Adam James 'Closet' VIDEO: Alleged Mike Leach Punishment Footage Surfaces

Texas Tech fired coach Mike Leach yesterday after a player complained that he was mistreated by the head coach.The player, Adam James, was allegedly forced to spend time in a dark electrical closet after telling Leach he had a concussion.

A video clip purportedly showing James in the closet surfaced on YouTube and has since aired on ESPN, where James' father works as a college football commentator. The short clip shows the space where James was allegedly confined. A voice in the video also seems to explain that he has "turned the lights on real quick" to give viewers a look at the room. Scroll down to watch the footage, as well as a report from KCBD in Lubbock that allegedly shows the shed and electrical closet in question.

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Comments

[SFBunkSurf]

01:07 PM on 01/05/2010

Sadistic football coaches are nothing new but it's cool to see an a-holio like that go down...

[styler7]

10:03 PM on 01/04/2010

Couple of things jump out at me when I watch these two clips back to back. First, I have looked at both clips over and over, and it seems pretty clear that the room where James takes his cell phone video is neither of the two rooms shown by the lawyer: the garage/shed or the media room.

In James' video you can clearly see some HVAC tubing (or whatever you call that silver duct work), and the electrical box seen over james's shoulder is nowhere to be seen in the lawyer's tour. In James's video you can clearly see some sort of switch on the box cover that isn't seen in the lawyer tour. Also, it's obvious James is in a much smaller space, and if there wasn't a "guard" of some kind outside the door, why is he whispering?

Finally-- does anybody else get the impression that the lawyer may be somewhat... impaired?

My 2 cents.

[TTU Pirate]

01:36 AM on 01/05/2010

.

This is in response to styler7:

The plot thickens what with all the additional BS from the TTU administration and the Craig James water-carriers at ESPN...

The following is from the team trainer Pincock’s “sworn” affadavit:

9. On December 19, 2009, we had practice at the stadium field. James came to practice but was still not allowed to participate due to his injury. He was dressed in appropriate attire. Leach again asked me to place James in the same shed he was in during the last practice. I was standing in the Stadium next to Leach and Zane Perry. Perry mentioned using the media interview room. I located James and Jordan and walked to that room. I noticed an electrical closet in the room, and walked inside. I commented on the noise in the room, and told him not to go in that room. All chairs and items that might be used for sitting were removed from the room, with the exception of two large tractor tires, and the student trainer was placed outside the room to check on James and to ensure James was following instructions.

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/01/02/steve-pincock-affidavit/

continues at next comment -->>
.

[TTU Pirate]

01:40 AM on 01/05/2010

.

continued from previous post...

Now with the above said … Go back and view the ESPN video from Adam James' cell phone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZqvajnhZDU

The following 3 items are glaringly noticeable.

First: Apparently, against the instructions of the trainer, James turned the lights on for his cell phone video -- or they were never off.

Second: Against the instructions of the trainer, James went into the electrical room of the media facility on his own -- and had not been placed there in the first place.

Third: At the 11 second mark of Adam's cell phone videon one can see clearly in the background two red chairs sitting against the rear wall -- so he could have parked his butt in one of those chairs.

Now go back up and re-read Pincock’s statement.

And ... It's quite clear that from the lawyer interview video neither facility was much of a "small shed" and/or "electrical closet" that ESPN first reported that Adam James was placed in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Q_5nYwWLU

This whole line of crap just isn’t holding up even under the slightest of scrutiny.

But one thing is quite clear ... The whole affair has turned into a circus here at TTU and the administration is going to be paying out the nose to Leach . . .

~ Longtime Red Raider alum . . .
.

[OnlyIfIHaveTo]

05:40 PM on 01/04/2010

I am tiring of this entire episode already. Father, like son, is annoying. Let's wait and see how long it takes for TTU to fight Baylor for the cellar of the Big 12 South.

[Sonoma]

04:04 AM on 01/04/2010

"I do not totally buy Adam's account. Why not refuse to enter the "shed?" He is not a six year-old child".

That's right. On the other hand, the coach should never have sent him in there. He should have sent to a doctor, or sent him home with instructions not to return until he had seen a specialist. These two obviously had a history of butting heads. But of the two, the coach is the adult (and a well paid one at that). He obviously let his frustration with the kid get the better of him. That said, it doesn't appear to me his lack of judgement in this instance merits firing. Unless the school has a paper trail that indicts him for numerous other contractual infractions, I'd guess he has a pretty good case in a court of law.

[cbvani]

12:02 AM on 01/04/2010

Because football coaches refuse to take concussions seriously, players suffer from repeated head injury and end up punch-drunk later in life, just like ex-boxers. A recent study by the UNC Sports Medicine department revealed that players are regularly experiencing minor car-crashes, essentially every play. So no, no coach should punish a player because they are injured - especially not a psychological punishment like this one. Laps or nothing, coach. Learn to be a leader, and not a bully.

[uhavenoface]

07:36 AM on 01/04/2010

"Laps or nothing, coach."

James was complaining of light sensitivity as a result of his concussion. Leach accomodated this by sending him indoors. What's your point, other than you don't know what you're talking about?

[veggiequeenmo]

04:35 PM on 01/03/2010

Most athletes won't accuse their coach of any wrong-doing since they want to participate in whatever sport it is. Lot's of athletes worship their coaches and think that whatever they do is the "right" thing to do. If I ever found out my childs were put in a closet for anything, I wouldn't be too happy, either. It doesn't matter who his dad is, it matters how the coach behaves. Speaking of coaches, I still can't believe the Raiders coach is still employeed after slapping one of the players.

[nee]

10:37 AM on 01/03/2010

Now we find out that the trainer said Leach wanted James to feel "uncomfortable".

[Hardcorps]

01:37 AM on 01/03/2010

If you make a video of yourself being punished because of a concussion from a bar fight you lost,
are you a Drama Queen?

[OnlyIfIHaveTo]

10:11 AM on 01/04/2010

No, you should be beaten again for making a viseo of it.

[roudy]

01:11 AM on 01/03/2010

How about we dropkick the football program right out of the school, and spend those millions of dollars on actually improving the level of educational quality at the University.

[cybolt]

11:22 AM on 01/03/2010

I think you have it backwards. At every level in college competition, football programs not only make a ton of cash and operate in the black, they also generate money to fund other programs, often in women's athletics.

Hypothetically (of course) should you kill football at Texas Tech or any D1 school, you'd be killing men's water polo and volleyball as well as women's basketball and the coed equestrian team. For starters.

[uhavenoface]

07:39 AM on 01/04/2010

Actually, football programs only generate a profit for the top 20 or so programs in the country (and those programs do generate a lot of revenue, true). However, the other ~100 Div. I football programs regularly operate at a loss because they are desperately trying to keep up with the UFs and USCs, even though they don't have the reputation, merchandising, or fan base to do so effectively.

[roudy]

10:05 AM on 01/04/2010

Few, if any football "programs" at the college level ever truly generate positive revenues when all of the costs of the programs are figured in. In truth, hundreds of millions in education funding across this country is wasted on football programs that could be used for real educational purposes.

[cybolt]

06:59 PM on 01/02/2010

As we now know on this date--January 2-- this accounting is a fabrication.

According to the sworn affadavit of the trainer responsible, Adam James showed up in street clothes at practice after being diagnosed with a mild concussion. He was joking around, hat backwards, sunglasses on and acting nonchalant, upsetting Leach (who already didn't like him). Leach ordered the trainer to put James in a dark place (customary for a concussion) somewhere near the field--which turned out to be a large sports medicine/athletic shed--where he was kept for the length of practice.

Two days later, again according to the trainer's affadavit, James was placed in a media interview room the size of a two car garage. There was an electrical closet inside the room and the trainer told James to avoid it.

James was not "guarded" in either instance.

It appears as though James went into the closet to make the video... to dramatize and embellish his alleged mistreatment.

Inasmuch as James' father has played an integral role in all of this and works for ESPN, I recommend that anyone seeking an honest accounting of it avoid them completely.

[Palemoon]

07:24 PM on 01/02/2010

Best... Post... EVER!!

[Exfl]

11:06 PM on 01/02/2010

Thank you. Amazing how reputable news agencies bought Adam James claims hook ine and sinker, Working on a university campus I see several of these spoiled narcissistic whiny rich kids every year. The university administration typically is afraid to stand up to all helicopter parents, but especially those who are rich and influential. Craig James, since his own days as a player, has shown a lack of character and morality. His son seems to have fallen clsoe to the tree. The only difference is that Craig had more talent and was willing to work (even if it was for money). Adam, by reports of other players, is the typical lazy over-privileged spawn of rich parents who never held him responsible for his actions. Leach is no angel, but the university administration at Tx Tech must be truly gutless or stupid or both!.

[Palemoon]

05:24 PM on 01/02/2010

So, I could walk into any closet anywhere in the world, sho-ot 16 seconds of video while I whisper, and that's irrefutable evidence that I was kidnapped and held against my will?

I always knew Texas justice was different, I just never realized it was so idi0tic as to be delusi0nal.

By the way, when is Craig James going to step up and do the right thing?

[Palemoon]

05:23 PM on 01/02/2010

So, I could walk into any closet anywhere in the world, shoot 16 seconds of video while I whisper, and that's irrefutable evidence that I was kidnapped and held against my will?

I always knew Texas justice was different, I just never realized it was so idi0tic as to be delusi0nal.

By the way, when is Craig James going to step up and do the right thing?

[o ne]

02:01 PM on 01/02/2010

All of the wrong points. First- the NFL has committed tens of millions of dollars studying the effects of concussions on players- a leading cause of death for players. Regardless of the size of the concussion, mild or not, if anywhere- James should have been sent to a hospital. The thought of whether this was a storage shed with spiders and lightning or a heated garage pleasure palace is irrelevant. Concussion = hospital. No concussion = nowhere. Simple.

Second, and more importantly, Leach is in a position of power. He is the coach. He is responsible for his players. James may be a whiny little priss, but then don't put him on the field. The influence of James's father on the field is only effectual if- only if- Leach allows it. No other college football coach allows such politics to enter the field. It's professionalism.

Third, Leach is NOT stupid. It is not as if the university hired a general that can't read a map. They hired a general that doesn't know where is or care for the moral line. He should have been removed.

[deepthicket]

02:20 PM on 01/02/2010

Does TT have a written policy that any athlete with a concussion is to be sent to the hospital? It is not a coach's responsibility to develop such a policy, only to follow it if there was one. Was there? Bet you don't know. If there was not, where does that fault lie?

There is no indication Leach let James Sr. influence him. The allegation is he influenced Trustees and the Administration.

I am also ignorant regarding Leach's intelligence or why that matters one way or the other. The things that matter would seem to be the facts (unknown by you and by me), and his coaching record, including past player evaluations (partly known by you and me.)

[Palemoon]

05:11 PM on 01/02/2010

That's the biggest bunch of propeganda I've seen on this story since Texas Tech officials posted their side of the story, LOL.

Fact, part of the reason Leach was fired? He was accused of overstepping his authority in this situation. He was accused of doing too much to give Adam James a break. He was told that there was no reason to keep James out of 2 practices, that only a DOCTOR working on behalf of Texas Tech could make such decisions, that it was not the coaches responsibility to decide who can play, or not. Nor was it the coaches responsibility who could practice, or not. Most of all, they said it was not the coaches responsibility to determine who was injured or not. By doing what he did, Leach made the University officials look bad because they are the uncaring ones. They also get a lot of money from the father. ;o)

[deepthicket]

09:53 AM on 01/02/2010

I like all of you am ignorant of the facts. None of us know what happened. I do suspect what will happen, however: Leach will have a new job for more pay at a comparable or better school next season; Adam James will never be noted or noticed for anything else in his life.

[Palemoon]

05:14 PM on 01/02/2010

I'm not ignorant of the facts, I've been following this as closely as I can being that I am not, and never will be, from Texas. There's plenty of media stories on it out there from both sides. From what I'm seeing, this is practically starting a civil war at Texas Tech between 2 factions. Those who side with the University and James, and those that side with the rest of the team that are being ignored.

[Uncle Bill]

07:59 AM on 01/02/2010

Maybe we should question why the person in the video whispers about turning the lights on and not having much time if there was no one there to check on him while being without supervision for his concussion. Or is it that there were guards keeping him in the closet? James has to pick one they can not both be true.

[Exfl]

11:14 PM on 01/02/2010

Gosh Uncle Bill, maybe he whispered because he was trying to make it look like someone was watching him. Liars do that.