Mike Leach Firing

I promised to give my take on the Mike Leach firing at Texas Tech, so here it is. In case you aren't familiar with the details, one of Tech's players, Adam James, claimed that Leach locked him in a closet and made him stand for 3 hours during practice on two occasions because he had a concussion and could not practice. There is this release where Texas Tech head athletic trainer Steve Pincock stated that Leach instructed him to "lock" James in a dark place, and that he disagreed with Leach's treatment of the player. Team physician Dr. Michael Phy also stated he did not agree with this treatment. However, Leach says that he did not force James to stand in a closet, and has filed a lawsuit against Texas Tech over the firing. But other players have come out and publicly questioned Leach's handling of players. The fact of the matter is, we will never know the entire truth. As an athletic trainer, I can promise you that the protocol for handling a player with a concussion during practice is not locking them in a dark closet and having them stand for 3 hours. If Leach truly had the player do this, then he deserved to be fired. From all indications, Leach appears to be a "quirky guy", who did not exactly have the best people skills. Treating an injured player in this manner is just not acceptable. Some people may question the athletic trainer for following Leach's orders. In his defense, he was really in a tough position. The head coach is essentially your boss, and most of them make millions of dollars and have the power to fire the athletic trainer. It can be a tough relationship. As an athletic trainer, your job is to look out for the medical interests of the athletes and place their personal health above everything else. As a coach, your job and goal is to win, and sometimes these two areas collide. If this alleged abuse of an injured athlete was true, then hopefully this incident will shed light on the situation and prevent these circumstances from occurring again.