Originally published Wednesday, December 3, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Texas Tech AD says school negotiating with Mike Leach

Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers says the school is negotiating a contract extension with Mike Leach, amid reports that the Red Raiders coach has met with the University of Washington about the Huskies' top job.

The Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers says the school is negotiating a contract extension with Mike Leach, amid reports that the Red Raiders coach has met with the University of Washington about the Huskies' top job.

Myers couldn't confirm newspaper reports that Leach was in Seattle this week to talk to UW officials. Myers said Leach, named Big 12 coach of the year on Tuesday, didn't seek permission for an interview and that he hadn't been contacted by Washington.

Leach didn't return a call seeking comment Wednesday. A person who answered the phone Wednesday at IMG and identified himself as one of Leach's agents disputed that Myers has offered a contract extension. He declined to give his name and hung up.

Gary O'Hagan, another of Leach's agents, did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press. Leach's attorney in Lubbock also did not immediately respond to a message.

Leach has two years remaining on a five-year contract and is making $1.75 million this season.

The Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported the Leach-UW meeting, citing unidentified sources. The newspapers reported that Leach met with Washington officials but did not say he was offered the job.

Earlier this week, Leach, who has two years remaining on a five-year contract and is making $1.75 million this season, said he wants "absolutely" to stay at Texas Tech but didn't directly answer a question about whether he'd talk to other schools.

"I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about that," he said. "I've spent time worrying about getting first downs."

Myers said last month that any contract discussions with Leach would wait until after the season. On Wednesday, Myers said he didn't want to wait until after Texas Tech's bowl game, which hasn't been determined yet.

Leach took the No. 8 Red Raiders (11-1) to their best record since 1973, only the third time in the program's 84 years the team tallied 11 wins. The 10-0 start was the program's first since 1938, and the win over Texas was the first time Tech defeated a top-ranked team.

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