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What Mike Leach Learned (Oops) in Law School: Is the Socratic Method to Blame for his Treatment of Players?

By Rick Karcher, Michael McCann, Geoffrey Rapp, Greg Skidmore, and Howard Wasserman

The Texas Tech Law Review has published an article by now former coach Mike Leach, A Legal Education Applied to Coaching College Football, 42 TEXAS TECH LAW REVIEW 77 (2009). Read in light of how Leach's season ended, as discussed by Mike here, and Howard here and here, the article is a very interesting glance at Leach's coaching philosophy and how his law school experience at Pepperdine may have shaped his attitude towards players.

Leach writes,

Both law school and college football view it as important to harden and battle test your charges the best you can before you turn them out into the real world.

He then recalls a discussion from his first year contracts class:

In my class, the unlucky student called upon to recite Pennoyer [v. Neff] was brutalized from beginning to end. When the student finished, the professor said in a rather sinister tone, ?Sit down, Mr. Smith. Call your parents and tell them that there is very little chance of you ever successfully becoming an attorney. However, I understand there are openings for assistant managers at McDonald's.? This was said in front of approximately ninety people. . . . Certain individuals could not deal with having to stand up in front of people to recite a case, not to mention handle the combative nature of the comments and questions from the professor and fellow students.

Full post as published by Sports Law Blog on January 25, 2010 (boomark / email).