Saturday was a pretty good day for me, sports wise. Actually, it was about as good as it gets. Ohio State destroys Michigan for the fourth straight year, leaving open the possibility of a National Title and again insuring my bragging rights for another year over my friend Jeff, who is a great guy in spite of the fact that he is a Michigan fan. Later that night the Mavs finished off the pesky Grizzlies because of Dirk getting his at the exact right moment. And to top it all off, my beloved Texas Tech Red Raiders kept those dang Sooners from backdooring their way into another title game appearance and ended what had been a frustrating season on an incredible high.
And yet I find myself wanting, at least when it comes to the Red Raiders. After a Holiday Bowl THRASHING of Cal in '04 and a Cotton Bowl appearance in '05, Tech has now had two consecutive seasons of disappointing returns. Last year was the Insight bowl (The what? Exactly.) and barring a miracle or the Holiday Bowl selection committee all getting drunk together and deciding not to take UT, we'll end up back in the Alamo Bowl this year, only slightly ahead of the Insight Bowl in prestige. I have begun to question the direction of the program.
Let me say first of all that head coach Mike Leach has been HUGE for Texas Tech. From 1960, when they entered the South West Conference, to 2000, when Leach was hired, Tech was generally considered an average program at best. They put up decent seasons for a couple of years and then followed it up with three or four terrible seasons. Tech put up 7 straight losing seasons to begin the 80s and the 90s saw most Red Raider seasons ending with 6, maybe 7 wins. Respectable but barely. Leach's stay has seen Tech put up at least 8 wins in every season following his first. The difference between an occasional 7 win year and consistently putting up 8 or 9 wins is tremendous in college football. Likewise, since Leach came on board, Tech has gone 6-2 against the most hated of all college football programs, the evil, annoying, and misguided Texas A&M Aggies. (Yuck) That kind of rival bashing is a great benefit to the program and the school and a service to man kind as goodness knows the blasted Aggies need a swift kick every year.
There are other benefits of Leach. His system is the most entertaining in the nation. The spread offense is fun to watch and it brings attention to the school that would otherwise never be given if the team was still a running power. Against OU on Saturday quarterback Graham Harrell threw 72 passes. There are some teams that literally do not have their QB throw 72 passes over the course of 7 games. It's exciting. They score a TON of points and that leaves no doubt that they are never out of game (as seen in the Insight Bowl last season when Tech put up 24 points in the 4th quarter on route to an overtime victory). In the same way, Leach's system is owed a great deal for the changing landscape of high school, college, and even professional football. Many teams that were once traditional running teams have switched over to the spread. A large percentage of high school programs now run the spread. Tom Brady and Pats are looking at the first undefeated NFL seasons since 1972 by running a version of the spread. There have been other fast paced, high scoring offenses before but none has had the long term success and effect that Leach's system has. For further illustration, look no further than Nebraska's coaching search this off season. Nebraska has always run some version of the option. ALWAYS. You can bet good money the person they hire will run the spread. It's a phenomenon.
But then we come to the negatives of the system and, more importantly, Leach. For one thing, because they are so successful with the spread, the national media views it as a gimmick. The 2000 Tech team blew open all school records for passing but they have set new marks each and every season since. To some extent, just about any high school quarterback could run this offense. So when we have a truly gifted QB, like Graham Harrell, he never gets the credit or attention he is due because of the system.
Recruiting is a huge issue and I don't think Leach helps much. Tech is already up against it in recruiting because Texas and OU get the top crops of Texas high school players, followed by the national programs like USC and Florida. They are often left with players who are smaller or less athletic or just not as good. This comes into play most significantly on defense which is full of kids who can hit a barn and knock it over but struggle to cover. To counter this the recruiting has to be GREAT which leaves the program in a catch twenty two: to get big time defensive recruits you have to put up big time wins, but to get big time wins you really need better defensive players. In my opinion, Leach's personality hinders the recruiting process even more. Plain and simple, Leach is a weird dude. I often question how effective he can be in recruiting because I have to believe a lot of parents are turned off by his quirks. More to the point though, he may not even be putting any emphasis on the recruitment of defensive players.
Which brings up the last issue. Leach is as stubborn as the obligatory mule. He really believes that he can and will outscore any opponent that comes his way and that defense is only a mildly entertaining intermission between offensive drives. He never runs the ball, even when the situation DEMANDS it, which makes it hard to run out the clock (cost them a win at Oklahoma State this year and many others in the past) and equally as difficult to recruit running backs; Tech generally is forced to rely on a small guy who can catch as well as a wide receiver and just hope that two or three times a game he can run without fumbling. Leach's belief in his players, and ultimately his system, is so strong that he often refuses to change it up or adjust when the situation calls for it.
The results of all of this is just what Tech has done since 2001: 8 or 9 wins, an incredibly entertaining team, all kinds of receiving and passing records...and loses to any team that is better than them, namely Texas and OU. And you know, when you consider that a lot of other schools in the nation would die for 8 or 9 wins, that doesn't sound so bad. It is nice to be bowl eligible for 15 straight years, to dominate your rival every year, and at least half way believe you could be the conference bullies. But is that enough? Am I, and are we as the Red Raider Nation, content to take these wins and these stats and continue to hope that they'll catch lightening in a bottle one year? Or is it time to consider the possibility that Leach has taken the team as far as he can?
And that's the problem. He's been more successful than any Tech coach since the 50s. The prospects look good for the program to continue to win at least 8 games over the next few years. And the spread allows Tech to ALWAYS be dangerous. But is Leach the guy to take them to the next level? Or are the Red Raiders even capable of getting to the next level? They've moved in the right direction. They've gone from average to every year Bowl eligible to big time bowls (Cotton). But now it's taken a step back, or at least stalled. In my mind not staying a player for the Cotton Bowl or maybe even a contention for a BCS game is a step backward. It's a frustrating position to be in. You have to like the wins but you want MORE.
Leach was in contention for the Miami job this past off season and part of me felt it wouldn't have been so bad to see him leave. Unless the Red Raiders drop back to 5-6 territory for a couple of years, he'll never be pushed out of Lubbock because he's had so much success. And yet I've started to feel like he's not capable of taking this team to bigger and better things. Maybe he's Don Nelson. Nelson took over the Mavs in 1997 when they were the absolute worst franchise in ANY sport. 4 years and a whirlwind of moves later he had the team in the playoffs. 2 years after that they were one game from the Finals. And then they stalled. Early playoff exits, poor execution. It became apparent that Nellie had done all he could. He turned the team over toe Avery Johnson and a year later they made it to the Finals and are a legit title contender every year. I'd hate to see Leach go and I'm thrilled with the success he's brought the team. But with each loss to Texas, each inevitable falter to OK State or Colorado, I can't help but feeling that maybe Leach was the perfect guy for taking this team to relevance, but not the guy to take them to greatness.
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