December 30, 2009. It's a date that almost eight years later Mike Leach hasn't forgotten. It's a date many Texas Tech Football fans won't forget either. It's the date now-former Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance fired Mike Leach "for cause" from his position as Texas Tech Football head coach.

Now, you may be asking yourself, why is this news eight years later?

Well, very simply, it's because Mike Leach won't let it go. Since this summer, Leach has decided to go on a very public crusade to slam Texas Tech for non-payment of his 2009 salary.


This past Monday (October 16), Leach, while in the middle of his weekly media availability in Pullman, decided to rant again about Texas Tech (shown in the video at the start of this story).

“You’re talking about an institution (Texas Tech) that hasn’t paid me [my salary] for 2009," Leach said. "We won nine games in 2009. They haven’t won nine since. Are there crooks there? Yeah, I mean like felons. They ought to put them in jail.”

Currently, Leach has no legal standing to sue Texas Tech for the money. Years ago, a judge ruled the university has Sovereign Immunity. Leach ranted against that too on Monday.

“They want to hide behind some little nuance in the law," he said. "We’re the Sovereign. How are you operating in your role as the Sovereign by not paying a contract that you drew up and signed?”

In reality, Leach essentially has nothing to lose by being a constant pest to Texas Tech. If Texas Tech would file legal action against Leach's comments, they could potentially open themselves up to a legal proceeding in which Sovereign Immunity is waived.

Or Leach could hope that by being a pest, at some point the university comes to him with a monetary offer to end the dispute. However, that seems to be extremely unlikely based upon eight years of Texas Tech doing nothing after Leach was fired "for cause."

So, while the rest of the world of college football debates playoffs, television contracts, conference realignment and bowl games, Mike Leach will continue to tilt at the windmills of Texas Tech, hoping someone will pay him money owed from a decade ago.

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