I had a laugh out loud moment this morning when I started to read LAJ's Don Williams account of yesterday's practice, where multiple fights broke out, including one that led receivers coach Dennis Simmons and defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill to have to apologize to each other. Fox34 has some video of the fight in yesterday's practice report.
This was the LAJ's report of the fight in yesterday's practice:
Texas Tech running back Harrison Jeffers made himself a target for defensive teammates who accused him of hitting after the whistle during Wednesday’s spring practice.That touched off what looked like a more serious than usual fight during the 11-on-11 team period. Defensive end Daniel Howard and linebacker Bront Bird went after Jeffers in retaliation, and the skirmish quickly turned into a pile of players.
Linebacker Sam Fehoko entered and swung a helmet, which caused wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons to chew out Fehoko and drive him back away from the fray. That led to defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill and Simmons jawing at one another with McNeill barking at Simmons to police his own players.
And the Captain Mike Leach's reaction to all of this:
Leach watched the fracas without much reaction.
Actually, Leach did have some reaction to the fracas, including this from Williams' story:
Asked what Jeffers was doing to raise the defense’s hackles, Tech coach Mike Leach said, "Getting yards.’’
First, I think this perhaps speaks to the Captain's master plan, which is to perhaps motivate the defense a bit. Harrison Jeffers is an incredible talent and I think Leach knows that this is a guy that is going to cause Big 12 defensive coordinators to adjust their gameplans.
Leach did have an actual comment on the fighting and I think that Leach needs to find that fine line between practicing with passion, something that did not happen under Setencich, versus a defensive unit that is finally tired of giving yards:
"We’re going to issue some consequences (for fighting) from here on," he said later, "because I think it’s important to practice controlling your emotions. We’re going to make sure that we take advantage of the opportunity. But I do like the aggression. I think everybody’s heart’s in the right place. They’ve just got to do it during plays and avoid the between-plays stuff."
I can only hope that this is not a dividing moment in this team, but rather something that can bring these guys together as the spring progresses.