[Stardust]

.LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech coach Mike Leach has been suspended while the school investigates complaints from a player and his family about treatment after an injury.

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The school said in a release Monday defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill will be the interim coach and lead the team in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Jan. 2 against Michigan State. McNeill will remain in charge of the team until the investigation is complete.

The player, Adam James, is a redshirt sophomore wide receiver for the Red Raiders and the son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James.

A source close to the family told ESPN's Joe Schad that James sustained a concussion on Dec. 16, was examined on Dec. 17 and told not to practice due to a concussion and an elevated heart rate. The source said Leach called a trainer and directed him to move James "to the darkest place, to clean out the equipment and to make sure that he could not sit or lean. He was confined for three hours."

According to the source, Leach told the trainer, two days later, to "put [James] in the darkest, tightest spot. It was in an electrical closet, again, with a guard posted outside."

An attorney for Leach said that while James was secluded twice, the circumstances were not as portrayed in that account.

Ted Liggett, Leach's attorney, said James "was placed in an equipment room as it was much cooler and darker" than the practice field "after a doctor had examined him and returned him to the field."

Liggett said that on that day, a trainer was posted outside the room and that James was provided ice. Liggett said that James was secluded for one to two hours. Liggett said that on another occassion, James was placed in a "press room with air conditioning and a stationary bike he coud use."

Liggett also said Leach placed James in those environments was because "Mike tries to keep the players that are unable to practice as close as he can."

Liggett said he will "soon begin" legal steps to overturn Texas Tech's suspension and allow Leach to coach the Alamo Bowl.

The family released a statement Monday explaining why they filed the complaint but refusing to speculate or provide additional information out of respect for the investigation. "Mr. and Mrs. James took the step with great regret and after consideration and prayer to convey to the Texas Tech administration that their son had been subjected to actions and treatment not consistent with common sense rules for safety and health," the family said in a statement released on Monday.

The statement went on to say they felt the matter was important to "protect all the fine young men involved in Tech football and the University's reputation for developing and educating young men and women.

"Over the past year, there has been a greatly enhanced recognition of the dangers of concussions and the potential for long term physical damage to players. At virtually every level of football coaching, cases where children and young men have sustained concussions have generated serious discussion of the importance of correct treatment and diagnosis."

The Red Raiders went 8-4 this season.

Leach did not immediately return a call or a text message from The Associated Press 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.