Being reported. I’m really sad about this one. I really wanted him here when Miss State got him. I’ll miss this guy. College football will as well.
Mike Leach RIP
- Thread starter Gamecockben1979
- Start date
sorry to his wife and family and honestly the world at large. he was a national treasure.
My all time favorite coach. Loved his offensive strategy and humor. Was done wrong by Texas Tech. Craig James can KMA today.
Sad to hear this.... loved his humor and blunt honesty during halftime and post game interviews. Praying for his wife and children.
Critics said his Air Raid offense would never work in the SEC. I was looking forward to seeing him prove people wrong. In year one they won 4 games. 7 last year. 8 this year with one game remaining. He was well on his way to building something special in Starkville. He built Miss State up just like he did Texas Tech and Washington State.
I still remember when Joe Morrison died and that impact. Feels very similar today.
I still remember when Joe Morrison died and that impact. Feels very similar today.
Leach was OC for Hal Mumme @ UK for 2 seasons. They ran Air Raid. Leach took it to TT when he was hired as HC a few years later.
Yep. It was fun to watch. Remember them throwing it all over the place. Kentucky could put up points on anyone.
There’s also the idea that you can’t “win big” with it. He got Texas Tech to #1 in the country. He got Washington State in the top 10. He had Miss State hovering around the top 15. If you’re in that area you’re giving it a chance to win a title.
Remember watching his Texas Tech team mud hole clemson in a bowl game before I knew who Leach was. Loved him ever since!! RIP brother we’ll all miss you. Truly one of a kind
Everyone on the OL was new to their positions this year. Amazing he got them to 8 wins and only 2 losses in the west. Imagine what would have done with a veteran line.
Hoping South Carolina is not one of the vultures.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nc...sedgntp&cvid=d79880adb800419594cc2d4738df3541
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nc...sedgntp&cvid=d79880adb800419594cc2d4738df3541
You can't really win it big with that offense. It is a timing offense that, when the timing is on good, even top teams can't stop it. So they often upset much higher rated teams. But like a finely tuned instrument, if the timing is a bit off, they can lose to teams rated much worse than them. So it is a fun team to pull for, they just won't win championships, because there are usually some slip up games that offset their big upsets. Here is how many games he lost per season at TxTech: 6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 5, 4, 2 ,4. He just always had losses that offset some big upsets. Never finished the season higher than 12th. Certainly his teams were always fun to watch. You never knew what might happen in a game.
I also think it’s fair to consider he did those things in Pullman, Starkville and Lubbock. He was offered the job at Tennessee but then the administration pulled it back and fired everyone left and right to get Jeremy Pruitt. If he had been given the resources of a bigger school I think it’s fairly certain he would have won even more.
You can’t gauge coaching just by championships. The reality is only a handful of schools even have a shot at a title. Leach was one of those guys that could take a mid level job with guys that got rejected by the Alabamas, Southern Cals and Texas of the world and then give them a shot at beating those guys.
He had faith and confidence in a system he played a major role in developing and was chomping at the bit to test it against the best... missing pieces or not. We should all be lucky enough to have a coach with type of attitude.
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