Prayers for Mike Leach

[TriCitySam]

The Clarion Ledger is reporting that Leach's medical condition was a "massive heart attack" and did not received medical attention for 10-15 minutes, indicating there is potential brain damage.

[Hawktawk]

The Clarion Ledger is reporting that Leach's medical condition was a "massive heart attack" and did not received medical attention for 10-15 minutes, indicating there is potential brain damage.

Oh no . Great coach . Funny . Crazy

[NorthHawk]

I hope he gets through this and can live a good life even if it's without football.
He's been a real innovator at the college level and influenced how the game is being played today even at the NFL level.

[TriCitySam]

UPDATE: there is a report out of Starkville that UMMC has transitioned Leach to comfort care as he has been unresponsive since the attack.

[NorthHawk]

UPDATE: there is a report out of Starkville that UMMC has transitioned Leach to comfort care as he has been unresponsive since the attack.

What is comfort care?

Edit:
Found out it's like end of life care or palliative care.

[TriCitySam]

[quote="NorthHawk"What is comfort care?[/quote]

It's Hospice. Basically, you're no longer treating the medical issue, simply focused on keeping them pain free and comfortable.....

Painfully, it's something I am much too familiar with at this time.

[RiverDog]

The Clarion Ledger is reporting that Leach's medical condition was a "massive heart attack" and did not received medical attention for 10-15 minutes, indicating there is potential brain damage.

I saw something on him earlier this AM where he had gone into the hospital for an undisclosed medical condition, possibly fatal, so I had assumed it was a stroke. This is the first that I've heard that it was a heart attack. I hope it's not as bad as they're making it sound.

[TriCitySam]

Here is the link

https://www.clarionledger.com/story/spo ... xploreMore

[RiverDog]

Here is the link

https://www.clarionledger.com/story/spo ... xploreMore

Thanks, Sam. He's just 61 years old. My college roommate and best friend died at age 54 of a massive heart attack, and he was in great shape, had just got through jogging several miles when he collapsed. The autopsy revealed a severely damaged heart, and they said it was a wonder that he lived as long as he did.

I never did like Leach as a coach, either at Texas Tech or at WSU. But that's neither here nor there.

[Hawktawk]

I had one at 58, 11 hours of stress before they got me under the knife due to weather emergency . When they got in there it was a 99% blockage . Very lucky . Just terrible for the Leach family . Stress

[TriCitySam]

I never did like Leach as a coach, either at Texas Tech or at WSU. But that's neither here nor there.

Well, I enjoyed watching his teams - and he's had effect. Sonny Dykes (TCU), Lincoln Riley (USC) and Josh Heupel (Tennessee) are among his most successful...but, Leach was always so much fun to listen to.

This is a classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGIap2_tmng

[obiken]

He was NEVER boring and he will be missed!

[RiverDog]

I never did like Leach as a coach, either at Texas Tech or at WSU. But that's neither here nor there.

Well, I enjoyed watching his teams - and he's had effect. Sonny Dykes (TCU), Lincoln Riley (USC) and Josh Heupel (Tennessee) are among his most successful...but, Leach was always so much fun to listen to.

This is a classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGIap2_tmng

Leach might have been an interesting coach for us fans and produced some good football teams, but as an educator, I had some serious reservations about his treatment of student athletes.

In his first season as HC at WSU and following a loss to Cal, Leach made his offensive line get up in front of the press and apologize for their poor play. That was after he was fired at Texas Tech when he locked a player that was diagnosed with a concussion in a dark room as punishment because he thought he was faking it. I didn't like him, and was glad to see him leave WSU.

But like I said, that's neither here nor there at a time like this.

[TriCitySam]

[quote="RiverDog"
Leach might have been an interesting coach for us fans and produced some good football teams, but as an educator, I had some serious reservations about his treatment of student athletes.

In his first season as HC at WSU and following a loss to Cal, Leach made his offensive line get up in front of the press and apologize for their poor play. That was after he was fired at Texas Tech when he locked a player that was diagnosed with a concussion in a dark room as punishment because he thought he was faking it. I didn't like him, and was glad to see him leave WSU.

But like I said, that's neither here nor there at a time like this.[/quote]

Apparently enough "here", as you've decided to post it this at this time.

As in many cases, there are two sides. While the Texas Tech student made the dark room claim, there were others present who said it was a room with workout machines, video games and a soda machine. Not saying he's perfect, but if you've been around team sports you know EVERY coach at sometime or another can be rough in their talk and their handling of situations; and people are quick to make judgements on a person based on a couple acts that they have no personal experience with. USC Coach Lincoln Riley WAS there and at the time described Adam James as "lazy, entitled and tried to undermine my authority on multiple occasions". He goes on to say that James had been disciplined by the staff for poor effort at practice just days before his claims and felt his anger over this led to his claim. You can find similar statements from players at the time regarding James attitude and performance - and his feeling of being "entitled" because of his famous father.....who ultimately made a national stink.

But in a coaching career that spanned 35 years, a couple incidents hardly defines Leach as a person and his treatment of a forthletes. Fact is 99.999% loved the guy.

[RiverDog]

Mike Leach has passed away.

Mississippi State’s head football coach Mike Leach died Monday night after suffering complications from a heart condition, the school announced Tuesday. He was 61.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/ ... smsnnews11

RIP.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

He passed this morning, if y'all didn't see. Going to the bowl game, and I'm thinking Maroon and White pirate garb is the order of the day.

Edit: Should say last night; I saw the headline of his passing this morning.

[trents]

Mike Leach was one of a kind - unique. He was Will Rogers with a clipboard. There will never be another one. I made a point to watch as many of his games as I could because he was such a character and you never knew what was going to come out of his mouth at interview times. You just knew it would be rare.

[Hawktawk]

Mike Leach was one of a kind - unique. He was Will Rogers with a clipboard. There will never be another one. I made a point to watch as many of his games as I could because he was such a character and you never knew what was going to come out of his mouth at interview times. You just knew it would be rare.

Great comparison will Rodgers . Dude was a giant .

[obiken]

Who likes Candy Corn its like Fruit Cake. The man was a trip!!

[RiverDog]

But in a coaching career that spanned 35 years, a couple incidents hardly defines Leach as a person and his treatment of a forthletes. Fact is 99.999% loved the guy.

The fact is that there was only 1 person in 100,000 that didn't love the guy? I'd lay some pretty good money that I could find a few more than that. Any person in a position of authority, if they are doing their job properly, would be hard pressed to get 90% approval from their subordinates, let alone that many that "loved the guy."

The fact is that Leach was a very controversial coach that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. In a press conference after a loss, he blamed it on his players "listening to their fat little girlfriends" then refused to apologize for the remark. It's one thing to joke around with your players in private or even in public after a win, but saying that about a bunch of 18-23 year olds in front of the press after they lost a game then failing to acknowledge his mistake? Plus, as I said earlier, he had no problem throwing that same age group of players under the bus by making them get up in front of the press and bare their souls by apologizing for their poor play. He was supposed to be an educator, not a drill sergeant.

And that doesn't even speak to the accusation of locking up a concussed player in a dark room. The university's position was that Leach refused to cooperate in its investigation, and if that's true, that alone is cause for termination, and speaks to Leach's arrogance and narcissistic personality. IMO he was Bobby Knight Jr.

Nevertheless, I still feel very badly for Leach and his family and friends. Dying at age 61 is a life unfulfilled. My dad died 2 days before his 60th birthday, so I know the feeling. RIP.

[Hawktawk]

River . Love ya man . I been catching crap from you about daring to impugn a man that threw shade on my team and swindled a quarter billion out of Denver . Should I be critical at this time i would be reminded he’s concussed. As Bob said “ kicking a (250 million dollar )man when he’s down .

Man be quiet . Ssshhhhh!
A husband father grandfather friend to thousands and brilliant football mind died at 62.our tackes played in the system he invented . He had a growing coaching tree . His concepts are utilized at every level of the game .

Leach is widely considered a genius , broadly loved by 90%. It’s not appropriate to discuss your beef with him on this thread .
Jesus man .

[RiverDog]

River . Love ya man . I been catching crap from you about daring to impugn a man that threw shade on my team and swindled a quarter billion out of Denver . Should I be critical at this time i would be reminded he’s concussed. As Bob said “ kicking a (250 million dollar )man when he’s down .

Man be quiet . Ssshhhhh!
A husband father grandfather friend to thousands and brilliant football mind died at 62.our tackes played in the system he invented . He had a growing coaching tree . His concepts are utilized at every level of the game .

Leach is widely considered a genius , broadly loved by 90%. It’s not appropriate to discuss your beef with him on this thread .
Jesus man .

Look, it's not disrespectful to note areas of controversy when a person passes any more than it is to make up things like "99.999% loved him" or "broadly loved by 90%". We're not in church and this isn't a memorial service.

Besides, to give my comments some balance, I offered my sincere condolences at the end of my remarks, even added a personal note, both of which seems to have escaped your attention.

[Hawktawk]

I saw your condolences but you've attacked his character several times in the same posts.
Its tone deaf and rude as hell.
There's people on the forum who love the guy. Possibly some who had a personal relationship with him. Its appropriate to say good things upon the death of a generally good person who influenced thousands of people. Not attack them on a thread titled "prayers for Mike Leach"
Your opinion is in a distinct minority on Leach. You clearly have a deep seated dislike of the man, its wrong to share it here but as I've figured out River is NEVER WRONG.
Whatever dude

[Hawktawk]

My personal favorite Leach quote was early in his tenure at WAZZU. After a blowout loss in a hard season he walked to the podium and was asked his thoughts on the game
"I cant wait till basketball season"
I spit out my beer perhaps the funniest thing I've ever heard a losing coach say.

[TriCitySam]

I but as I've figured out River is NEVER WRONG.

Agreed, but Leach like many inspired emotions on both sides of the fence....but that's typical with a fan base. Constantly complaining about their coaches and thinking they know more. But I thought Mike Salk said it best: "Not that there weren't some things to question, but NOW is not the time". He has left an imprint in the offenses of the college and the NFL.

[Hawktawk]

I but as I've figured out River is NEVER WRONG.

Agreed, but Leach like many inspired emotions on both sides of the fence....but that's typical with a fan base. Constantly complaining about their coaches and thinking they know more. But I thought Mike Salk said it best: "Not that there weren't some things to question, but NOW is not the time". He has left an imprint in the offenses of the college and the NFL.

That's profound from Salk . I wasn't in the 100% club with Leach either. I'm sure there's people dancing on his grave. Everyone has enemies.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

As a Mississippi State alumnus and fan, I've enjoyed having The Pirate as our head coach. His bluntness and dead-pan humor didn't bother me, and he seemed to hold players accountable to the good of the team. I didn't mind in the least that he picked up the wide receivers' chairs on the sideline when they continually dropped passes. Far too many for an air raid offense.

I can't find where he trotted out his WSU oline to apologize, but he ripped the entire team pretty hard after that Cal game. How the team took it is a whole other thing.

As for the whole shed thing, I think there was a lot of information not everybody knew, and sports media, especially ESPN, pushed a certain narrative. The players Adam James whose dad is Craig James; former SMU running back (edit) and espn analyst at the time. A few links to a deposition from Adam James by Leach's attorney and a bleacher report of emails from players and staff at the time of the incident:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/pro ... deposition

https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/z ... ing_jokes/ (link to Bleacher Report article in thread)

Adam wasn't exactly a team player and was characterized as entitled and lazy because of who his daddy is. Casts some doubt on what really went down when you have an entitled player who was demoted and called his daddy in.

[govandals]

I found Leach highly entertaining. His interviews were pure gold. If anything, he made Wazzu relevant again, especially coming off the Paul Wulff years.

[trents]

Craig James was a running back, not a WR.

[NorthHawk]

I don’t really know too much about him but he did change the game at the College level and some of that has seeped
into the NFL. Not many coaches can say they changed the game at any level, so his contributions have to be acknowledged.

[RiverDog]

As a Mississippi State alumnus and fan, I've enjoyed having The Pirate as our head coach. His bluntness and dead-pan humor didn't bother me, and he seemed to hold players accountable to the good of the team. I didn't mind in the least that he picked up the wide receivers' chairs on the sideline when they continually dropped passes. Far too many for an air raid offense.

I can't find where he trotted out his WSU oline to apologize, but he ripped the entire team pretty hard after that Cal game. How the team took it is a whole other thing.

As for the whole shed thing, I think there was a lot of information not everybody knew, and sports media, especially ESPN, pushed a certain narrative. The players Adam James whose dad is Craig James; former SMU running back (edit) and espn analyst at the time. A few links to a deposition from Adam James by Leach's attorney and a bleacher report of emails from players and staff at the time of the incident:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/pro ... deposition

https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/z ... ing_jokes/ (link to Bleacher Report article in thread)

Adam wasn't exactly a team player and was characterized as entitled and lazy because of who his daddy is. Casts some doubt on what really went down when you have an entitled player who was demoted and called his daddy in.

Here's the incident that I was referring to where Leach made his OL apologize for their performance. I was wrong about the opponent. It was Utah, not Cal. 2012 was Leach's first year at WSU, so I remembered that part correctly:

The postgame outburst was similar to the last time his Cougars lost to Utah in 2012. WSU lost 49-6 that day and Leach sent his entire offensive line to the postgame press conference to answer questions.

https://apnews.com/article/87bcbba6af05 ... a1cccef160

The article doesn't specify exactly what Leach said, but it was reported locally that he told his OL that he wanted them to apologize for their performance. I guess you'll just have to trust me on that part of the story.

Who knows what transpired in the shed thing. According to the university, Leach refused to cooperate in the investigation, so apparently, he had something that he was ashamed of or didn't want to be known. Why would anyone refuse to cooperate if they were innocent? Why wouldn't you want your employer to know your side of the story? Or was he just offended that his employer would have the gall to even pose the questions?

[Aseahawkfan]

Here's the incident that I was referring to where Leach made his OL apologize for their performance. I was wrong about the opponent. It was Utah, not Cal. 2012 was Leach's first year at WSU, so I remembered that part correctly:

The postgame outburst was similar to the last time his Cougars lost to Utah in 2012. WSU lost 49-6 that day and Leach sent his entire offensive line to the postgame press conference to answer questions.

https://apnews.com/article/87bcbba6af05 ... a1cccef160

The article doesn't specify exactly what Leach said, but it was reported locally that he told his OL that he wanted them to apologize for their performance. I guess you'll just have to trust me on that part of the story.

Who knows what transpired in the shed thing. According to the university, Leach refused to cooperate in the investigation, so apparently, he had something that he was ashamed of or didn't want to be known. Why would anyone refuse to cooperate if they were innocent? Why wouldn't you want your employer to know your side of the story? Or was he just offended that his employer would have the gall to even pose the questions?

I can understand it. There is what an employer has to do to follow the legal rules of a job and what you feel you need to do get s*** done. They do not always align, especially when some are playing games exactly to skirt the rules.

[RiverDog]

Here's the incident that I was referring to where Leach made his OL apologize for their performance. I was wrong about the opponent. It was Utah, not Cal. 2012 was Leach's first year at WSU, so I remembered that part correctly:

The postgame outburst was similar to the last time his Cougars lost to Utah in 2012. WSU lost 49-6 that day and Leach sent his entire offensive line to the postgame press conference to answer questions.

https://apnews.com/article/87bcbba6af05 ... a1cccef160

The article doesn't specify exactly what Leach said, but it was reported locally that he told his OL that he wanted them to apologize for their performance. I guess you'll just have to trust me on that part of the story.

Who knows what transpired in the shed thing. According to the university, Leach refused to cooperate in the investigation, so apparently, he had something that he was ashamed of or didn't want to be known. Why would anyone refuse to cooperate if they were innocent? Why wouldn't you want your employer to know your side of the story? Or was he just offended that his employer would have the gall to even pose the questions?

I can understand it. There is what an employer has to do to follow the legal rules of a job and what you feel you need to do get s*** done. They do not always align, especially when some are playing games exactly to skirt the rules.

Over the years, Leach has sued several times for wrongful termination and as far as I know, has yet to be successful. That doesn't necessarily mean that the university was in the right, but it does show that he has yet to show acceptable evidence of his innocence to a court.

Texas Tech was almost obligated to fire him. If their side of the story is true, that Leach refused to cooperate in the investigation, then they would have had no means to defend themselves and it would have left them wide open to a lawsuit from the players or player's parents. They essentially fired him for insubordination.

If the shed incident was the only example, I could give him the benefit of the doubt. But time after time and at multiple universities over the decades that he coached, Leach displayed a profound insensitivity to his players and their individual needs. Given the numbers of players to have come under his charge, their young age, and the fact that they have a wide variety of tolerance for the types of public humiliation that they were subjected to, it's irresponsible for any adult to behave in the manner that was well documented with Leach.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

River,

It seems you've made your mind up irrespective of anything to the contrary. You've already backtracked from "made his oline get up and apologize in a post-game press conference" to "it was reported locally that he wanted his Oline to apologize." That's two very different things, and there's no guessing; I'm not taking your word on a local report that hasn't been presented. Yes, in the press conference you referenced he called them "fat, dumb, and entitled"; he also goes on to say it was the same guys from last year who didn't play that way, who were tough. He then states that it goes all the way to the top for him and the coaching staff for letting them get that way. You don't hear about that, and, admittedly, a poor choice of words like those will get jumped on by the media.

As far as not attending to players' needs, what do you or I know about that? You're taking the small snapshots you get from the media and extending that to his day-to-day relationships with players over a 22-year head coaching career. I would hope a long track record of abusive behavior would have come to light, and I don't see how he'd be able to recruit anybody remotely talented (as his win record suggests) if he was awful to play for. The Adam James case isn't a good barometer of how he runs his program. Read the linked deposition and you'll see Adam James had lots of inconsistencies in his story and without a doubt his daddy stepped in a put pressure on Texas Tech to do something. The linked reddit to bleacher report page also has multiple emails of players supporting Leach and blasting James. May not alter your perspective, but interesting, nonetheless.

And, yeah, he doesn't have a filter when it comes to player performance, but he also consistently uses the word "we" when talking about correcting the issues and getting better.

Mississippi State fans are going to miss him as our football coach. Rant over.

Edit: He also didn't win his cases because they were dismissed on the basis of sovereign immunity. As far as I can read, that's not because there isn't sufficient evidence for the claim. Now, rant over.

[c_hawkbob]

Maybe as pros I can see a coach doing that but never in college or any lower level. You're the coach, you man up and insulate the players from the blame publicly. Rip them in the locker room all you want but a public humiliation episode is way off the chain IMO. This incident which, as a Utes fan I remember from when it happened, is why I've stayed out of this thread.

That said, I try not to judge a person by their worst moment. Condolences to the Leach family.

[Hawktawk]

I’m not a 100% on Leach myself . He was controversial. But I’m a coach =boss player =employee guy at every level .

My ignored point is the man spent 7 years on the Palouse , some of the most successful in program history . I live less than 100 miles from Pullman . Likely many people on this forum loved him , some may know him The guys an icon who died way too young . And I’m sure the stress of being a trailblazing D 1 coach was a factor . Likely nobody here knows remotely what it’s like , most have never accomplished a fraction of what he did . He didn’t do what Woody hays did on the sidelines . My guess it used to be a lot tougher .
But again I liked Salks comments.” Now is not the time “

But here it is time . Social media sucks . Decent people say hateful stuff when the man’s not in the ground . Would you say this to a family member or assistant coach ? To LT Cross ? it’s an Internet memorial and some want to bust in and take a dump on the guest book .
Sad

[RiverDog]

River,

It seems you've made your mind up irrespective of anything to the contrary. You've already backtracked from "made his oline get up and apologize in a post-game press conference" to "it was reported locally that he wanted his Oline to apologize." That's two very different things, and there's no guessing; I'm not taking your word on a local report that hasn't been presented. Yes, in the press conference you referenced he called them "fat, dumb, and entitled"; he also goes on to say it was the same guys from last year who didn't play that way, who were tough. He then states that it goes all the way to the top for him and the coaching staff for letting them get that way. You don't hear about that, and, admittedly, a poor choice of words like those will get jumped on by the media.

As far as not attending to players' needs, what do you or I know about that? You're taking the small snapshots you get from the media and extending that to his day-to-day relationships with players over a 22-year head coaching career. I would hope a long track record of abusive behavior would have come to light, and I don't see how he'd be able to recruit anybody remotely talented (as his win record suggests) if he was awful to play for. The Adam James case isn't a good barometer of how he runs his program. Read the linked deposition and you'll see Adam James had lots of inconsistencies in his story and without a doubt his daddy stepped in a put pressure on Texas Tech to do something. The linked reddit to bleacher report page also has multiple emails of players supporting Leach and blasting James. May not alter your perspective, but interesting, nonetheless.

And, yeah, he doesn't have a filter when it comes to player performance, but he also consistently uses the word "we" when talking about correcting the issues and getting better.

Mississippi State fans are going to miss him as our football coach. Rant over.

Edit: He also didn't win his cases because they were dismissed on the basis of sovereign immunity. As far as I can read, that's not because there isn't sufficient evidence for the claim. Now, rant over.

I need to make a correction on my previous statement about Leach and his making his OL apologize for their 2012 loss to Utah. The local report wasn't that he "wanted" his OL to apologize, it was that he sent them out there with instructions to do so. I'm not sure why I used the term "wanted" as it wasn't how I described the incident earlier in the thread, but it wasn't the result of my 'backtracking". Unfortunately, I do not have any link or quote which uses that specific language, but that's the way I heard it described back in 2012.

It's a pretty well documented fact that Leach made a habit out of openly criticizing his players in front of the media, at times using somewhat embarrassing terms like "fat", "lazy", etc. I'm not aware of his singling out any one particular player, but he did narrow it down to at a minimum of at least 5 specific players. While this might have been entertaining to fans, it is completely contrary to any kind of supervisory, parenting, or educational techniques that I've ever been exposed to. I don't think I'm alone in the belief that its a generally accepted practice that you praise in public and criticize in private. If you or anyone else disagrees with this philosophy, please make a notation of your objection, otherwise I'll accept your silence as agreement.

I'm not sure how many players a D1 head coach comes in contact with during the course of a year, but I think it's safe to say that it's in the hundreds. While the vast majority of players can handle such criticism and public humiliation, there may be a very small number that have serious emotional and unstable personalities that could make them subject to profound emotional trauma caused by such humiliation. It used to be that we would refer to such people as "pussies" or "snowflakes", but in today's modern society, we have learned the hard way that mental illness is a serious issue and nothing to be made fun of. Teen suicide is a serious issue, and out of the hundreds of players and other individuals that a major college coach comes in contact with, the odds of him/her encountering such an individual are quite a bit higher than you or me. For me personally, I've had two close friends/coworkers that chose to end their lives, and they were adults in their 30's, not the less mature teens and young adults that Leach was charged with.

Indeed, in January of 2018, one of Leach's players, 21 year old Tyler Hilinski, WSU's starting quarterback, was found dead in his apartment with a self inflicted gunshot wound to his head:

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news ... icide-cte/

I'm not accusing Leach of being a factor in any way, shape, or form of Hilinski's suicide. But it does provide a dramatic and real life example of why coaches and other authority figures should NOT be intentionally humiliating players AT ALL, let alone with dozens of media, microphones, and TV cameras present. Do it one-on-one or with the minimum amount of people present as possible and behind closed doors.

[Hawktawk]

Well you brought the suicide up so you seem to be inferring there may be some linkage .

I’ve never heard a single other suggestion leach had any issues with Hilinski at all or any linkage to his death .

His dad would be as furious hearing that as he was being asked if CTE was the issue . How this wound up in a leach memorial thread is amazing . Not surprising

[Aseahawkfan]

I need to make a correction on my previous statement about Leach and his making his OL apologize for their 2012 loss to Utah. The local report wasn't that he "wanted" his OL to apologize, it was that he sent them out there with instructions to do so. I'm not sure why I used the term "wanted" as it wasn't how I described the incident earlier in the thread, but it wasn't the result of my 'backtracking". Unfortunately, I do not have any link or quote which uses that specific language, but that's the way I heard it described back in 2012.

It's a pretty well documented fact that Leach made a habit out of openly criticizing his players in front of the media, at times using somewhat embarrassing terms like "fat", "lazy", etc. I'm not aware of his singling out any one particular player, but he did narrow it down to at a minimum of at least 5 specific players. While this might have been entertaining to fans, it is completely contrary to any kind of supervisory, parenting, or educational techniques that I've ever been exposed to. I don't think I'm alone in the belief that its a generally accepted practice that you praise in public and criticize in private. If you or anyone else disagrees with this philosophy, please make a notation of your objection, otherwise I'll accept your silence as agreement.

I'm not sure how many players a D1 head coach comes in contact with during the course of a year, but I think it's safe to say that it's in the hundreds. While the vast majority of players can handle such criticism and public humiliation, there may be a very small number that have serious emotional and unstable personalities that could make them subject to profound emotional trauma caused by such humiliation. It used to be that we would refer to such people as "pussies" or "snowflakes", but in today's modern society, we have learned the hard way that mental illness is a serious issue and nothing to be made fun of. Teen suicide is a serious issue, and out of the hundreds of players and other individuals that a major college coach comes in contact with, the odds of him/her encountering such an individual are quite a bit higher than you or me. For me personally, I've had two close friends/coworkers that chose to end their lives, and they were adults in their 30's, not the less mature teens and young adults that Leach was charged with.

Indeed, in January of 2018, one of Leach's players, 21 year old Tyler Hilinski, WSU's starting quarterback, was found dead in his apartment with a self inflicted gunshot wound to his head:

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news ... icide-cte/

I'm not accusing Leach of being a factor in any way, shape, or form of Hilinski's suicide. But it does provide a dramatic and real life example of why coaches and other authority figures should NOT be intentionally humiliating players AT ALL, let alone with dozens of media, microphones, and TV cameras present. Do it one-on-one or with the minimum amount of people present as possible and behind closed doors.

Seriously wrong thread to be talking about this. You decided to take silence as agreement in a thread talking about a man that died and you're starting a thread debate about public humiliation and such in a R.I.P. thread? Really bad manners. You want to start some kind of discussion of this kind, you should have taken it another thread.

[RiverDog]

Seriously wrong thread to be talking about this. You decided to take silence as agreement in a thread talking about a man that died and you're starting a thread debate about public humiliation and such in a R.I.P. thread? Really bad manners. You want to start some kind of discussion of this kind, you should have taken it another thread.

Well, I seem to have pretty good company as up until now, even you have participated in in this discussion in this thread.