Texas Tech responded Tuesday to disgruntled former Red Raider football coach Mike Leach, a day after USA Today reported Leach hired a Houston investigator to turn up information on Tech officials.

Tech fired Leach after the 2009 season, and Leach contends the university still owes him about $2.5 million from that year.

Wayne Dolcefino of Dolcefino Consulting told USA Today he's playing "hardball" with Tech and "going to get into their stuff."

"If they want to be weasels and not pay the guy, then they won't pay him," Dolcefino said. "But we're going to look under every nook and cranny. We're starting with phone records."

Tech fired Leach for cause in December 2009, two days before he was due an $800,000 retention bonus had he remained employed through the end of the year. Tech alleged he mistreated then-Tech player Adam James by making him stand in a dark equipment shed and a dark media room during practices while James had a concussion, treatment four medical professionals said was inappropriate. In 2012, the Texas Supreme Court denied Leach's appeal in a wrongful termination lawsuit he filed against Tech, saying the state institution had sovereign immunity.

In a statement sent to A-J Media, Tech officials said, "Mike Leach was paid everything due to him under his contract as of the date of his termination. The facts and circumstances that led to his termination for cause are clear. He admittedly ordered that a student-athlete with a concussion be placed in a darkened area - not an athletic training area - and forced to stand. This occurred on two occasions.

"Further, when Texas Tech tried to assist Coach Leach in resolving the matter in a reasonable way, he refused. This led to his suspension for the 2009 Alamo Bowl game. Rather than accepting his suspension and moving on, he chose to sue Texas Tech, making it clear that not only was he unrepentant for his actions, but that he was unwilling to cooperate with Texas Tech regarding student-athlete safety. This led to his termination. The courts decided this case years ago, and there is nothing more to add."

Leach, now the coach at Washington State, went 84-43 as Tech head coach from 2000-09, breaking Spike Dykes' program record for coaching victories.

Leach has continually asserted Tech still owes him money for the 2009 season, frequently bringing it up as a guest on sports radio shows.

In January 2012, Tech said it paid Leach $103,516.12 for bonuses and accrued vacation. At the time, Tech general counsel Dicky Grigg said, "(H)e earned those, and we paid him every penny he earned up until the time he breached his contract."

Shortly after Leach's firing, four medical professionals gave sworn statements that his treatment of James violated protocol for treatment of concussions. Dr. Michael Phy, currently Tech's head team physician, diagnosed James with a concussion and said Leach's treatment of James was "inappropriate" and "a deviation from the medical standard of care." Steve Pincock, then the team's head athletic trainer, said "Leach's treatment of James was inappropriate, and I did not agree with it."

Athletic trainer Mark Chisum called Leach's treatment of James "inappropriate," and Dr. Robert Cantu said Leach's treatment of James constituted "totally inappropriate management and care for a concussion" and "unconscionable."

Cantu is a prominent concussion expert and co-founder of the CTE center at Boston University.

"This is a simple deal," Dolcefino told USA Today. "They owe him the money. Everybody who does business with Texas Tech should worry that if Texas Tech decides they don't want to pay, they just won't pay. We're going to stay around as long as Mike wants us to, and the only way they make us go away from our investigation is to work it out and pay him."