Tech fans glad to see contract extension
Many Texas Tech football fans were glad to hear Thursday that their favorite pirate will stay docked at Jones AT&T Stadium for five more years.
“I think it’s a spectacular idea,” said Wade Faulkenberry, a Tech student and football fan, after head coach Mike Leach signed a contract extension.
Faulkenberry of Ballinger said though his hometown is more than three hours away from the university, Tech is “our number one football school” — a distinction he credits to the team’s success under Leach.
“Leach brought Texas Tech the best season they’ve ever had — he’s actually made Texas Tech a legitimate program,” he said of last year’s 11-2 season and the 76-39 record the team has tallied in Leach’s nine seasons. “He’s done things that other coaches couldn’t do.”
Wes Bacarisse said he wasn’t surprised to see Thursday evening’s news conference in which Leach, Tech Chancellor Kent Hance and Athletic Director Gerald Myers said they’d come to terms.
“I don’t think Leach wants to go anywhere,” said Bacarisse, a December graduate of Tech. “He’s just trying to bring attention to Tech.
“He’s just like Bobby Knight. Leach, being the pirate, he brings us just as much attention.”
Doug Allen said he was glad to see Leach agree to stay until 2013, but believes the university lost a “great opportunity in the press” by changing the subject from the success of the 2008 season to the contract squabble.
“We became the laughing stock of the athletic community after our greatest year,” he said. “I think it’s ridiculous that the chancellor and the athletics director have turned such a positive into a negative. It’s sad that people as professional as that played it out in the press.”
Allen said he was equally irritated in how the conflict went beyond the key points that the coach and administrators could not agree on.
“It had nothing to do with money and everything to do with egos,” he said.
Jason Moore, a self-described 31-year fan of Tech football, said he didn’t understand why Leach hesitated to sign the contract.
“I’d take it in a heartbeat if I was a coach,” he said. “I wouldn’t have complained at all.”
Sarah Studdard, a senior at Tech, said she is glad to see Leach stay because of his success in bringing publicity to her school.
“He’s gotten our team pretty far and I think he can still do it,” she said. “Not that we’re not famous enough on our own, but he got our name out there.”
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Expanded Coverage
Feb 20, 2009
• Leach, Tech reach deal
• Tech fans glad to see contract extension
• Future players, assistant coach relieved Leach is staying
• Mike Leach Contract
Feb 18, 2009
• Tech, Leach drama moves to national stage
• Firing would shock Leach
Feb 17, 2009
• Leach’s deadline passes with no new agreement
• Dozens rally at Tech in effort to Keep Leach’
Feb 16, 2009
• Clock running down on contract
Feb 13, 2009
• Tech ‘will not even respond’ to Leach counter
Feb 10, 2009
• Agent: Leach has shown his loyalty
Feb 7, 2009
• Both sides frustrated with Leach contract process
• Records reveal regent’s frustration with agents
• Texas Tech’s Dec. 5 proposal for Mike Leach’s Contract Extension
• Mike Leach’s Dec. 5 Contract Counter-Offer
• Continued: Mike Leach’s Dec. 5 Contract Counter-Offer
• Texas Tech’s Jan. 9 proposal for Mike Leach’s Contract Extension
• Mike Leach’s Jan. 20 Contract Counter-Offer
• Mike Leach’s Feb. 10 Counter-Offer
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Let’s get one thing straight, the best record for Tech was not last season. It was in 1973, 11-1 with a win over Tennessee in the Gator Bowl. Jim Carlen was the coach.
Tech was also 11-1 in 1953, with a win over Auburn in the Gator Bowl. Weaver was the coach.
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Hey aggie 76,
You are the typical aggie fan with your low class comments. You guys are mad because you can’t figure out Leach’s game. Can you even remember the last time you won against us.
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To the last response, all i can muster is a laugh! Aggie in the name is all I need. As a tech student, all i can say is that thank god I didn’t follow the family tradition of going to A.T.M. After being accepted to the Aggie tradition i soon realized that the school does not offer what it used to. A.T.M, what a joke, so glad i went to the school that I chose
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To the last response, all i can muster is a laugh! Aggie in the name is all I need. As a tech student, all i can say is that thank god I didn’t follow the family tradition of going to A.T.M. After being accepted to the Aggie tradition i soon realized that the school does not offer what it used to. A.T.M, what a joke, so glad i went to the school that I chose
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damnifiknow…….. would the last person leaving Broadway Drug Store please turn out the lites…… I’m going back to my sons high school baseball program- it’s consistent -it’s genuine – it’s predictable -
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Hey Brett. 1973 really! This is 2009! With fans like you who needs aggies.
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HUGH-
I think brett was referring to the kid in the article that said this was the best season in school history, and college football wouldn’t be half of what it is today if it wasn’t for the history of it.
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1973 – poor Jim Carlen was a lot like Mike Leach. He ruffled some feathers with a small but powerful group of pompous business leaders down at the Lubbock Club. He was run off just a few seasons after 1973. One of the best coaches we ever had.
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Im gllad that COACH Leach is staying,although it is still unbelivable that the contract mess played out in the local press and nationalpress the way it did, that should have never happened, did Hance and myers actually think that the fans of Tech were going to stand byand see the future of Tech football go down the drain, many people are glad this is over but many people wont forget either.. go TECH…
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So glad to see this settled. Love Coach Leach and TT Football. It’s time to move forward. PLEASE, no more negative comments. We need to look to the future becasuse it is bright! Forget the past, bury the hatchet and support YOUR Red Raiders!!! I have ALWAYS believed that Coach Leach loves Lubbock, Texas Tech, and coaching here. It’s good for Tech and recruits to see that other schools would like to have him. It lets them know how lucky we are to have him. It’s also good to have his name consistently mentioned. It continually gives Tech attention. Good or bad, they recognize the name and it stays in their minds. Leach is masterful in keeping Tech in the lime light. He has kept Tech in the media since last summer when the football magazines came out. Remember all the attention we were getting? He is all over ESPN this morning. I love it!!! Glad he’s back. Can’t wait for next season!!!
GUNS UP!!!! WRECK EM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Brett, by record only were those two season better. But against the level of competition Tech faced, especially that stretch with Nebraska, at A&M, at KU, UT, OSU and at OU was as tough or tougher than any we’ve faced in the school’s history. Tech has never been ranked as high as they were this year and never were we ever as talked about as much.
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Boys, Jim Carlen could recruit. Mike Leach cannot and he just lost his top recruiter. Does he get more wins from less talent better than any coach in Tech history? Yes. Did we just witness Leach’s finest hour at Tech? Probably. Don’t be surprised when a loss at Baylor next year costs us a bowl invite.
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I DONT SEE HOW BAD PUBLICITY IS GOOD FOR TEXAS TECH, the lubbock avalanche journal did not adressthat all of this could have been avoided, IAM PROUD TO BE FROM Lubbock and a fan of Tech, I dont appreciate our city and university being dragged through the mud and laughed at when all of this could have been done professionaly, with all that said it is time to move on , It would be nice the AVALANCHE JOURNAL would expand their editoral section, letters to the editoral, also isnt it great to be able to express your opinion, we are truly blessed to live in a free country..
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Eddie, it is very difficult to claim that last season was more difficult than the two other seasons of 11-1 by TTU. I don’t know about the first but the Carlen season was against all Div1 schools.
The main thing is that the football program enjoyed a fine season last year and that the staff is in position to further the success.
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glad to know i was right several months ago.
there was no way that Tech would let Leach leave over money and there couldn’t be a falling out between Lubbock and Leach.
The media blew it up. Leach came to his senses. Tech finally got serious and stopped pointing fingers.
Now back to football please?????
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hey pete it was not about the money its was about the other stuff in the contract Leach said many times its not about the money!!!
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Why didn’t you publish my post? I think it’s a disgrace that Tech has allowed The Leech to remain as our coach. He is despicable. I am an alum, and I’ve been a Tech fan since 1963, but I will cheer for the Longhorns in football until The Leech is replaced.
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hey whipple you should have went to that other school ,you are not a true raider
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“should have gone”
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Whipple…….I agree with you comments regarding the coach but I am forever a Red Raider.
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Ok, now that this is done…is anyone else wondering why an athletic director would keep his job after botching this up so badly?
Mens hoops — in the tank. But we sure took good care of Bobby Knight and his family.
Womens hoops — in the tank.
Baseball — in the tank.
What has Myer’s done that would justify keeing him? If Hance hadn’t been such a good mediator, this would have never gotten done.
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All you Leach lovers better get ready, you will never see a Big 12 Chamionship, or even a Big 12 South title. Real football teams that block, tackle, pass and RUN the ball kick our tails every year. Want evidence?? Alabama – 07 cotton bowl, Oklahoma every year except the touchdown that wasn’t a couple of years ago, Texas most years, and Mississippi -09 Cotton Bowl. Any team that can cover our recievers man up and has a strong physical team will kick our butt. Leach’s offense is a “gimmick” offense that can kill weaker teams but doesn’t bother the good ones. He was about 4 lucky plays away from being 7and 6 this past year instead of 11 and 2, and if he had been the contract would not have been nearly as hard to negotiate.
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Currently, Tech fans care only about stats and attention. Leach will provide that.
I was at the Cotton Bowl, and in the waning moments, with the score 47 Ole Miss, 34 TT, there had been a mass exodus of Tech fans. Hotty Toddy, Overrated, and S-E-C chants were echoing througout the building. Texas Tech’s bid to be considered a top tier team had come crashing down at the hands of the SEC’s 4th best team in brutally convincing fashion. In the middle of this Ole Miss pep rally, a message flashed upon the big screen:
“Congratulations, Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell has set a Cotton Bowl record for passing yards.”
I thought, wow, we have embarrassed ourselves yet again, but by golly we set a record. Whoopty freaking doo. Then, I got to witness the Tech school song played to a grand total of 4 players, because the rest, along with Leach and the other coaches, had bypassed the ceremony and gone to the locker room.
I am not a Mike Leach fan. For every source of pride he has provided, he has provided 3 sources of shame or embarrassment. He plays a finesse game in a warrior’s sport, and his brand of ball, while entertaining to all, and feared by many, is respected by no one. Kinda like piracy.
That is how the nation sees us.
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Let me tell you about Pirates. Everybody is entertained by them, many fear them, but nobody respects them. In the end, they always meet their demise.
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Currently, Tech fans care only about stats and attention. Leach will provide that.
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I was at the Cotton Bowl, and in the waning moments, with the score 47 Ole Miss, 34 TT, there had been a mass exodus of Tech fans. Hotty Toddy, Overrated, and S-E-C chants were echoing througout the building. Texas Tech’s bid to be considered a top tier team had come crashing down at the hands of the SEC’s 4th best team in brutally convincing fashion. In the middle of this Ole Miss pep rally, a message flashed upon the big screen:
“Congratulations, Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell has set a Cotton Bowl record for passing yards.”
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I was at the Cotton Bowl, and in the waning moments, with the score 47 Ole Miss, 34 TT, there had been a mass exodus of Tech fans. Hotty Toddy, Overrated, and S-E-C chants were echoing througout the building. Texas Tech’s bid to be considered a top tier team had come crashing down at the hands of the SEC’s 4th best team in brutally convincing fashion.
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Sure wish we could recruit better. chris was right about Carlen. He brought in some great talent. Come to think of it I think he eventually left because he could not get along with his bosses and the local media either. Huummm.
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Off topic, but ESPN says Crabtree broke his foot at an NFL combine
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Well I did not get a call from Mike thanking me for my advice on how to handle the contract dispute, but he sure acted like he followed my advice. Go to trooperkeeton.com/theblog for more. My advice followed an old read estate adage; “If you have a willing seller and a willing buyer the the worst agent cannot kill the deal.” And I not saying the Mikes agents are not good. I am sure they did alot of blocking in the trenches. It was just time for Mike to take matters into his own hands.That having been said, I am dedicating the next two years to Burl Huffman. I will never forget the first gather up after freshman practice in the fall of 65 and Burl talking about bring a National Championship to Texas Tech. Kids at that time I did not see it, but by golly he was on target. We now beat A&M, we occasionally beat Oklahoma and Ut. Why not especially in 2010.
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To Clarence P. Whittle- If you can say that you will be a Texas fan until Leach is replaced, then it is clear to me, that you were never really a Tech fan at all!!!
GET YOUR GUNS UP!!!
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