Washington State's Leach slams Pac-12 in texts after no-call in loss to USC

Washington State head coach Mike Leach blasted the Pac-12 in a series of text messages he exchanged with conference officials last month, according to documents obtained by Yahoo Sports.

Leach's anger came in the wake of USC's controversial win over Washington State on Sept. 21, when the Trojans escaped with the victory following a potential targeting call that was overturned due to interference from a third party.

A replay official and the command center agreed a targeting penalty should be enforced for a helmet-to-helmet hit by USC linebacker Porter Gustin on Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew, but Woodie Dixon, the conference's general counsel and senior vice president of business affairs, didn't agree and no call was made.

The conference admitted fault and announced changes to its replay system last week.

"Woodie is a total coward and is afraid of USC. I look forward to telling him in person," wrote Leach, four days after the USC loss.

In a text sent directly to Dixon, Leach wrote, "Don't ever waste my time, making me sit through some sanctimonious speech or demonstration on player safety or targeting if you are going to continue to alibi what happened last Friday."

Leach also sent a text to Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, writing, "The Pac-12 cannot say with any credibility that they are actually trying to protect student athletes."

The Washington State head coach also suggested Dixon was attempting to "manipulate wins and losses" in another text, which Dixon strongly denied.