It's wise not to live in the past, but sports fans have a hard time doing that, and Texas Tech football fans are no exception.
When your football program has been in national obscurity for over 15 years, it's especially hard not to look back and think, “What if?”In fact, in recent times for Texas Tech football, looking back to past glories has been all the more common since fans had nothing to look forward to in the present.
Summer is a time for daydreaming about what might have been. With no college football or basketball and no college baseball postseason this year, the long, hot days have flown by and for the Red Raiders, it's an opportunity to reflect as they patiently wait for the final weekend of August to arrive.
So let's indulge in some nostalgia and consider what might have happened for the Texas Tech football program if a few key decisions and a few key games had turned out differently. Here are five “what ifs” we've all probably asked ourselves at times.
Perhaps the biggest “what if” for Texas Tech football fans is wondering what might have happened if former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach and former Texas Tech president Kent Hance had reconciled in the midst of the Adam James debacle in 2009. The fact that both sides were to blame for the feud that led to Leach being fired after the 2009 season, and that each let their pride get in the way of what was best for Texas Tech football, still hurts.
Leach was suspended by Hance and the university after he was accused of locking Adam James in the electrical room after he suffered a concussion during practice (a claim that has never been officially confirmed or proven.) Let's not forget that Hance and Leach were already on bad terms due to contract disputes and Leach's flirtations with schools like Washington, Miami, and Tennessee.
So did Hans see the moment as an opportunity to fire the problematic coach? Only Hans knows his motivation for suddenly firing Leach.
Hans, on the other hand, claims that all he wanted from Leach was a public apology, which he refused to give. If Leach had simply swallowed his pride and accepted the punishment, would the marriage have survived? Of course, if you believe Leach's version of events and he did nothing wrong, why did he apologize?
Ultimately, we may never truly know what happened with Adam James and the closet, or the circumstances surrounding Leach's firing — of course, Leach is gone, and Hans has no intention of rehashing the issue.
But what we do know is that Leach led Texas Tech to a No. 2 national ranking in 2008, nine wins in 2009 and had a top 25 recruiting class at the time of his firing. Since then, the team has never come close to the national success Leach achieved, instead, it has taken a backseat not only nationally but in the Big 12 as well. So it's no wonder Texas Tech fans have always wondered, “What if Leach and Hance had found a way to reconcile?”
