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When Florida's football coach Urban Meyer said "Whoops! I was just kidding when I announced I was retiring.", my first thoughts were of Meyer's 18-year-old daughter. The news reports on Meyer's retirement 24 hours before said, when Meyer gathered his family about him around Christmas day and told them about his plans, his daughter gleefully replied "I've got my daddy back."
I hope those reports were incorrect because I hate the thought of a fatherless 18-year-old getting her hopes raised at Christmas only to have them crushed the following day.
When Meyer announced his "retirement" I figured one of two things: (1) Meyer's health was far worse than he was letting on; and/or (2) He would undergo treatment for a year or two or three and then accept his pick of any other coaching job he wanted, possibly even at Notre Dame or Southern California. In other words, I thought within three years Meyer would either be back coaching somewhere or dead.
When he announced his un-retirement I was not only saddened for his daughter, but some of my hopes were dashed as well. I was figuring that coaching Florida would be the only job Bob Stoops would leave Oklahoma for and I really want to see Stoops leave Oklahoma. Nothing against the coach -- quite the opposite, in fact: He's simply too good and he constantly has his Sooners too competitive with my beloved Texas Longhorns. I respect Bob Stoops which is more than I can say for some of his most-remembered predecessors.
Texas Tech's Mike Leach, however, is not someone I respect. I consider him a
renegade coach who should be drummed out of the profession, so, unlike all the news surrounding Meyer, I was not surprised at all to hear that Leach had been suspended by Tech for his actions surrounding the son of former SMU great and current ESPN analyst Craig James. According to reports, Leach endangered the health of the younger James by ignoring the fact that James had suffered a concussion a couple of weeks ago.
I remember attending a game between Tech and SMU. In the fourth quarter, with Tech comfortably ahead by three or four touchdowns, Leach still had his first team on the field running his point-a-minute offense. A year later I saw a game between Tech and somebody -- it doesn't matter who -- on television. Tech, up four touchdowns, had a first down with the ball on its opponent's seven yard line with less than a minute left to play. Now a class coach in that position -- a Meyer, a Stoops or Texas' Mack Brown -- has his quarterback take a knee at that point. I know, I've seen them do it. But not Leach. That SOB calls a timeout to stop the clock in an effort to call a play that will allow his first-string quarterback, who's still in the game, throw one more touchdown.
Leach believes he hasn't received any respect even though he has amassed a credible won-loss record at Tech. He's right, he hasn't received much respect. But it has nothing to do with Ws and Ls. He has to learn that there's still some truth in that old standby about "It's how you play the game that counts."
I hope those reports were incorrect because I hate the thought of a fatherless 18-year-old getting her hopes raised at Christmas only to have them crushed the following day.
When Meyer announced his "retirement" I figured one of two things: (1) Meyer's health was far worse than he was letting on; and/or (2) He would undergo treatment for a year or two or three and then accept his pick of any other coaching job he wanted, possibly even at Notre Dame or Southern California. In other words, I thought within three years Meyer would either be back coaching somewhere or dead.
When he announced his un-retirement I was not only saddened for his daughter, but some of my hopes were dashed as well. I was figuring that coaching Florida would be the only job Bob Stoops would leave Oklahoma for and I really want to see Stoops leave Oklahoma. Nothing against the coach -- quite the opposite, in fact: He's simply too good and he constantly has his Sooners too competitive with my beloved Texas Longhorns. I respect Bob Stoops which is more than I can say for some of his most-remembered predecessors.
Texas Tech's Mike Leach, however, is not someone I respect. I consider him a
renegade coach who should be drummed out of the profession, so, unlike all the news surrounding Meyer, I was not surprised at all to hear that Leach had been suspended by Tech for his actions surrounding the son of former SMU great and current ESPN analyst Craig James. According to reports, Leach endangered the health of the younger James by ignoring the fact that James had suffered a concussion a couple of weeks ago.I remember attending a game between Tech and SMU. In the fourth quarter, with Tech comfortably ahead by three or four touchdowns, Leach still had his first team on the field running his point-a-minute offense. A year later I saw a game between Tech and somebody -- it doesn't matter who -- on television. Tech, up four touchdowns, had a first down with the ball on its opponent's seven yard line with less than a minute left to play. Now a class coach in that position -- a Meyer, a Stoops or Texas' Mack Brown -- has his quarterback take a knee at that point. I know, I've seen them do it. But not Leach. That SOB calls a timeout to stop the clock in an effort to call a play that will allow his first-string quarterback, who's still in the game, throw one more touchdown.
Leach believes he hasn't received any respect even though he has amassed a credible won-loss record at Tech. He's right, he hasn't received much respect. But it has nothing to do with Ws and Ls. He has to learn that there's still some truth in that old standby about "It's how you play the game that counts."
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