I don't know why I have this incredibly sinking feeling, but I get the feeling that Leach is gone. Keep in mind that I'm not basing this off of any insider knowledge. I'm in the same boat as most of you guys, I don't know anyone important, I'm just a guy with a blog, but I've got a bad feeling about this.
I'm reading Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, it focuses on the idea of "rapid cognition", or better explained, a gut reaction. Gladwell does an incredible job of explaining how an initial reaction to a particular situation is typically the correct reaction and that reaction is based on you taking in a lot of different information and making a split decision based on that information. So why mention Blink? My "gut" reaction to Leach's candidacy for the UCLA job isn't good, but from reading Gladwell's book, my bad feeling is based on information that I've gathered, whether it be consciously or subconsciously. Since I don't deal in the subconscious, let's deal with what I do know that bothers me:
- California: Leach does have some California connections as he was born in Northern California and went to law school at Pepperdine University, which is near or around Malibu. (Digression #1: Leach, who grew up a Mormon went to Pepperdine, which is a private school affiliated with the Church of Christ.) I could understand how Leach might want to get a little closer to where the climate is nice almost 365 days a year, so it's not a stretch to think that he would want to move back to a place he enjoyed. I probably would have enjoyed a law school a lot more if I had not ever intended to actually practice law, which is what appears Leach did.
- Leach and Alabama: Okay, when I checked my news reader this afternoon, I couldn't help but notice EDSBS's passing reference (pun intended) to Coach Leach's inquiry into the Alabama job last year. I don't know what to say. I'll be honest, that kind of freaks me out a little bit. I wonder how accurate this is, but if we take Orson at face value then this makes me nervous. This tells me two things. First, this tells me that Leach thinks he's ready for the big time, even if the big time isn't ready for him. Second, Leach is willing to look around, even on his own.
- UCLA's Defined List: UCLA pretty much has a defined list of three candidates, which means that it's a short list and I think it's safe to assume that Leach is on it. Boise State's Peterson is at the top of that list, but Peterson is said not to be interested (H-T to BruinsNation). Coaches Hot Seat Blog also weighs in on the UCLA open and Leach is on a short list of five (Also H-T to BruinsNation). (Digression #2: Did you know that you can take a gander at Coach Leach's Contract? Yeah, it's available via the aforementioned Coaches Hot Seat.) The fact that the LA Times article and various other reports, it's pretty clear that coach Leach is on that list and he has been contacted.
So if I had to explain why I'm nervous, that's it. Call it gut, call it intuition, call it rapid cognition, call it whatever you will, but the longer this goes, the more nervous I get.
With all of that being said, I'd like to ask Ricky Bobby to say a Baby Jesus prayer for all Texas Tech fans who want Coach Leach to stay in the South Plains (LANGUAGE WARNING):