More details of Mike Leach’s lawsuit against Texas Tech were released earlier this week, including allegations that ESPN announcer Craig James twice called Texas Tech position coaches in an attempt to influence how the staff was handling his son, team inside receiver Adam James.
(Do Leach’s lawyers have actual voicemail recordings from James?)
Leach’s lawsuit maintains that Craig James called Tech Director of Football Operations Tommy McVay in September, “to tell him, in effect, that you coaches are crazy and you’re screwing my kid.”
Leach’s lawsuit also alleges that James called then-Tech assistant coach Lincoln Riley the same day about his son, “stating, in effect, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing. Adam James is the best player at the wide receiver position. If you’ve got the balls to call me back, and I don’t think you do, call me back.’”
I’m not going to speculate what impact those alleged phone calls could have on the Leach lawsuit against Texas Tech. But if Leach’s lawyers can materially prove that James indeed did say those things in phone calls to Texas Tech football coaches, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that ESPN executives would be concerned about James broadcasting games for the network in the future.
Leach attorneys Ted Liggett and Paul Dobrowski have not yet indicated if they have recordings of those phone calls from James. However in another area of the lawsuit, Dobrowski confirmed that he had a copy of a voicemail left by Tech attorney Charlotte Bingham.
From Matthew Mcgowan and Adam Zuvanich of the LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL:
Bingham left a voicemail with one of Leach’s assistants advising him, “to the effect, ‘This thing is heating up. There are outside forces affecting this situation that I cannot control.’ “
Dobrowski said he has a copy of the voicemail, but did not explain the “to the effect” clause in the court documents.
I have an email into Dobrowski asking him if he also has copies of the two voicemails James allegedly left to the Tech assistant coaches.
If audio of those alleged calls is produced, things could get ugly for James as it pertains to his broadcasting career with ESPN or any other network. For an ESPN broadcaster to call coaches in the sport that he covers and express himself in that manner shows a serious lack of judgement. Especially in the context of James’ subsequent formal complaint to Tech administrators against Leach, which was a major factor in the coach’s ouster.
As for a possible run for political office for James, he has confirmed that he is interested in exploring his prospects. But it is way too early to know if the U.S. Senate seat in Texas he’s reportedly interested in will even be open in the near future.
I did contact ESPN about James’ future with the network. ESPN media relations vice president Josh Krulewitz said, “It’s much too early to even address it. The season just ended.”
If Leach’s lawyers have no voicemail recordings of alleged calls from Craig James and no other material evidence of James showing a serious lack of judgement with the coaching staff or school administration, the former SMU star is probably in the clear professionally.
When asked about how the Leach lawsuit may affect him on Thursday, James told the DALLAS MORNING NEWS that any damage done to him personally would be “inconsequential.”
If the two voicemails that James allegedly left for Tech football coaches were not saved and cannot be recovered, I would agree.
9:40 pm on January 16th, 2010
i think craig james should butt out of his sons bussines. he is acting like aout of control father in a pop waner league . grow up DIRTBAG!!!
1:26 am on January 17th, 2010
Get rid of James, I never liked the scumbag even before he lied about Leach
5:08 am on January 17th, 2010
James is clearly off his rocker, as his explanation of the reasons behind his Senate run indicate. This is straight out of the right-wring fringe playbook:
“I think Americans today, if you placed us back in 1765, it would be the same scenario. We’ve got the American revolution taking place again.”
Um … what? The sad part is that James and the rest of the Beck/Rush/Hannity cabal truly DO believe that the situation now is comparable to the era leading up to the Revolution. Someone so dangerously misinformed has no place in our government.
Kudos to ESPN, though, for making him take off his tinfoil hat when he goes on the air.
9:29 am on January 17th, 2010
Typical sports parent. The kind of guy thats gets in a coaches face. Lucky he didn’t come to a practice with a piece. As for his political career in Texas, lots of Red Raider fans vote in Texas and I’m guessing he would not be their choice.
12:26 pm on January 17th, 2010
Craig James thinks he can represent The Great State of TEXAS as a SENaTOR. Well, MR INconsequential.. You are not Welcomed! Craig James should be fired by ESPN and the Texas Attorney General needs to look into laws broken by Texas Tech University administrators.
11:00 pm on January 17th, 2010
This Craig James is an irrelevant life form … along with Tiger Woods, Larry Silverstein, Kim Kardashian, George Bush Jr, Lady Gaga, Conan O’Brien, etc …
2:19 am on January 18th, 2010
Not inconsequential in Texas, Brooks. I’m not even a Tech guy, but every college football fan in Texas now hates James. He is a scumbag. Plus, he voted TCU #14 in the final poll costing them 4th in final rankings.
Craig James is a dead man walking politically in Texas! Hope ESPN fires this scumbag.
9:24 am on January 18th, 2010
I hope Mr. James runs for something, we need more slightly befuddled tea-baggers in Texas. We haven’t gotten the message out to quite everyone yet about how moronic we all really are. I mean, our Governor keeps ‘threatening’ to secede, our bragging football teams Longhorns, Cowboys) keep crumpling like the tinfoil from Mr. James hat and small town, right wing, so-called ‘Christian’ God-botherers keep screaming on the airwaves about how the President is really an African who was sent here to destroy us by getting healthcare for poor folk. I know we sound like we all graduated from ‘Fruit-Loop Academy’ but there’s still room for an irate parent to get a winning college coach fired for not letting his little boy be a football hero, like say, Tony whats his name. So go on Mr. James, run for something. Throw your tin foil hat in the ring. We’re not 100% laughingstocks yet, but having a wingnut parent like yourself in office will certainly help.
12:32 pm on January 20th, 2010
Wait, isn’t Adam 21 years old? WTH? No way my parents would have acted like this once I was a legal adult…I cannot believe that Craig’s employer would keep him around either when it is clear he does not represent ESPN in a professional manner! I live in Texas and I would never vote for James in any capacity.