[Mick]

I have long detested Mike Leach, and not just for the many insensitive remarks he has said, and not just because he beat us quite regularly.  I began to dislike him years ago when reading the accounts of some of his players.  The man is abusive.  Winning does not excuse it.

Agreed.  I had the chance to visit with one of his assistant coaches from a past team, whose wife is a friend of Mrs. Mick.  He's your basic tinpot tyrant whose entire world -- largely -- is his football program, where he is king, queen and jack.  

I played for one of those guys in high school. What's interesting is that a bad coach at a young age gives you insights into the frailties and shortcomings of adults in ways that you don't otherwise get.  Your parents and extended family love you, even the marginal teachers at least want you to do well, the parents of your friends are generally happy with you, and if you're fortunate enough to work, your boss has a fairly narrow set of rules and personality characteristics.  In other words, most adults in the lives of students are largely positive.

Not so much a bad or abusive or unfair coach.  When I was a sophomore, we had a varsity basketball coach in high school who demanded we run with our hands up when a teammate had the ball as if we should expect a pass at any moment wherever we were on court.  Thick-headed as I am, I chose to run normally to maximize speed to cut to the basket.  Whistle blows, coach grabs a fistful of my jersey and drags me to the baseline.  He puts our senior shooting guard on that foul line, about 18 feet from me and tells me to keep my hands at my side.  Tells the guy at the foul line (a pitcher on our baseball team, incidentally) to throw it as hard as he could at me.  I could tell he didn't want to do it, but he doesn't want to be punished either so...he throws the basketball at me, splits my nose and breaks it, blood everywhere.  Learned a valuable life lesson, right there.

[Mick]

I have long detested Mike Leach, and not just for the many insensitive remarks he has said, and not just because he beat us quite regularly.  I began to dislike him years ago when reading the accounts of some of his players.  The man is abusive.  Winning does not excuse it.

Agreed.  I had the chance to visit with one of his assistant coaches from a past team, whose wife is a friend of Mrs. Mick.  He's your basic tinpot tyrant whose entire world -- largely -- is his football program, where he is king, queen and jack.  

I played for one of those guys in high school. What's interesting is that a bad coach at a young age gives you insights into the frailties and shortcomings of adults in ways that you don't otherwise get.  Your parents and extended family love you, even the marginal teachers at least want you to do well, the parents of your friends are generally happy with you, and if you're fortunate enough to work, your boss has a fairly narrow set of rules and personality characteristics.  In other words, most adults in the lives of students are largely positive.

Not so much a bad or abusive or unfair coach.  When I was a sophomore, we had a varsity basketball coach in high school who demanded we run with our hands up when a teammate had the ball as if we should expect a pass at any moment wherever we were on court.  Thick-headed as I am, I chose to run normally to maximize speed to cut to the basket.  Whistle blows, coach grabs a fistful of my jersey and drags me to the baseline.  He puts our senior shooting guard on that foul line, about 18 feet from me and tells me to keep my hands at my side.  Tells the guy at the foul line (a pitcher on our baseball team, incidentally) to throw it as hard as he could at me.  I could tell he didn't want to do it, but he doesn't want to be punished either so...he throws the basketball at me, splits my nose and breaks it, blood everywhere.  Learned a valuable life lesson, right there.