Texas Tech Suspends Coach Over Abuse Allegation

Texas Tech has suspended football coach Mike Leach after allegations from a player that Leach ordered him placed in dark, solitary confinement in the wake of a concussion. A source tells ESPN that after sophomore receiver Adam James—son of Craig, a standout college and pro running back and now an ESPN analyst—was injured Dec. 16, Leach ordered a trainer to move James “to the darkest place, to clean out the equipment and to make sure that he could not sit or lean. He was confined for three hours.”

The source says the treatment was repeated two days later. Leach’s attorney says the situation was not as severe as described, and that the coach wanted James in a place that was “cooler and darker” than the practice field. Leach—known for an odd, pirate-loving streak—is fighting the suspension, which would keep him from the Red Raiders’ date in the Jan. 2 Alamo Bowl against Michigan State.
(More Texas Tech Red Raiders stories.)