Mike Leach, Texas Tech, and Property Interests

As an ardent fan of college football, I have followed with some interest the events surrounding Mike Leach’s firing as the head football coach at Texas Tech University.  Moreover, as a law teacher, I am always interested in ways to communicate legal principles through the medium of current events.  Over at ContractsProf Blog, Jeremy Telman (Valparaiso) has a good post providing the basics of the case.  I would point out here that the controversy has a property law connection, as well.  Leach’s suit against Texas Tech alleges that he had a property interest in continued employment with the university, of which the university allegedly deprived him without due process and which it allegedly took without providing him just compensation.  This could provide some interesting class discussion about how property interests are created, defined, and enforced.

Mike Kent

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