College soccer bowl games sometimes create uncomfortable dance partners, whether it's the coach facing their former team, the school playing for the second time in a season, or the tradition being reunited at the end of one-time rivals. set aside for the reconstitution of the convention.
But perhaps no bowl matchup has been as uncomfortable as Mississippi State played at Texas Tech at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee on Tuesday.
It would be the first time Bulldogs coach Mike Leach faced the Red Raiders after Texas Tech officials fired him in December 2009 for alleged misconduct with a player who suffered a concussion. At the time, Texas Tech officials claimed that they fired Leach with reason and that he was owed nothing. Leach and his lawyers still argue that Tech owed them millions of dollars under the terms of their contract.
"They still owe me for 2009, the last time they won nine games, so maybe they'll deliver the check," Leach said earlier this month. "So we'll see what happens [at the Liberty Bowl]."
Leach, who has a law degree from Pepperdine, is still fighting a legal battle a dozen years later—and he isn't ready to leave any time soon. He has offered to settle with Texas Tech for $2.4 million, which would include an $800,000 longevity bonus he was scheduled to receive the day after he was fired, as well as about $1.6 million in other incentives. I said that he was due.
Leach, 60, was the most winning coach in Texas Tech history with 84 wins from 2000 to 2009, when he was fired.
"It's undeniable that they owed me the money, no one can dispute that," Leach told ESPN on Monday. "When it comes to money, they don't just pay me $2.4 million. They actually owed me four more years, but I've always said I'll settle for $2.4 million and an acknowledgment that I did. Don't do anything wrong."
In January 2011, a Texas appeals court ruled that Leach could not sue for monetary damages because Texas Tech is a state entity with sovereign immunity. The next year, the Texas Supreme Court dismissed Leach's appeal without comment
Leach filed a separate lawsuit against ESPN, the then ESPN broadcaster Craig James, and a public relations firm that James had hired, alleging defamation and slander. Leach was twice accused of ordering James' son, Adam, to stand for hours in a dark place when he suffered an injury. In 2013, a Texas judge gave a summary judgment in favor of ESPN, James, and the public relations firm. The Texas Supreme Court also dismissed Leach's appeal in that case.
As far as Texas Tech officials are concerned, the case with Leach ended with a court ruling.
"The court ruled on the Mike Leach case in 2014," a Texas Tech spokesperson said in a statement. "We have resolved this issue and moved on. We are excited about the upcoming bowl game and the future of Texas Tech Football."
Still, Leach didn't let the monetary dispute go. Just last week, his lawyers filed a new lawsuit against Texas Tech in state district court in Lubbock. The lawsuit, filed by a consulting firm investigating Tech on behalf of Leach, accused the university of failing to meet its obligations under Texas' open records laws.
One of Leach's attorneys, Julie Pettit, said, "I think at this point he wants to know the record as to why exactly he was terminated." "The circumstances about everything were initially suspicious and the more we dig into everything the more suspicious it seems. I think he really wants the truth to come out as to what happened 12 years ago when he ended it." was given."
In 2017, Leach hired Wayne Dolcephino, a former investigative reporter with an ABC affiliate in Houston, to investigate the conduct of Texas Tech executives prior to their firing. Dolcephino has asked the school for telephone records, emails and other materials. Dolcephino has reportedly also been denied a record of sexual assault allegations at Texas Tech.
"The reality, from our point of view, is obviously they are still hiding the documents," Dolcephino said. "It's like where they buried Jimmy Hoffa, it's ridiculous. But that's what they do. We now have enough documents and emails to prove that they lied about him, that there were no other complaints." , and that this investigation was never conducted. , in fact. They, of course, now blame him for that and now their story is that because he sued them, they did not complete the investigation, Which is the exact opposite of what you would do. If you were being prosecuted, you would say 'I want to end the investigation to prove that you didn't screw up that guy.'
While Leach has been unable to defeat Texas Tech on the court, he will eventually get a chance to defeat the Red Raiders on the field at the Liberty Bowl.
"I love Texas Tech," Leach said. "Living at Texas Tech was some of the best years of my life. The Texas Tech fans are absolutely fantastic and have my side. Tech fans will want to see this sum up and I have no problem with them. Best football year We had 10 years in tech and we need to celebrate this together. There was the badass problem at the top."