PULLMAN, Wash. -- Two weeks into this season Mike Leach was ripping his Washington State team for being soft, decrying participation-trophy culture and suggesting local law enforcement and media were unfairly treating his players after several arrests and run-ins with police.Eight straight victories later and the curmudgeonly, complaining Cougars coach has been replaced by the quirky, entertaining one who muses about picking a team captain based on ability to win the coin toss and weighs in on how soon is too soon to display Christmas decorations.The reality is that Leach is the same but the circumstances have changed. Getting fined and reprimanded by the Pac-12 for publicly accusing Arizona State of stealing signs -- as happened to Leach last month -- is a whole lot easier to laugh off as Leach being Leach when the 20th-ranked Cougars (8-2, 7-0, No. 22 CFP) are leading the Pac-12 North.And all the stuff that makes Leach a unique character in college football -- his public endorsement of old friend Donald Trump, his offseason trip to Cuba -- tends to obscure a more mundane but relevant fact: Leach has been one of the best program-builders in coaching over the past two decades.Washington State had gone eight seasons without a winning record and won a total of nine games in the four seasons before Leachs arrival in 2012. A program that traditionally had struggled to sustain success had tumbled to new depths.We had a deep hole to dig out of, Washington State athletic director Bill Moos said. We needed somebody who could provide the stability and build it the right way.The Cougars won 12 games in Leachs first three seasons, causing some Wazzu fans to fret that Leachs once innovative Air Raid offense was now behind the curve in college football.Turns out Leach just needed a little more time to do at Washington State what he once did at Texas Tech. The Cougars went 9-4 last season and came into this season as a Pac-12 North contender. They then lost their first two games, including their opener to FCS Eastern Washington.Leach went off on his team and got back to the basics.We literally simplified, he said Sunday in his office before settling in for about five hours of film study on Colorado. Just emphasized little techniques. Became obsessive about blocking and tackling. That gets your focus. `Youre not going to do it next time youre going to do it now. Get your foot there NOW. Get your eyes there NOW. Then it became kind of contagious team-wise.The Cougars responded to the tough love.Instead of wilting like guys will do sometimes, they get kind of fired up and determined, Leach said.The Cougars play at No. 12 Colorado (8-2, 6-1, No. 10 CFP) on Saturday, trying for the first nine-game winning streak at Washington State since 1930.Leach is one of the godfathers of the spread offense. The brilliance of his system is simplicity and repetition to the point of mastery.I think the fact that its not super complex and teams know really what were going to do and theyve had film on us for the last 15, 20 years I think that makes it even more amazing when it still works, fifth-year senior receiver Gabe Marks said.Luke Falk is the latest Leach quarterback thriving. The junior is completing 74 percent of his passes for 361 yards per game.Marks said Leach runs his program the way he runs his offense. Give every player and coach a clear and relatively simple task, and create an environment conducive to reaching a goal. Leachs plan is really no different from Nick Sabans or Urban Meyers.Hes the best Ive been around in regards to his demands on academics and discipline, Moos said. You know when you come to play for him what is expected of you. It hasnt changed in all his years as a head coach.Leach spent 10 years at Texas Tech, becoming the winningest coach in the history of the program and famous for his inquisitiveness beyond football. Most notably, he went through a serious pirate phase.On the field, the Red Raiders won at least eight games in each of Leachs last eight seasons. The 20 years preceding his time in Lubbock, Texas Tech reached eight wins in a season twice.The end at Texas Tech was messy. He was fired after allegations from a player that Leach mistreated him while the player was being treated for a concussion. Lawsuits followed and Leach spent two years away from coaching.He returned at Washington State and found a perfect fit in Pullman, another off-the-beaten path college town, where -- for better or worse -- Leach can be Leach.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP---FBC:More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25Fake Jerseys Website . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Fake Basketball Jerseys . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. 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Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda.CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- An investigation launched after a freshman high school player in Tennessee was attacked by three teammates at a holiday basketball tournament has revealed widespread, systemic problems going unaddressed at every level in his countys public schools.The countys district attorney and sheriffs office jointly investigated allegations of hazing and bullying on Ooltewah High Schools basketball team, and found problems on a much wider scale. Their report released Thursday says permissive coaches and an apathetic administration allowed a culture of bullying to spread around the county.The investigation was launched in January, days after Gatlinburg police said three Ooltewah players assaulted a freshman teammate with a pool cue on Dec. 22. In juvenile court last month, one was convicted of aggravated rape and aggravated assault, and the other two were found guilty of aggravated assault.From the moment the basketball coaches drove the team out of town without Board approval, the system failed, the report says.There was failure to adequately supervise the students, failure to recognize the significance of the horrific injuries suffered during a rape, failure to notify the victims parents, failure to provide a swift and appropriate response to the attacks, and failure to assure the public that proactive measures would be taken to address the root causes of these failures.Many of adults referred to in the report are no longer working in the countys schools. Kirk Kelly, the interim superintendent, said in a statement that the board will determine additional steps as we continue to improve our district.We have already made significant changes in our district over the past six months, including new and stricter policies, stronger training for our employees about abuse reporting, and a more comprehensive approach to crisis management and communications, Kelly said. However, the report may provide us an additional opportunity to enhance our practices, provide better support and safety for all students moving forward.While this has been a difficult time for many, I believe we will be better positioned in the future by having taken the right training path, creating greater awareness of appropriate behavior and encouraging the sharing of timely information.ddddddddddddAccording to the report, the teams coach, Andre Montgomery, attempted to grossly minimize the situation and attempted to cover up the crimes. The report says Montgomery told players to keep quiet and not inform their parents.Montgomery was indicted in May on four counts of failing to report child sexual abuse. His lawyer, Curtis Bowe, said Thursday he hadnt seen the report and declined further comment.The report says authorities widened their investigation after fielding complaints about other bullying at Ooltewah and other Hamilton County schools. They found that neither Ooltewah High officials nor central office administrators at Hamilton County acknowledged the seriousness of the Dec. 22 case.And it says there is no indication that Rick Smith, the Hamilton County schools superintendent at the time, took his duty to manage the situation seriously. It says that Smith failed to communicate the gravity of the situation to School Board members or the public.The report says Hamilton County Department of Education has a glaring lack of training on how to handle these types of incidents. And it states that Ooltewah athletes continue to display bullying and threatening behavior.This report comes one month after a separate investigation commissioned by Hamilton County school officials said that Ooltewah had a culture of hazing and bullying even before the Dec. 22 attack.Meanwhile, the victim filed suit on Sept. 9 against his former coach, the former vice principal and athletic director, the former principal and the countys board of education, accusing them of knowingly ignoring the abuse of athletes.The lawsuit alleges that Montgomery told players after the assault, Were a family and what goes on in the family stays in the family. ' ' '