SAN ANTONIO — Fired coach Mike Leach isn't going away quietly, ringing in the New Year by blasting his accusers and questioning Texas Tech's motives for his dismissal.
In interviews late Thursday night with The New York Times and ESPN and Friday with The Associated Press, Leach denied mistreatment of sophomore receiver Adam James and said he had few regrets.
Multiple statements from Tech athletic staff members — which came to light Thursday and were obtained by The Dallas Morning News from a Leach representative Friday — have surfaced that contradict James' version of events.
Tech fired Leach on Wednesday for allegedly endangering James after the receiver suffered a concussion by twice isolating him in dark spaces, and for insubordination. Leach had sued the university to overturn his suspension, which was announced Monday.
Tech plays Michigan State on Saturday night in the Valero Alamo Bowl, the Red Raiders' first game without Leach in a decade.
Leach told the Times he only ordered James to be taken "out of the light" and said "he was never locked anywhere."
Leach ripped Adam James and his father, Craig James, an ESPN television analyst and former SMU star. Leach said Craig James called Lincoln Riley, Adam's position coach, often to lobby for playing time, and also called Tech administrators.
"I think he used his position at ESPN to try to coerce me into allowing Adam to play more," Leach told the Times. "He made it clear that he had a business relationship with our chancellor, or certainly was in conversation about such things."
Leach said he would like relationships between Tech regents and university administrators to be examined.
Craig James released a statement saying Leach's statements were "damaging and untrue."
"He's simply trying to shift attention from his own actions and from the findings of a University investigation which we believe was fair and thorough," James said.
A Tech spokesman said the school has never had a business relationship with the James family.
A statement from Steve Pincock, Tech's head football trainer, details a version of events different from initial reports that Leach had locked Adam James in a shed and an electrical closet after he couldn't practice because of his concussion.
Pincock's statement said James came to practice in street clothes and showed "a non-caring attitude" when asked to walk during the session. When Leach noticed the "poor effort," he "asked that Adam be placed in a location where sunlight could not bother him, as he was wearing sunglasses," the statement said.
"While in the garage, Adam was walking around, eating ice, sitting on the ground, and, at one point, sleeping; at no point was there any enforcement to make Adam stand up. Adam was checked by doctors every day."
Pincock wrote that during the second incident, James was taken to a media room that "was at least as big as a two-car garage" and contains an electrical closet. "At no time … was Adam ever placed in the electrical closet," Pincock wrote.
A statement by team physician Michael Phy said, "According to the information given to me, no additional risks or harm were imposed on Adam by what he was asked to do."
Leach told the Times that e-mails published Thursday by The News prove Tech didn't want him around. The e-mails, largely between chancellor Kent Hance and Dallas booster Jim Sowell, took place during contentious contract negotiations in late 2008 and early 2009.
"It's shocking to me that there's people working together that were trying to get me fired last year after an 11-1 regular season," Leach told the Times. "Betrayal's really hard."