|
Fans of Texas Tech football gathered in San Antonio on Saturday to cheer on their team at the Alamo Bowl, despite the controversy over fired head coach Mike Leach. TPR’s Terry Gildea has the story.
January 4, 2010 · Outside the AlamoDome on Saturday night, Texas Tech fans were tailgating, and showing their support for recently fired head coach Mike Leach. Fan and Tech alum Mark Yarboro traveled from Frisco for the game. He called the day Leach was fired, one of the darkest moments in Texas Tech history.
“Coach Leach didn’t deserve to be fired. The administration wanted to get rid of him all along since they had the disagreement over the contract,” said Yarboro.
Leach was fired last week for allegedly mistreating Tech wide receiver Adam James after the player had been diagnosed with a concussion. Speaking on ESPN last week, Leach said that university officials used the incident as an opportunity to fire him, because they were still angry over a difficult contract negotiation last year. San Antonio fan and alum Alan Welch said both sides could have tried harder to work things out.
“I think everybody’s wrong in this scenario. I don’t think there’s anybody that lily white. But, I’m disappointed it had to be so sudden, and I just don’t it was handled well at all,” said Welch.
Inside the dome, fans booed wide receiver Adam James as the team entered the tunnel at halftime. But despite the adversity facing them, Texas Tech stayed focused in a competitive football seizing the lead in the fourth quarter and a victory over the Michigan State Spartans. At the post game press conference, interim Tech coach Ruffin McNeill reflected on a difficult week for him and his team.
“This is the most challenging week I’ve had in my 29 years of coaching. It was a fun challenge, though. Make sure you understand that. It was fun. It was challenging, but it was fun. And this is the most rewarding night I’ve had in my coaching career,” McNeill.
McNeill says he wants to be the next head coach at Texas Tech. It was Mike Leach who brought McNeill to Tech ten years ago, and McNeill has been working on staff as the defensive coordinator since 2007. The players appear to be united behind him. Junior running back Baron Batch is anxious to move forward.
“I looked up in the stands, I saw “Team Leach,” “Bring Back Leach.” Leach isn’t coming back. So I think the best thing right now is just to move on and to understand that we are still a really good football team with really good players and good coaches,” said Batch.
As the drama between Mike Leach and Texas Tech continues to play out, one thing is certain. The football team brought a positive end to a week the university would like to forget.
|
