Mike Leach lawsuit details Craig James calls, damage to coaches' offices

**wisecav13SWH** · January 15th, 2010, 01:24 PM

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4828405"]Mike Leach lawsuit details Craig James calls, damage to coaches' offices - ESPN@@AMEPARAM@@http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4787853@@AMEPARAM@@4787853[/ame]

Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, in a lawsuit filed against the school last week, alleges that wide receiver Adam James stormed out of the athletic offices yelling an expletive and slammed the outer door to the coaches' office so hard that it split and came off its hinges, causing approximately $1,100 in damage.

The alleged confrontation with the coaches took place after Leach and assistant coach Lincoln Riley had informed James that he was being demoted to third string.

The lawsuit, filed on Jan. 8, also details conversations and messages Leach alleges ESPN broadcaster (and Adam James' father) Craig James had or left with Texas Tech coaches about his son.

Leach was fired Dec. 30, just days before Texas Tech played in the Valero Alamo Bowl, after the family of James said he mistreated the player after he suffered a concussion, including placing him in a dark room by himself during practice. Leach had been suspended by the university the week prior to the game.

Among the details alleged in the lawsuit:

? In September, Craig James called assistant coach Tommy McVay "to tell him, in effect, that you coaches are crazy and you're screwing my kid."

? The same day that he made the call to McVay, Craig James left a message for Riley "stating, in effect, 'You don't know what you're doing. Adam James is the best player at the wide receiver position. ... If you've got the [blank] to call me back, and I don't think you do, call me back.' "

? During practices before the Valero Alamo Bowl, Adam James "told Coach [Bennie] Wylie that Wylie didn't know what he was doing and James' effort was just fine."

? Adam James "voluntarily placed himself into the electrical closet and apparently took pictures with his phone camera."

? Texas Tech President Guy Bailey advised Leach that he thought Chancellor Kent Hance was going to try to "railroad" Leach, because of a business relationship between James and Hance.

A statement recently released by the James family on Thursday read: "Since the James family is not a party to the lawsuit, we deem it inappropriate to discuss it."

Craig James, who was in Austin on Thursday for a speaking engagement, declined to comment on allegations by Leach that he lobbied for more playing time for his son.

"That's a matter that Texas Tech and the coach are dealing with right now and it would be inappropriate for me to say anything about it," said James, who said he thinks his son is handling the situation well.

"Adam has been able to endure this because of the love of his teammates," Craig James said. "His teammates know who Adam is, they've seen him practice for three years and they love him. That's the comfort we have as a a family ... he loves Texas Tech."

Court documents filed in the lawsuit -- which amended one filed on Dec. 29 seeking a temporary injunction to allow Leach to coach in the bowl game -- said statements from university administrators "were made intentionally" to harm Leach and expose him to financial harm.

"The mere allegation that a head football coach would mistreat a student athlete threatens that coach's reputation and prospects for future employment and exposes him to ridicule and contempt," Leach's attorney, Ted Liggett, said in the court filing.

Texas Tech spokeswoman Sally Post said last week that the school does not comment on pending litigation.

"We're confident that the facts in this matter speak for themselves," she said.

**sup-rbeast** · January 15th, 2010, 03:34 PM

The Jameses are FOS...anybody with any sense knows that. The problem here wasn't the coach...it was an "athlete" who is the son of a true athlete. As such he feels a sense of entitlement and his daddy donates tons of money to the college and his brat of a son doesn't see the field. The kid come to practice dressed like a thug, makes a mockery of what the coach instructs him to do while the other players PRACTICE, gets sent off the field by the coach because of his actions, and then presents the situation in a much worse light than it ever was. Leach wasn't the problem....Adam and Craig James are the problems, and I'm afraid Tubbs is about to find that out.