WSU football coach Mike Leach sued

Camie Yngelmo by Evan Ellis (Pullman Radio)

Washington State University football coach Mike Leach is being sued. Former Cougar football player Zaire Webb has filed suit against Leach, WSU and the institution’s student athlete appeals committee, in part, over complaints that Leach enforces team rules inconsistently.

Webb and a teammate were arrested by Pullman police for suspicion of shoplifting at Walmart in early October. Anthony White and Webb lost their scholarships the next days when Leach kicked them off the team. Webb appealed Leach’s decision to the committee.

A statement from Leach was presented to the committee during Webb’s appeal hearing. Leach said Webb’s removal from the program was a culmination of violations of team rules.

The Leach letter restated that those rules are: don’t do drugs, don’t do drugs, don’t steal and don’t hit a woman. Leach wrote to the committee regarding the team rules, saying, quote, “There is no uncertainty where we stand in regard to upholding them.”

The committee upheld Leach’s decision along with his move to deny Webb from contacting any other PAC-12 institutions or any school on WSU’s football schedule through the 2020 season. Webb’s suit argues that Leach lied to the committee, pointing out other criminal cases against Cougar football players that Leach handled differently.

The suit refers to Logan Tago who spent a month in jail after pleading guilty to a felony for mugging a former teammate for some beer. Tago is preparing for his senior season with the Cougars.

Webb’s attorney cites the Daquawn Brown case from 2014. Brown pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for punching a woman and knocking her unconscious. He returned to the team and led the Cougars in tackles later that year.

The suit cites the pending domestic violence case in Idaho against Grant Porter. Porter is accused of beating up his girlfriend in Moscow and threatening to kill her and “bullet holes in her door.” Porter was suspended from the team when he was arrested last fall, but he is currently listed on the Cougar’s spring football roster.

The suit claims that Webb’s dismissal from the team constitutes a breach of contract and that his due process rights were denied during his appeal. Webb’s lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

The suit has been filed in Whitman County Superior Court. Cougar Athletics doesn’t comment on pending litigation. The misdemeanor theft case against Webb was dropped by the Whitman County prosecutor’s office because of a lack of evidence.

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