Update: Mike Leach told CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd that he has no interest in returning to Texas Tech. "Why would I leave here?" Leach said. "I will believe it when I see it," he added about reported interest from the Red Raiders.

A reunion between the coach and Texas Tech would mean Leach returning to the school he sued to regain salary he said was owed after his firing in 2009. As recently as January 2018, Leach was suing to gain records from Texas Tech that he said showed it still owed him $2.4 million. When reacting to his name being placed in the Tech coaching search, Leach added, "They didn't pay me last time I was there."

Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman reported Monday morning, via a high-ranking school official, that Texas Tech would not consider rehiring Leach and that West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen is "not on the list either."

Original story

Kliff Kingsbury was fired as Texas Tech coach at on Sunday, and a man who formerly held that position is reportedly interested in taking the vacant job. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported Sunday that Mike Leach, currently the coach of Washington State, is not only a target of athletic director Kirby Hocutt but a name that a large group of donors is pushing Hocutt to hire.

"The people who are supporting him, it's not just one or two," an unnamed source told the Avalanche-Journal. "It's like a hoard of people and maybe eight or 10 that are like million-dollar-plus donors. It's some serious folks."

Leach was 84-42 at Texas Tech from 2000-09, going 11-2 in 2008 in a season in which the Red Raiders were in the thick of the national title hunt in November. He revolutionized not only the offense of the program but the entire Big 12 and beyond. His Air Raid offense set the tone for a decade of high-octane offenses that were born in the conference and eventually spread throughout the country.

Leach's tenure in Lubbock, Texas, came to a controversial end, however. He was suspended on Dec. 28, 2009, after he reportedly ordered wide receiver Adam James, the son of former SMU star Craig James, to stand in an equipment shed the day after suffering a concussion in practice. Leach was fired two days later. 

Leach isn't the only high-profile target of Hocutt. The Avalanche-Journal also reports that the school intends to reach out to current West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen, who was a member of Leach's staff at Texas Tech from 2000-07. Holgorsen is 61-40 in eight seasons at West Virginia and would have clinched a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game this year had the Mountaineers topped Oklahoma on Friday night.

The report states that there is nothing to suggest that Holgorsen is interested in the opening but that the school would consider gauging his interest. 

Texas Tech went 5-7 in 2018, its third straight season finishing below .500.