Has anyone else read Mike Leach's autobiography? I picked it up from the library Friday and read it over the weekend. Pretty interesting read. I think three chapters are focused on his time at TTU, and wow was he screwed over if everything played out the way he said it happened. If any (friendly) TTU fans come by, I'd be curious to see what their thoughts are.

Coach Tubs is mentioned briefly when Leach writes about the irony of Leach being fired for allegedly mistreating Craig James' son and then Tuberville firing TTU's strength coach in favor of bringing in his own guy from Auburn, who in turn was being sued by a former player who was apparently severely injured during some rehab treatment. Leach does get a little whiny at times, but it doesn't detract much from the book as a whole.

Overall I'd say check it out if you want to get a good picture of what went down in Lubbock. It's biased, of course, but Leach backs up all his arguments with facts and even includes copies of some of the more damning emails from Craig James' PR firm and others within TTU. There's plenty of lawyer talk in there too since Leach got his JD from Pepperdine.

http://www.amazon.com/Swing-Your-Sword-L...1938120124

(01-20-2014 12:12 PM)CDS86 Wrote:  Has anyone else read Mike Leach's autobiography? I picked it up from the library Friday and read it over the weekend. Pretty interesting read. I think three chapters are focused on his time at TTU, and wow was he screwed over if everything played out the way he said it happened. If any (friendly) TTU fans come by, I'd be curious to see what their thoughts are.

Coach Tubs is mentioned briefly when Leach writes about the irony of Leach being fired for allegedly mistreating Craig James' son and then Tuberville firing TTU's strength coach in favor of bringing in his own guy from Auburn, who in turn was being sued by a former player who was apparently severely injured during some rehab treatment. Leach does get a little whiny at times, but it doesn't detract much from the book as a whole.

Overall I'd say check it out if you want to get a good picture of what went down in Lubbock. It's biased, of course, but Leach backs up all his arguments with facts and even includes copies of some of the more damning emails from Craig James' PR firm and others within TTU. There's plenty of lawyer talk in there too since Leach got his JD from Pepperdine.

http://www.amazon.com/Swing-Your-Sword-L...1938120124

Does he talk about his life and philosophy and "pirate" obsession - If so I might have to pick up a copy.

Hard not to like the guy - seems like a character and his style of offense couldn't be more of a blast to watch.

Wouldn't mind seeing him on our sidelines someday...

(01-20-2014 03:56 PM)Eastside_J Wrote:  

(01-20-2014 12:12 PM)CDS86 Wrote:  Has anyone else read Mike Leach's autobiography? I picked it up from the library Friday and read it over the weekend. Pretty interesting read. I think three chapters are focused on his time at TTU, and wow was he screwed over if everything played out the way he said it happened. If any (friendly) TTU fans come by, I'd be curious to see what their thoughts are.

Coach Tubs is mentioned briefly when Leach writes about the irony of Leach being fired for allegedly mistreating Craig James' son and then Tuberville firing TTU's strength coach in favor of bringing in his own guy from Auburn, who in turn was being sued by a former player who was apparently severely injured during some rehab treatment. Leach does get a little whiny at times, but it doesn't detract much from the book as a whole.

Overall I'd say check it out if you want to get a good picture of what went down in Lubbock. It's biased, of course, but Leach backs up all his arguments with facts and even includes copies of some of the more damning emails from Craig James' PR firm and others within TTU. There's plenty of lawyer talk in there too since Leach got his JD from Pepperdine.

http://www.amazon.com/Swing-Your-Sword-L...1938120124

Does he talk about his life and philosophy and "pirate" obsession - If so I might have to pick up a copy.

Hard not to like the guy - seems like a character and his style of offense couldn't be more of a blast to watch.

Wouldn't mind seeing him on our sidelines someday...

Yeah, he goes through his entire life including each stop of his coaching career, his philosophies, interests etc. He mentions the pirate interest quite frequently, including one story where he brought a 3' sword into a team meeting and freaked some players out.

Swing Your Sword is an exceptional book about a one-of-a-kind coach and human being. I think I read it cover to cover in 2 days. I couldn't believe the kind of meddling Craig James had with his son when Leach was HC of Texas Tech. The guy actually got Leach's OWN chancellor to side with him over the coach. Amazing.

Careful...you might attract the attention of some TTech fans.

I tend to like swashbucklers.

And his offense is tons of fun.

(01-20-2014 04:19 PM)cinbinsportsfan Wrote:  Swing Your Sword is an exceptional book about a one-of-a-kind coach and human being. I think I read it cover to cover in 2 days. I couldn't believe the kind of meddling Craig James had with his son when Leach was HC of Texas Tech. The guy actually got Leach's OWN chancellor to side with him over the coach. Amazing.

I think the chancellor and AD were just PO'd about getting outmaneuvered by Leach during his last contract negotiations (at least according to Leach). The James situation was just a convenient excuse to not pay his bonus and fire him, despite the evidence pointing to no wrongdoing on Leach's part.

I need to look up what, if anything, came of that case...

(01-20-2014 09:00 PM)CDS86 Wrote:  

(01-20-2014 04:19 PM)cinbinsportsfan Wrote:  Swing Your Sword is an exceptional book about a one-of-a-kind coach and human being. I think I read it cover to cover in 2 days. I couldn't believe the kind of meddling Craig James had with his son when Leach was HC of Texas Tech. The guy actually got Leach's OWN chancellor to side with him over the coach. Amazing.

I think the chancellor and AD were just PO'd about getting outmaneuvered by Leach during his last contract negotiations (at least according to Leach). The James situation was just a convenient excuse to not pay his bonus and fire him, despite the evidence pointing to no wrongdoing on Leach's part.

I need to look up what, if anything, came of that case...

Yea if I remember correctly there was some stipulation in his contract where he was owed like $800,000 for hitting some mark (staying on for 5 straight years or whatever). If he had made it to January 1st, he would have been owed that money, but Texas Tech fired him on December 31st I think. That was one of the weirder parts about the whole situation.