July 10, 2002

By BETSY BLANEY
Associated Press Writer

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Texas Tech's overbudget football program, which couldn't afford to send its mail this summer, will have a balanced budget before September, athletic director Gerald Myers said Wednesday.

Fund-raising money and part of the $1.62 million payout from the Aug. 24 season opener at Ohio State will shore up a $400,000 overrun before the fiscal year ends Aug. 31, Myers said.

In recent weeks, news of the football program's budget problems created a rift between coach Mike Leach and school administrators. But Leach and Myers said at a news conference Wednesday that they worked things out in a Tuesday meeting with school administrators.

Leach said the situation was made more difficult because he was out of town in the days after news broke that the program was denied outgoing mail privileges in May and June because it owed $5,000 to the school's mail service.

"With people scattered around the county and things of that nature this time of year, yesterday was a great chance to get together, and I think everybody's headed in the same direction," Leach said.

Leach said the move to stop his mail was detrimental to recruiting efforts in that it occurred at a time when telephone calls to recruits were prohibited.

Leach's job performance was never part of discussions Tuesday with school President David Schmidly, Myers and Leach, university spokeswoman Cindy Rugeley said.

Leach said he didn't believe the budget has affected the players or their preparations for the upcoming season and that he is putting the controversy behind him.

Myers said Wednesday he didn't blame coaches for the shortfall.