Leach obviously, blatantly, punished the kid for reporting a concussion. If Leach could prove the kid knew he didn't have a concussion, he should have yanked his scholarship for lying. Because is this day and age, you can't retaliate against an athlete for reporting a concussion.
Yeah, I know, the punishment was mild. But it was punishment. Leach should have given the kid (a wide receiver)a DVD of Michigan State's last two games, and told him to sit in a the media room, watch it and record every play where Michigan State tried to cover a wide receiver with a running back, or where a defensive back released a wide receiver to a safety -- only the safety wasn't there. Do that, then bench the kid for the Alamo Bowl if he thought the kid was lying, and no one off the team would ever know about this story.
It has been reported that the Tech AD told Leach that he had to apologize, and Leach flatly refused. Good enough. I can respect a "My way or the highway." kind of guy. But that kid of guy has to understand there will be times when the boss tells him that Highway 87 will get him out of Lubbock.
Nothing like hitting "Post," or handing something to the judge, to make the typos leap to your eye.
It strikes me that, even if the report about Leach's flat refusal to apologize is false, the AD had to fire Leach for his insubordination in refusing to accept the AD's administrative process and going instead to the court. The news report said he was fired "for cause," so my guess is the cause was insubordination, which only aggravated the already negative publicity for Texas Tech.
The refusal to apologize, if true, would constitute a second count of insubordination. Leach could have saved his job and simply chose not to.