Mike Leach, football coaching, and law school

Geoff already commented on Mike Leach's new article in Texas Tech Law Review, talking about how law school prepared him to be a football coach. Geoff noted that Leach reports as an actual in-class event a version of a scene from The Paper Chase ("Go call your mother . . ."), so I wonder about that part of the paper. I also wonder about Leach's description of the Socratic-method-on-steroids class (civ pro, teaching Pennoyer); I went to law school for 3 years and have taught for 9 and have never actually seen anything remotely approaching what he described, either as a student or in observing my colleagues.

Paul Caron offers his comments, along with a link to Leach's paper. Caron highlights Leach's direct comparisons between coaching and law school, including his suggestion of a certain rugged individualism to law school and the "certain amount of treachery and adaptation it takes to be successful" in both.

I would echo Leach's wind-up to any students: A law degree is a degree in problem-solving, so go find problems that you are passionate about and help solve them. To me, that is the goal for lawyers.