Texas Supreme Court denies Mike Leach wrongful termination plea
Since his termination as head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders football program in 2009, Washington State Cougars coach Mike Leach has been embroiled in a wrongful termination lawsuit in Texas, which made it’s way to the state’s highest court, the Texas Supreme Court.
Multiple sources have reported Leach’s suit filed against Texas Tech has been denied by the Texas Supreme Court.
The denial was issued earlier this morning in Austin, Texas.
Coach Leach had filed the wrongful termination lawsuit in Texas against his former employer due to his release after a controversial situation that included former Red Raider Adam James and his father, college football analyst and Texas senate candidate, Craig James.
The lawsuit against Texas Tech also contended an $800,000 bonus due to Mike Leach the day after his release was an element of his dismissal.
One has to wonder if there are not greater political undercurrents which influenced the TSC’s decision in this case. After all, Texas is a Republican state at heart, and Craig James is in the midst of a campaign for a Republican Senate seat.
In Texas politics, if you can smell the smoke, the fire isn’t too far away.
Craig James doesn’t have populist support in the the state given poll numbers, but populist support doesn’t win elections in Texas– having the right people in your back pocket to call in a favor when a favor is needed, does.
I’ll stay away from a full-fledged dive into conspiracy theory for the moment, but things lined up for James just as he should have hoped. The tinfoil hat will stay in the cupboard for now.
This isn’t to say that Mike Leach was without blame in the Adam James situation, and he has admitted it wasn’t a proud moment in his coaching career.
However, when certain forces are at work behind the scenes, even a man with Leach’s power had no chance at a win in a case with such political implications.
