LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Texas Tech coach Mike Leach has been suspended while the school investigates complaints from a player and his family about treatment after an injury.
The school said in a release Monday defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill will be the interim coach and lead the team in the Alamo Bowl on Jan. 2 against Michigan State.
McNeill will remain in charge of the team until the investigation is complete.
The Red Raiders went 8-4 this season.
Leach did not immediately returned a call or a text message seeking comment. A message left on McNeill's cell phone was not immediately returned.
There's been internal strife this season with the Red Raiders and Leach has resorted to some tongue-lashing.
He chastised players after a loss to Texas A&M in October for listening to "their fat little girlfriends," and thinking the Aggies were a pushover. And after the Red Raiders loss at then-No. 12 Houston in September, Leach suspended indefinitely starting offensive lineman Brandon Carter for violating team rules.
The loss to the Cougars was the second straight for the Red Raiders, who had fallen 34-24 at No. 2 Texas in an early Big 12 matchup. This season is the first since 2002 - Leach's third season - that the Red Raiders dropped two of their first four games.
That same week Leach banned his players from having Twitter pages after linebacker Marlon Williams asked on his account why he was still in a meeting room when "the head coach can't even be on time."