Sticking with the sports theme of today’s posts, Missouri’s surprisingly decisive victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders last Saturday apparently prompted Tech head coach Mike Leach to channel the judge in OJ Simpson’s murder trial to explain the Raiders’ pratfall:
“What happens with players, [it’s] just like Judge Lance Ito gets in the middle of a big trial and decides it’s more important for him to be a movie star than it is to be a judge,” said Leach, referring to the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial. “He had problems doing his [job] from one snap to the next.
“So if it can happen to good old Judge Ito, I’m sure it can happen to 18-22-year-olds.”
It can happen to football coaches, too.
Leach has developed an idiosyncratic and generally effective offense at Tech, but he has largely ignored the development of a strong enough defensive component to make Tech a truly balanced, conference championship-caliber program. Earlier this season, immediately after Mike Gundy went batshit, Leach unceremoniously fired Tech’s defensive coordinator, who happened to be Tech’s most experienced and admired assistant coach. Leach elevated a position coach to defensive coordinator and Tech’s defensive limitations were disguised during its next three games, which were wins over teams with easily-defended offenses (Northwestern State, Iowa State and Texas A&M). However, when exposed to Missouri’s salty offense this past Saturday, the Red Raiders’ defense wilted, just as it did earlier in the season during the Oklahoma State game. The Red Raiders have suffered from a similar syndrome during each of Leach’s eight years at Tech.
Thus, Leach’s teams run up big scores and statistics against teams of inferior ability, but struggle against well-balanced teams of equal or better ability. Tech under Leach has never played in a Big 12 championship game. His treatment of assistant coaches is unlikely to result in the development of a strong coaching staff. Despite his relentless self-promotion, Leach’s Tech program appears to elevate form over substance and may well have peaked. If it has, the descent is not likely to be pleasant.
Update: Coach Leach has a selective memory, too.
