Pori Bears American Football Team

In 1989, after two seasons as an assistant at Cal Poly-SLO and College of the Desert, 28-year old Mike Leach accepted the head coaching position for the Pori Bears.  At the conclusion of the season, Leach agreed to the first of four offensive coordinators positions he would have over the next ten years at the college level.  His offensive-minded approach led him to to jobs at Iowa Wesleyan, Valdosta State, Kentucky, and Oklahoma.  In 2000, Leach was named head coach of the Texas Tech. 

Under Leach, Texas Tech has built a strong passing offense.  It has led the NCAA in passing yardage for four straight years.  He has coached many quarterbacks to record-breaking seasons.  At Kentucky, he tutored Tim Couch into a No. 1 NFL draft pick.  At Oklahoma, Josh Heupel became an NFL draft pick following a year under Leach's tutelege.  At Tech, Kliff Kingsbury broke the NCAA record for completions in a career.  BJ Symons set the NCAA record for most passing yards in a season.  Sonny Cumbie led the Red Raiders to an upset of nationally-ranked California in the Holiday Bowl.  Cody Hodges led the NCAA in passing yards.  Sophomore Graham Harrell, the first non-senior starting QB for the Texas Tech since Kingsbury, struggled early in the 2006 season.  However, he finished the year with a record-setting performance against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in what has been tagged "the greatest comeback victory in Bowl history."  Trailing 38-7 midway through the 3rd quarter of the Insight Bowl, Tech scored 31-unanswered points to send the game into overtime where the Red Raiders pulled out a thrilling 44-41 victory on a 3-yard run by Shannon Woods.  Harrell finished the game 445-yards passing and 2 TD's. 

In 2007, Mike Leach was chosen to coach the South team during the inaugural Inta Juice North-South All-Star Classic. 

Leach is 56-34 with the Red Raiders including 6-8 against the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies, Tech's arch-rivals. With a 4-3 record, he is the all-time winningest coach in postseason play in Tech football history.

After playing his first four seasons for the Pori Bears, Alinen was signed by the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe in 2004.  Over the next two seasons, he had eight catches for 33 yards--one for a touchdown--in 21 games with one start.  In addition to playing TE, he was also the longsnapper for the Thunder.  In 2004, the Thunder won the World Bowl by defeating the Frankfurt Galaxy 30-24.  In 2005, the Thunder fell just short of a second-consecutive championship when they dropped a 27-21 heartbreaker to the Amsterdam Admirals.  Alinen received significant playing time in that game. 

The 6-6, 275 lb. Alinen joined the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL prior to training camp 2005 as an international member of their practice squad.  After receiving playing time during the pre-season, Alinen would remain a member of the falcons practice squad for the rest of the season.  During this time, he played FB/TE/DE/LB.  Falcon head coach Jim More said of Alinen, "He's a great kid and is doing a heck of a job at tight end, but the fact of the matter is we get to keep this guy all year and develop him. He's the ninth guy on our practice squad.  He's a big, athletic guy who is going to be able to help us both offensively at tight end and defensively at defensive end."

In 2006, the Falcons re-signed Alinen and allocated him to the NFL Europe for a third season, once again for the Berlin Thunder.  He had his best season yet, starting in four of nine games played, catching six passes for 65 yards and notching three solo tackles on special teams.  After playing in two pre-season games, the Falcons waived Alinen on August 27, 2006. 

The highlight of Alinen's SAJL career came in 2004 when he won a silver medal with the Turku Trojans.