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Double T - Double Cross - Double Take: The Firing of Coach Mike Leach by Texas Tech University
It has been eight years since Texas Tech University fired Mike Leach, its most successful football coach ever. Double T Double Cross released two years later, exposed the backroom deals behind his dismissal. Now Double Take reveals what has happened to the participants and events since with a new introduction and afterword to the 2017 edition. Even though life has moved on for the participants in the story, there remains a keen interest in Leach and what went on in Lubbock at the end of the 2009 football season. Leach, in his fifth year as head coach at Washington State University, remains innovative and forward-looking but he has not given up in seeking justice from Texas Tech.
More than 300 people lined up for the initial release and author's signing of Double T Double Cross in the fall of 2011. Reviews, both online and in print periodicals, were extremely positive. A few of the actors--those exposed in the book for their backroom deals that led to the firing of Coach Mike Leach--threatened lawsuits. One actually followed through but the complaint never made it out of the initial filing stages. As always, the best defense against any accusation is the truth; not a single line or sentence in the original Double T Double Cross has been proven false or inaccurate.
Coach Leach and the Red Raiders had departed Lubbock heading for San Antonio on Monday, December 28, 2009, to complete preparations for the upcoming post-season bowl game to be played four days later. Upon his arrival in the Alamo City, however, Leach received a stunning telephone call from Athletic Director Myers telling him that he had been suspended from coaching duties--effective immediately--until further notice.
The team--after its spectacular 2008 year--had just completed another successful season, racking up an 8-4 record and making Mike Leach the most winning football coach in Texas Tech history. Not only had the Red Raiders, who had been un-ranked and mostly unnoted a decade before Leach took over, gained national recognition, but also they had done it in a style that old-school proponents of the game said could not be done. Coach Leach had had the vision, and his players had executed it right into the Top 25 in the polls. The Raiders had been flying in more ways than just on planes.
Instead of working on plans for the game scheduled for January 2, Leach sat alone in his hotel room awaiting a legal decision from the 99th Judicial Court in Lubbock, a ruling that would either lift or uphold his coaching suspension imposed two days before by his bosses, Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers and University President Guy Bailey.
More than 300 people lined up for the initial release and author's signing of Double T Double Cross in the fall of 2011. Reviews, both online and in print periodicals, were extremely positive. A few of the actors--those exposed in the book for their backroom deals that led to the firing of Coach Mike Leach--threatened lawsuits. One actually followed through but the complaint never made it out of the initial filing stages. As always, the best defense against any accusation is the truth; not a single line or sentence in the original Double T Double Cross has been proven false or inaccurate.
Coach Leach and the Red Raiders had departed Lubbock heading for San Antonio on Monday, December 28, 2009, to complete preparations for the upcoming post-season bowl game to be played four days later. Upon his arrival in the Alamo City, however, Leach received a stunning telephone call from Athletic Director Myers telling him that he had been suspended from coaching duties--effective immediately--until further notice.
The team--after its spectacular 2008 year--had just completed another successful season, racking up an 8-4 record and making Mike Leach the most winning football coach in Texas Tech history. Not only had the Red Raiders, who had been un-ranked and mostly unnoted a decade before Leach took over, gained national recognition, but also they had done it in a style that old-school proponents of the game said could not be done. Coach Leach had had the vision, and his players had executed it right into the Top 25 in the polls. The Raiders had been flying in more ways than just on planes.
Instead of working on plans for the game scheduled for January 2, Leach sat alone in his hotel room awaiting a legal decision from the 99th Judicial Court in Lubbock, a ruling that would either lift or uphold his coaching suspension imposed two days before by his bosses, Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers and University President Guy Bailey.
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
11 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Michael Lee Lanning
39 books12 followersLieutenant Colonel Michael Lee Lanning (USA, Ret.) is an American retired military officer and writer of non-fiction, mostly military history.
After spending his early life in Texas, in 1964 Michael Lee Lanning graduated from Trent High School (Trent, Texas) and entered Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas), where in 1968 he earned a BS in Agricultural Education.
Upon graduation from Texas A&M in 1968, Lanning was commissioned a second lieutenant and received infantry, airborne, and ranger training at Fort Benning, Georgia. After serving as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam where he served as an infantry platoon leader, reconnaissance platoon leader, and rifle company commander in the 2d Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. During subsequent tours of duty he served throughout the United States and Germany, as (among other things) an instructor in the U.S. Army Ranger School, a mechanized infantry company commander in the 3rd Infantry Division, and executive officer of an infantry battalion in the 1st Cavalry Division. He also served in several non-command assignments, including positions as public affairs officer, serving in that role first for General H. Norman Schwarzkopf and later as a member of the Department of Defense public affairs office. In 1979, he earned an MS in Journalism from East Texas State University (Commerce, TX); he was selected to attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth, KS) that same year.
Lt. Col. Lanning's first book, 'The Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam' was published by Ivy Books/Ballantine Books/Random House, Inc. in September 1987.
After spending his early life in Texas, in 1964 Michael Lee Lanning graduated from Trent High School (Trent, Texas) and entered Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas), where in 1968 he earned a BS in Agricultural Education.
Upon graduation from Texas A&M in 1968, Lanning was commissioned a second lieutenant and received infantry, airborne, and ranger training at Fort Benning, Georgia. After serving as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam where he served as an infantry platoon leader, reconnaissance platoon leader, and rifle company commander in the 2d Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. During subsequent tours of duty he served throughout the United States and Germany, as (among other things) an instructor in the U.S. Army Ranger School, a mechanized infantry company commander in the 3rd Infantry Division, and executive officer of an infantry battalion in the 1st Cavalry Division. He also served in several non-command assignments, including positions as public affairs officer, serving in that role first for General H. Norman Schwarzkopf and later as a member of the Department of Defense public affairs office. In 1979, he earned an MS in Journalism from East Texas State University (Commerce, TX); he was selected to attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth, KS) that same year.
Lt. Col. Lanning's first book, 'The Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam' was published by Ivy Books/Ballantine Books/Random House, Inc. in September 1987.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 10, 2025
"Double T - Double Cross - Double Take" looks at the firing of Head Football Coach Mike Leach. It is pretty straightforward and factual. There is plenty of information here considering that few, if any, of the key players (Mike Leach, Craig James or Texas Tech admin) provided the author with information. The ordeal makes one question the relationship between college football and academics and just how much of an "old boys club" it really is. This newest edition provides information on Leach and James and the rest of the Texas Tech admin in the aftermath of the firing and offers some satisfaction as James is painted as one of the main villains in the ordeal and has subsequently fallen. Definitely interesting and worth the read.
November 20, 2014
This book details the Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach and his eventual ouster from his job due to some issues with a player who happened to be the announcer of ESPN personality and former NFL player Craig James. While I happen to agree that Leach probably got a raw deal in his termination from the school, this book is extremely slanted to his side of the story. While it was an interesting story, I think it would have been a little better had it been a little more impartial. But, if you're a fan of Texas Tech or Mike Leach, I think you'd enjoy the book. If your a fan of Craig James, maybe not.
November 26, 2016
This is a quick and easy read covering all the facts that led to Mike Leach's firing from Texas Tech, my alma mater. It is disgusting and disturbing how he was railroaded by Tech regents that didn’t want to pay his contract. This book also made me hate Craig James and wormy son even more, thought I didn’t think that was possible. A good read for Tech fans, but expect to be nauseated.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews