As promised, the attorney for former Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach filed motions Thursday asking a judge to speed up the information-gathering process in what could become a protracted legal battle with the university.

Ted Liggett, left, attorney for fired Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, talks with local media outside the Lubbock County District Clerk's Office on Thursday after filing motions calling for a speedy information-gathering process. (John A. Bowersmith/Avalanche-Journal)

Ted Liggett, Leach’s attorney, filed a motion asking a judge to force Tech to quickly turn over any information pertaining to the coach’s termination.

In addition to depositions of Tech Chancellor Kent Hance, President Guy Bailey, Athletic Director Gerald Myers and football player Adam James, the motion seeks communications between Tech and the James family and Tech and former Regent Jim Sowell, among many other communications.

The pleadings also request a March 1 trial date.

The case is assigned to Judge Bill Sowder’s 99th District.

Tech dismissed Leach last month, two days after suspending him, contending he had mistreated wide receiver Adam James and refused to cooperate with the administration.

Bailey fired him “with cause,” meaning Leach received no compensation or severance pay.

In Liggett’s motion for a speedy hearing on whether the university must rapidly turn over information, he claims it is “relating to his lawsuit against Texas Tech University for the wrongful termination of his contract.”

Although a December request for a temporary restraining order claims a breach of contract for Leach’s suspension, no lawsuit for wrongful termination has been filed.

Liggett hinted at future filings, but would not discuss what might come after the more than 100 pages of documents filed Thursday.

“The pleadings that have been filed today speak for themselves,” Liggett said.

The motion contends Leach’s dismissal will put him in economic duress without the ability to get information from the university quickly and go to trial soon.

The motion also states that the university’s allegations of mistreatment of a student athlete could make it difficult for Leach to get another coaching job.

To comment on this story:

logan.carver@lubbockonline.com l 766-8704
charles.reinken@lubbockonline.com l 766-8706

Tuberville said Sunday he hasn’t heard anything from Tech.

“I’d love to talk to them,” he said. “In our business, you never know what people are looking for.”

Tuberville, 55, was head coach from 1995 through 1998 at Ole Miss, where he went 25-20. He was head coach from 1999 through 2008 at Auburn, where his record was 85-40, including a 13-0 season in 2004.

But Tuberville resigned after the 2008 season, when the Tigers finished 5-7, ending a string of eight consecutive winning seasons. He was out of coaching this season.

Tuberville said his mother spent several years in Seminole growing up and said he had an aunt and uncle who graduated from Tech. He also spent some summer vacation time during childhood in Seminole.

More to the point, Tuberville said he liked the Red Raiders’ chances at continued success and thought his past coaching experience in the state could be put to use.

“I really enjoyed Texas when I coached at Texas A&M,” said Tuberville, who was the Aggies’ defensive coordinator in 1994. “I recruited Dallas and Houston when I was at Miami coaching (from 1986 through 1993).”

Tuberville said if he got the chance to coach at Tech, there would be no overhaul of the Mike Leach offense.

“It’d be crazy to change it,” he said. “That’s a trademark of Texas Tech now. It’s helped put them on the map. It’s helped in recruiting, I’ve noticed. Mike’s had a good chance of getting quarterbacks and receivers to come there – in the past, (Tech) wasn’t able to get them. We’ve run a lot of the spread over the years, and I’m very familiar with it.”

Going smoothly

While the spotlight fell mainly on interim head coach Ruffin McNeill Saturday, 26-year-old assistant Lincoln Riley fared well in his first time calling plays for the Red Raiders.

“They made it easy on me,” Riley said of the players. “They’re the ones that executed. We did a good job of getting in fast (tempo).”

Compiled By Don Williams

Remember the Alamo Bowl.

Oh, eyes from all over the country were cast toward San Antonio, though few seemed to give much thought — or discussion — to the game itself until time came to set the football on the tee.

Texas Tech players including Bront Bird and Marlon Williams celebrate after the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (Zach Long/Avalanche-Journal)

Texas Tech's Bront Bird, Ruffin McNeill and Marlon Williams celebrate after the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (Zach Long/Avalanche-Journal)

Texas Tech's Steven Sheffield celebrates after the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (Zach Long/Avalanche-Journal)

Saturday night under the big top of the Alamodome was four hours of wonderful diversion, for all sides.

Texas Tech and Michigan State gave the people who watched a little of everything. Flea flickers. Fake field goals. Blocked field goals. Long bombs, again and again. Quarterbacks moving to wide receiver and catching passes. Wide receivers moving to quarterback and throwing touchdowns.

Offense, offense, offense, and clutch defensive stands.

And a Sticks, as in Steven Sheffield, stealing the show. The skinny guy led two scoring drives –—the first a 77-yarder — in the final minutes to pull out a 41-31 Red Raiders victory.

Heck, there might have even been a few moments there when Tech fans could forget the university’s decision to fire Mike Leach three days before the game. The results will be bitterly divisive, as has been proven already.

Well, take a breath. It’s Sunday, and the reality of the situation hasn’t changed. After a memorable end to the season, Tech plunges into its most important and murky off-season in more than a decade. In terms of player personnel, the most glaring losses will be five senior defensive linemen who helped make the Raiders good enough up front to win 29 games over the last three seasons.

Replacing the likes of Brandon Sharpe, Ra’Jon Henley, Richard Jones, Daniel Howard and Victor Hunter from a defensive front that regular played only one other player is a major personnel question. There are losses elsewhere, but none to the extent the front four suffers.
Who’ll coach them remains to be seen.

Yesterday in this spot, I recommended Tech promote Ruffin McNeill to head coach. It’s the only sure way to maintain continuity — he’s promised to keep the same offense, and likely the same coaches — and the last thing the program needs right now is to interrupt the momentum from winning at least nine games three years in a row and four of the last five. It still looks like a good idea, even if a Michigan State team that came in 6-6 played the Red Raiders a doozy of a game.

And it sure looked as if players want it that way when they mobbed the big fella as time was running out.

The Spartans took the same approach Boise State took in a famously entertaining Fiesta Bowl a few years ago. They had little to lose and played that way. The Spartans were responsible for most of those long bombs we spoke of earlier, one of the flea flickers, the fake field goal and the quarterback-receiver flipflops. Keshawn Martin, the Spartans’ speedy sophomore receiver, went wildcat on the Red Raiders and threw a touchdown pass that put MSU ahead 28-27 in the third quarter.

Martin was a high-school quarterback, by the way.

After his TD pass put the Spartans ahead, Sheffield worked his magic.
So congrats to the Spartans, who did themselves proud in front of a nearly all-Tech crowd of 64,757. But McNeill had the Raiders ready to play, and boyish play caller Lincoln Riley pulled a typical 41 points from the offense.

Maybe Leach was sending text messages to Riley, who went for it on and fourth-and-1 from short of midfield once only to have Taylor Potts drop the snap. Then, with a 34-31 lead, 2:42 left and fourth-and-4 from the 18, the Raiders passed on the field goal. Isn’t that just like Leach?

With a pass to Detron Lewis, they made it, and with a touchdown run up the gut by Baron Batch they were out of harm’s way.

There’s a lot of healing left, but Saturday night was a catharsis, too. Sounded like it, anyway. When Sheffield led a go-ahead touchdown drive, when Sam Fehoko blew up a return man on the next kickoff, when Franklin Mitchem picked off a pass, when the “Raider Power’’ reverberated through the Alamodome, it didn’t look or sound as if this is a program on wobbly legs.

One administration’s decision and the loss of one man caused a lot of pain in the last three days. No need to make a rash decision that could turn the program for the worse.

To comment on this story:
don.williams@lubbockonline.com l 766-8734
courtney.linehan@lubbockonline.com l 766-8735

Texas Tech receiver Adam James was loudly booed as he left the field at halftime of Saturday’s Alamo Bowl. James is a key figure in the controversy that led to the firing of Tech coach Mike Leach three days before the game.

Texas Tech's Baron Batch scores the game clinching touchdown against Michigan State during the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (Zach Long/Avalanche-Journal)

Texas Tech's Franklin Mitchem intercepts a pass ahead of Michigan State's Keshawn Martin during the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (Zach Long/Avalanche-Journal)

James, wearing his No. 82 Tech jersey and a stocking cap, left the field in the company of a few teammates after most of the Red Raiders had gone in. Fans next to and above the Alamodome’s southeast tunnel rose to boo him. He showed no reaction.

The sophomore inside receiver was on the sideline during the game.

His old self

Tech quarterback Taylor Potts had his last name back on his jersey during the Alamo Bowl after wearing “NICK’’ across his shoulder pads during the final two games of the regular season.

Potts did continue to wear “NICK’’ on his practice jersey during the week in San Antonio.

It was a vestige of the nickname given to him by former coach Mike Leach.

Dodging a bullet

All-Big Ten kicker Brett Swenson suffered a rarity when he had a 52-yard field goal attempt blocked by Tech’s Daniel Howard in the
second quarter.

The Michigan State senior came into the game 18-for-20 this season and 70-for-89 in his career. Though Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones was a first-team All-American and the media’s choice for Big Ten defensive player of the year, Swenson was named team most valuable player in a vote of teammates.

Swenson’s 70 field goals and 370 career points ranked second in the nation among active players in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

It was Tech’s first field goal block since Taylor Charbonnet got one in the 2008 season opener against Eastern Washington.

Trading places

Michigan State sophomore Keith Nichol made his first career reception in the second quarter. Nichol played in nine games this season as the team’s No. 2 quarterback, throwing for 764 yards and seven touchdowns.

MSU coach Mark Dantonio announced Friday that Nichol had practiced at wide receiver this week.

“He’s certainly a guy who can do a lot of things,’’ Dantonio said, adding that punt returner is another possibility. “We’ve known all along he’s an explosive athlete.’’

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound sophomore started his career at Oklahoma, where he played in three games in 2007 before transferring.

In brief
Tech S Will Ford apparently suffered an injury in the first half. He spent the second half on the sideline in windsuit pants and his jersey, but no pads. … Freshman RB Eric Stephens already set the Tech single-season record for kickoff return yardage in the regular season. A runback by Stephens in the second quarter established a new single-season team record in the same category. … Tech PK Matt Williams made a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter, but the Raiders were flagged for a snap infraction and moved back 5 yards, after which Williams missed a 47-yard kick.

Compiled by Don Williams

“There were about 10 seconds where I was a little panicked, trying to
settle my thoughts,’’ said Riley, Tech’s acting offensive coordinator.
“Then I thought, ‘Hey, the guy in charge, he’s ready for it.’ He’s doing an amazing job. If I could pick anybody in the world to do it, it’d be him.’’

Williams

Riley might have been talking about for the next day or the next week.

But Tech should think seriously about going into the next decade with McNeill. He’s a take-charge guy all the way around. Dressed in his coaching duds, he gets after it on the practice field and, well, there’s no need to describe his energy on game day. You’ve watched it.

Gussied up in a suit, he’s an eager and polished speaker who can hold an audience. Though he had no ties to Lubbock before 2000, he fast became an ambassador for the program, the university and the city.

Were Tech to hire him, school officials wouldn’t worry about what’s coming out of his mouth next.

Players love McNeill. Over the years, countless recruits have brought up the name “Coach Ruff’’ when telling me why they wanted to join the Red Raiders. And it’s not just him, which brings up an important point.

Among the many things Leach did right and did well, here’s one that
wasn’t specifically mentioned all that often, but should be: Leach put minority family men in key positions throughout his staff. I can’t help but think they created a comfortable environment that players’ parents — particularly minority players’ parents — trusted. That matters in a sport in which recruiting makes all the difference.

Aside from McNeill, assistant coaches Dennis Simmons and Brian Mitchell, strength coach Bennie Wylie and player personnel director Antonio Huffman gave diversity to a staff that also has a blend of veterans in their 60s and young guys in their 20s. Those hiring need to think long and hard about giving up the gains made in recruiting — not just this year’s class, but long term — if they turn everyone loose.

If there’s no offer to McNeill, figure the staff gets blown up.

The idea of bringing in a head coach from the outside and keeping a core group that’s been successful rarely happens. New coaches bring in their own people. That’s how these things usually work.

Now granted, Tommy Tuberville, who said publicly on Thursday that he’s very interested in the Tech job, is a compelling option. With his eight consecutive winning seasons at Auburn, including a 13-0 year, and his six-game winning streak against rival Alabama, the imagination wanders over what he might do in a Red Raiders cap.

Then again, it was accomplished at a place with a much bigger stadium, bigger budget and one might argue a higher national profile that makes recruiting easier.

As a candidate for the Tech job, Tuberville might be viewed more realistically through the prism of his four years at Mississippi. Like Tech, Ole Miss fights an uphill battle to be one of the elite in a power conference. In the way Tech has to take on Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M in recruiting, the Rebels have to talk star players out of going to Alabama or Tennessee or LSU. At Ole Miss, Tuberville’s records were 6-5, 5-6, 8-4 and 6-5.

McNeill has made strides building up the Tech defense the last three years, and he’s made it clear this week that if he stays, the Leach offense stays. Offensive assistants Riley, Matt Moore, Clay McGuire and Sonny Cumbie played their college ball in it. Dennis Simmons has watched it and coached it for the last 10 years. Who’s to say they can’t keep doing what they’ve been doing, starting today in the Alamo Bowl?

In the meantime, Tech should think about making the arrangement for more than just today.

Offensive tackle Terry McDaniel returned to Alamo Bowl practices on a limited basis after missing the last five games of the regular season with a left knee injury he suffered in the first quarter of the Oct. 17 game at Nebraska.

McDaniel spent much of the summer and fall battling Chris Olson for first team at left tackle.

“He’s been out of it for a while,’’ Moore said. “It’s kind of hard to jump right back in. Olson’s been playing really good, so it looks like (McDaniel) is purely a backup.

“As far as (starters), nothing’s going to change. Those guys have really been doing a good job.’’

Eye on the young guys

Offensive guard Brandon Carter was named a first-team all-American his junior year by The Sporting News and the American Football Coaches Association and was named a third-team All-American this year by The Associated Press.

Carter completes his eligibility at the Alamo Bowl, leaving the Red Raiders with a big hole to fill next season at right guard.

Line coach Matt Moore said he foresees sophomore Mickey Okafor and redshirt freshman Deveric Gallington fighting over the job come spring and summer.

Okafor started two non-conference games at right guard this season, but Lonnie Edwards emerged and joined Carter as the starting guards, bumping Okafor to the bench.

“Hopefully, he’s going to win one of those spots inside, win that right guard,’’ Moore said this week. “Hope he does. We need him to step up as a junior and win that right guard spot. It’ll be between him and Deveric.’’
Moore said Gallington, who has worked at left and right guard during bowl workouts, is “really coming along.’’

Learning a new job

During pre-bowl practices, true freshman Joel Gray continued his adjustment to center, a long-term plan that was put in place late in the regular season.

Gray spent much of the summer and fall at left tackle before line coach Matt Moore decided the former Lewisville Hebron standout would project better inside.

“I think he’s going to be a center or guard,’’ Moore said. “I don’t think he’s going to be a tackle. He’s just not a real long-armed guy. He’s a big 6-5 guy, but his arms are not as long as what I need on the edge.
“He just wants to play. He doesn’t care (which position).’’

Seven graduate

According to the Texas Tech athletic department, seven Tech football players graduated in December: cornerbacks Brent Nickerson and Nathan Stone, offensive linemen Chris Olson, Brandon Carter and Shawn Byrnes, defensive tackle Victor Hunter and former safety LaShawn Vation.

Vation was forced to give up football mid-career, but by staying in school and completing his degree, he will help Tech’s percentage in graduation-rate reports.

Olson, who graduated in 31/2 years, has a season of eligibility left.

For Texas Tech freshman Daniel Cobb, it was anything but.

Cobb comes from an Army family, and his mother, Nina Cobb, was working on site the day of the Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 and injured 30. The rampage took place on Nov. 5, two days before the Red Raiders’ open date.

Cobb, who has trained at safety and outside linebacker this season, said he was back home because he was through with classes and practice for the week.

“It was scary,’’ he said. “I was at home waiting for my mom to get off work. I was calling her, but she was OK. She had made it out.
Fortunately, she had gone to the store to pick up some stuff for me before I came back and when she got back, she was in the next building over. So she was locked up, and he couldn’t get in her building.’’

Cobb came to Tech this season from Killeen Ellison, where he was a four-year varsity starter. He said his mother is a processing nurse at Fort Hood, the Army base where soldiers go before being deployed.

“She processes soldiers when they come in; when they get ready to leave, evaluates them. Helps them out,’’ Daniel Cobb said.

Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

“She knew the shooter,’’ Cobb said of his mother, “and she knew some of the people that got injured or shot, but she was all right. She was shaken up real bad. She took a couple of days off, but she went back to work. She’s strong.’’

To comment on this story:
don.williams@lubbockonline.com l 766-8734
courtney.linehan@lubbockonline.com l 766-8735

Upper-level sideline tickets in the Alamodome, all priced at $55, are what’s currently for sale for Tech’s Jan. 2 game against Michigan State.
Dave Welsh, Tech assistant athletic director for ticket operations, said there wasn’t a specific number newly allocated.

“We can keep selling and selling and selling, and whatever we need we can get from the bowl,’’ Welsh said. “They’re all upper level, and we’re going to try to help them sell as many of those tickets as we can.’’

Welsh said the Tech ticket office at the moment is filling orders and not yet assigning seats, but he said all upper-level seats being reserved are sideline/yard-line seats.

Tech said it sold more than 25,000 seats through the athletic department the last time the Red Raiders played in the Alamo Bowl in 2001.

RRC adds hotel rooms

Texas Tech announced Tuesday that the Red Raider Club has added blocks of rooms at three more hotels on the San Antonio Riverwalk after its block at the Grand Hyatt sold out.

It now has blocked off rooms at Westin Riverwalk, Marriott Riverwalk and Hilton Placio Del Rio, all within walking distance of the Alamodome, where Tech plays Michigan State on Jan. 2.

According to Tech officials, more than 1,000 rooms were reserved by Tech fans after the pairing was announced Sunday.

Reservations are being accepted through National Travel Systems by calling 1 (888) 603-8747 or (806) 794-3135 or by e-mailing at sportsinfo@nationaltravelsystems.com.

Leach: Potts to start

Tech coach Mike Leach told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram he’ll stick with quarterback Taylor Potts, who started the last three regular-season games, in the Alamo Bowl.

Late in the season, Leach faulted himself for going back and forth between Potts and Steven Sheffield.

“I’m going to start Potts,’’ Leach told the newspaper. “He’s steady, and I need to settle on one and quit pulling them in and out, and then in the spring they’ll battle it out.’’

Davis honored

Tech safety Cody Davis has been named to the first team of Phil Steele Publications’ freshman all-America team. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound redshirt freshman from Stephenville is second on the team with 72 tackles and has six pass breakups.

Several Tech players also were named to Steele’s all-Big Conference team. Guard Brandon Carter was on the first unit, and the second team included defensive end Brandon Sharpe, offensive tackle Marlon Winn and cornerback Jamar Wall.

Making the third team were running back Baron Batch, wide receiver Alex Torres and defensive end Daniel Howard, and the fourth team included quarterback Taylor Potts and running back Eric Stephens.