Texas Tech Teachable Moments

Anyone who has spent a modicum of time in a classroom --on the teacher's side of the desk, that is --is familiar with the term "teachable moment." It is precisely as it sounds: a spot in time when the teacher spies a ripe opportunity to reach out to the student and to offer that mentee a pearl of wisdom, a diamond in life's educational rough, a gem of a lesson. Any adult tagged with the responsibility of educating writ large must be in the business of searching for, identifying and leveraging these teachable moments for the betterment of the kids under his or her purview.

And it is precisely the failure of the now jobless Mike Leach to recognize and capitalize upon a series of teachable moments that underscores his unsuitability for his former position as head football coach at Texas Tech University, a position that asked of him not to teach his charges how to win, but rather to teach the young men under his supervision how to be better men.

That Leach lost sight of the mission and got caught up in the marching orders is unfortunate. That he seems to have developed what some might call a "God Complex" and what I would call a "Warden's Complex" is also regrettable. But that the well being --both physical and mental --and most importantly the character of one of the young men he recruited and was hired to educate became collateral damage in Leach's mad scientist approach to his coaching craft and subsequent rush to his own defense...well, that's where the axe falls for me. Cut him loose. He's not fit to be coaching. He's not fit to be mentoring. And he sure ain't fit to be teaching.

If he were, he would have come up with a more creative, less Alcatraz-like solution to the Adam James problem. Have a player who you think needs motivating? Want to teach him --and his teammates --a valuable lesson? Bust out any of John Wooden's books on mentoring and have yourself a read. Call up the Tebow family and talk leadership development. Take notes on some Pat Summit game tape. Or, hey, here's a new one: sit down with your coaching staff and brainstorm the most innovative and uplifting way to spin hay into gold. Because this is the teacher's mandate: to perform alchemy.

But put a concussed kid in a dark shed? Twice? Really? Is that the best you can do, Mike Leach? Was it a bad day? Get up on the wrong side of the bed? Forget your coffee? Because that's the least impressive, most banal solution to a teachable moment I can recall. Leave aside the isolation of a single player in a team sport; forget for a moment the cruel and unusual punishment foisted on James; and temporarily suspend your disbelief at the subsequent character assassination unleashed upon said 20-year old, a 20-year old Leach was supposed to be educating. (All failures in my book.) And focus instead on the missed moment to work with a player and a whole team in a meaningful manner. If one of Leach's players had committed a similar offense on the football field, had failed to capitalize on a wide open opportunity to score a point or three or six by, say, dropping a pass or botching a hold, he'd be benched. Which is precisely what has happened to Mike Leach.

Have a seat, Mike. Preferably off the field and outside the stadium. Take a time out, kindergarten-style. And think about what you should have done differently. Just be glad you're not sitting in a shed.