out of the sun, so the light would not worsen his condition. While in the garage, Adam was walking around, eating ice, sitting on the ground, and, at one point, sleeping; at no point was there any enforcement to make Adam stand up. Adam was checked by doctors every day.”
By the afternoon of December 22, after only two days of interviews, Bingham considered her investigation into the Adam James incidents complete … Bingham presented her findings: (1) Adam James had a poor attitude both on and off the field and was a discipline problem; (2) James had broken an office door in a fit of anger about being moved to third team; (3) Craig James made repeated complaints about his son’s playing time; (4) Adam James claimed to have a concussion and showed up at practice out of uniform and wearing sunglasses; (5) Mike Leach was concerned it would affect team morale if James was allowed to remain on the field; (6) Leach instructed his head trainer Steve Pincock to place James somewhere it was dark because he was sensitive to light due to the concussion; (7) Pincock selected the equipment garage; (8) James sat down, laughed, got ice, drank water while in the garage and left the building to go to the bathroom; (9) Neither Leach nor Pincock, nor anyone else ever ordered James to go into an electrical closet; (10) Neither Leach nor anyone else ever locked James inside any facility; (11) Assistant Trainer Jordon Williams confirmed that Leach never used profane language in front of James; (12) Williams was outside the garage and the media room to monitor James’ condition; (13) James was not physically harmed or distressed by his treatment.
Conferring with and supporting Hance on the Board of Regents, for one, was Lubbock native and Tech graduate Larry Anders, the chairman and majority owner of Summit Alliance Companies, a Dallas investment advisory and financial services firm. He joined the Board of Regents in 2005 and was reappointed in 2011, acting as vice chairman of the Board during Leach’s contract negotiations. From March 2, 2009 to February 24, 2011 he served as chairman of the Board.
Also among Hance’s regular email correspondents on the subject of the future of Texas Tech were some devoted boosters who generously contribute to the university’s coffers. One of them was yet another Tech graduate Jim Sowell. He formed Jim Sowell Construction Company in 1972, an organization which grew to become one of the largest subdivision developers in Texas. His business, now known as Sowell & Co., is based in Dallas. According to Larry Burton, featured columnist on bleacherreport.com <http://bleacherreport.com>, in an article on January 9, 2010, “Sowell made his money in construction and is used to getting in the dirt for results.” Sowell is also a frequent contributor to political causes, giving $47,500 to then Governor George Bush in 2000, according to Texans for Public Justice. Sowell served on the Tech Board of Regents from 1995 to 2001—prior to the Hance regime—so he was no longer playing a formal role in university business at the time of the Leach contract negotiations. Informally, however, he maintained contact with Hance, Anders, and Turner; he became what looked like the leading advocate in the movement to fire Leach, or at least to limit his contract.