An open request record filed by the LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL unearthed a bombshell involving Craig James and Texas Tech attorneys.

(Tech lawyers blaming investigation on James to keep Leach records seal)

A-J reporter Matthew McGowan notes this week that as part of an appeal to thwart the newspaper’s request for records involving the Leach investigation, Tech attorneys stated, “Craig James threatened on Dec. 20 to sue the university if it did not investigate the actions of then-head football coach Mike Leach.”

More of the plea from Tech to the Texas Attorney General: “The threat did not appear to be an idle threat as the parent expressed genuine concern for the health and well-being of his injured child, as well as other student-athletes.”

Tech attorneys are trying to keep all records sealed within the university as it pertains to the Leach investigation, but in the process of trying to keep those secrets, university lawyers tipped off just how much influence Craig James was trying to exert over the Texas Tech football program - and Leach himself.

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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.

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KCBD-TV in Lubbock reports today:

NewsChannel 11 continues to dig deeper for answers into the firing of Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach.

As reported first at KCBD.com last Thursday, three Regents accused Leach of being “profane and defiant”. NewsChannel 11 has looked into this allegation of profanity and Chancellor Kent Hance would not specifically confirm or deny the quote that NewsChannel 11 heard. Instead, Hance says, “I’d rather not get into that but it was a pretty good cussin’ I received from an employee I was trying to help.”

Mike Leach and his attorney Ted Liggett categorically deny that Leach ever cussed to the Chancellor. Liggett also says Leach never used profanity when dealing with the Texas Tech administration. Liggett goes on to say the Chancellor’s refusal to confirm specific cuss words on the record is proof that it never took place.

Sunday Hance wasn’t so coy, plainly stating that Leach directed “profanely defiant” words at him. Hance describing a meeting with Leach after the coach was called on the carpet for allegedly mistreating Adam James.

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Last Friday I reported the same firm that oversaw the p.r. campaign of the Swift Boat veterans against John Kerry in 2004 was also advising Craig James in his public complaint to the Texas Tech administration about the disciplinary methods of Red Raiders football coach Mike Leach.

 (In hiring Swift Boat pr firm, ESPN’s James gave clue of fear over backlash)

Today I talked to the Founder of Spaeth Communications Merrie Spaeth about the company’s specific role with the James family.

Spaeth told me that she was initially contacted by Craig James before he went public with his complaints about Leach after a third party recommended the firm to the ESPN announcer.

“I’m pretty sure his first call was on Dec. 19. He reached out to us,” Spaeth said.

Spaeth said that James wanted her company to, “help (James family) with the first burst of attention.”

“Our first role with them was to think through what to say publicly. We advised him on the drafting of the family’s first statement that was distributed to reporters,” Spaeth said.

Spaeth also provided previously unreported details about the Adam James cellphone video. She said that James actually shot two videos during his separate confiments at Texas Tech practices and, “showed them to his parents.” Those videos were part of the impetus for Craig James taking the complaint against Leach public. Immediately after the second video was shot, Craig James contacted Spaeth to advise him.

Spaeth said the public release of the Adam James cellphone video was based on prior statements by Leach: “We came to a consensus that the video should be released to the public after Leach said some things that were at odds with adam’s story.”

She did not say who had the initial idea to release the video to the media, only that it was a consensus-driven decision by her and the James family.

About the second video uploaded to Youtube and distributed to media outlets that showed Leach shouting at Adam James during a Tech practice, Spaeth said, “I have not seen it and don’t know about it.”

Spaeth also clarified her role with James in the wake of his recent public announcement that he’s considering running for U.S. Senate.

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Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com today:

Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville will be named the next football coach at Texas Tech, a source close to the search told ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel.

A news conference is scheduled for Sunday in Lubbock, Texas. Tuberville’s family is flying to Lubbock Saturday night, according to the source.

An SbB reader also sent me this flight plan, claiming it is Tuberville.

I haven’t confirmed that Tuberville has been hired, but wouldn’t doubt it. In fact, I predicted Tuberville would be hired a week ago.

Tuberville would Mike Leach, who was fired by Tech after a complaint from the son of ESPN’s Craig James, Tech wide receiver Adam James.

Earlier this week I reported that Tech would hire Art Briles for the job, and sources told me at the time that Briles had been offered the job. After Tech offered Briles, Baylor donors ponied up an extension that included a second raise in less than a week for Briles. Briles now has a seven-year deal with Baylor.

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Here’s some unfortunate photos of Adam James, the Texas Tech football player who helped get Mike Leach fired:

I’m sorry too.

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Yesterday Craig James announced that he is considering a run for the U.S. Senate in Texas if Kay Bailey Hutchinson vacates her Senate seat to take over as Governor of Texas. Assisting James in the release of the news was a Dallas company called Spaeth Communications.

(Did Leach get ’swiftboated’ by same firm that attacked Kerry?)

I’ve recently learned that Spaeth was also responsible for the release of the cellphone video Adam James took of himself in an attempt to damage the credibility of former Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach.

(Did Spaeth tell Adam James to record video after the fact?)

If you’re a political junkie, Spaeth Communications might ring a bell. More likely, you’ve heard the term “swiftboating,” which is derived from a p.r. campaign led by Spaeth CEO Merrie Spaeth to damage the 2004 presidential candidacy of John Kerry.

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Saturday night ESPN enjoyed its highest rated bowl game telecast ever as Texas Tech defeated Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl. The game was played immediately following the unpopular firing of Red Raiders coach Mike Leach, and Tech fans made it clear during the broadcast that they were extremely unhappy with the decision to jettison the school’s winningest football coach.

(“Team Leach” sign appeared on NBC’s Today show this morning)

But while the Tech administration that made the call to fire Leach can live with that embarrassing, nationally-televised outrage, it can’t live without money, and apparently donations to the school have dropped off a cliff since Leach was terminated.

What’s worse is donations to Tech’s largest private benefactor, the school’s alumni association, uses those donations to primarily fund academic initiatives. Classroom programs that because of the backlash over Leach’s firing are now in jeopardy.

Responding to fan outrage, the Texas Tech Alumni Association sent out a somewhat panicked-sounding letter to members noting that “failure to renew their memberships” will cause significant cuts to:

• over 600 student scholarships
• support for academic recruiting
• support for faculty

It only gets worse for the Tech administrators who decided to throw Leach under the bus, as the LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL reports, “Bill Dean, the association’s executive vice president and chief executive officer, said administrators need to reveal more information about the circumstances surrounding Leach’s abrupt suspension and termination.”

Dean also told the Lubbock newspaper that Tech alumni, “are almost 100 percent opposed to the university’s firing of Mike Leach. They’re angry and they’re mad and threatening to withdraw support from every aspect of the university because of this.”

Again, Dean runs the largest private benefactor of academics at Tech, and he and his members are universally outraged over the school’s opaque representation of the Leach dismissal.

Not surprisingly, sentiment is now growing among prominent Tech academic donors for the ouster of Tech Chancellor Kent Hance and Athletic Director Gerald Myers.

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The television ratings for ESPN’s Alamo Bowl broadcast between Texas Tech and Michigan State last Saturday are out, and the numbers are stunning.

(Fans certainly had huge audience for their pro-Leach signs and sentiment)

The game drew a 5.2 overnight rating, reaching over 5.5 million households during the broadcast. That’s the largest audience for an ESPN bowl game telecast in the network’s history. Funny thing though, ESPN hasn’t been falling over itself promoting that fact - for obvious reasons.

Also, I’ve heard from a source at NBC here in Los Angeles today that the Jay Leno Show is attempting to book Mike Leach for the program this week. Another source told me last night that Leach is currently vacationing in Las Vegas.

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UPDATE: (12:00AM ET): Don Williams of the LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL reports Tuberville will interview Wednesday.

Last night I Tweeted that I thought Texas Tech would hire Tommy Tuberville in less than two weeks. In the past 48 hours I’ve heard from two college football sources that he’s the likely hire. As late as early today though, Tuberville had confirmed that he’d not yet been contacted about the job.

But Lubbock radio and TV personality Chris Level reports this afternoon that, “Tech is going to talk to Tuberville next and after talking to Tommy earlier he’s more than ready for the phone call when it comes.”

Level is also the proprietor of RedRaiderSports.com.

Dwain Price of the FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM reports that earlier today Ruffin McNeill had an informal visit with the same folks who jettisoned Michael Leach from the school:

Interim Texas Tech football coach Ruffin McNeill had an informal interview Monday morning with school president Guy Bailey and chancellor Kent Hance.

Pete Christy of KCBD-TV in Lubbock also reports that McNeill talked to the Tech admin, and that chat included Athletic Director Gerald Myers.

So besides Tuberville and McNeill, who else is in the mix, and who isn’t?

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