Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach died at the age of 61, according to KirkHerbstreit. There is a time and a place for it.
As time goes on, and new eras of football coaches emerge, the Mike Leach coaching experience will sound like something out of a novel.
A rugby player with no college football experience. Is that a law graduate who won in Lubbock, Pullman and Starkville? Lincoln Riley, Dave Aranda and Dana Holgorsen are all coaches? There is a list of former players. It all seems like a dream.
Mississippi State said that the man who died was a Renaissance man who was a football coach. He was older than 60.
Washington State athletic director Pat Chun said that his former coach was a one-of- a-kind. There will never be another Mike Leach in this world.
It helps explain why he was unique. As the college football world mourns the loss of an American original, it's hard to remember the breadth of a career that spanned from Cal Poly to Oklahoma.
He touched three major conferences and can be traced through nearly every boldface name in the sport over the past 20 years as a colleague or rival. Few college coaches at any level don't have a Mike Leach story, be it from their time as an opponent, or from their time as a coach.
John Cohen was the former Mississippi State athletic director. College football used to be very conservative in its approach, but he took it to the next level. I used to use the word fearless. He isn't afraid of taking risks.
Mike Leach was a flawed and unconventional coach who never got a chance to coach a blue blood. He was almost allergic to apology, the same trait that carved his path and limited it. From an acrimonious exit at Texas Tech over allegations he mistreated a player with a concussion, to wrongful terminated lawsuits, to controversies over, it was difficult to manage.
His nonconformity act was better suited for off-Broadway than for a blue blood address such as Austin, Tuscaloosa or Los Angeles. He won as a head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State and left a mark on the game.
His 21 seasons as a head coach left him with a 158-107 record, a near- 60 percent winning percentage at schools that rarely, if ever, won without him. He will be remembered for his ability to defy gravity at some of the toughest spots in the sport.
He was profiled by "60 Minutes" as "The Mad Scientist of Football" and he did it his own way.
He is a one-of-a-kind person. It's difficult. He's always learning. Through his life, he has had a unique curiosity. The Air Raid was created due to that same curiosity. He is a world traveller. He is interested in learning and discovering. He was not just defined by football. He was an expert in it.
The Air Raid tree of offense was refined in a way that will be felt for a long time. In an era when play sheets were small and the offense ran them to Swiss precision, it was important for the offense to perfect less than 20 plays. His call sheet looked like an airline snack box menu, a mockery of the schematic experts sleeping in their offices looking for an edge.
The Texas Tech team was profiled by "60 Minutes" back in 2009. His time in Lubbock will epitomize the power of his scheme over talent. In November of 2008, the Red Raiders shocked the Longhorns with a last-second touchdown pass.
The school's Corps of Cadets neededling was one of the highlights of Tech's tenure. "I should have Mike's Pirate School," he said in a New York Times profile. They only get the bandanna. You get the skull and cross bones when you're a senior. We will do pirate maneuvers for homework.
One of the most memorable seasons in school history was authored by Washington State coach Mike Leach after he revived the program in Pullman, Washington. After persuading a transfer from East Carolina to come to the Palouse, Washington State won a school-record 11 games last year. Washington State officials remember that it ended with an Alamo Bowl win over Iowa State and that the coach wanted to visit a haunted hotel.
He remained defiantly and unswervingly himself. The conversations had the same feeling of being on a small town carnival ride. By the end of his answer he had covered politics, art and mascot battles, so you wouldn't remember the question.
One of the most entertaining football players is Mike Leach. When you give him a mic, what happens?
The reporter lived in South Boston and every conversation focused on his fascination with Whitey Bulger. He was interested and wanted to tour Southie. If you call for a quote on spread quarterbacks transitioning to the NFL, you'll get 43 minutes on politics and mobsters. You would often end up looking through the eclectic material and hoping for a few useful quotes.
People who were around him say he was devoted to philanthropy, but only if it wasn't public. His deprecation, rants about marriage and mascots, and generally odd nature detracted from his intelligence. As the years go by, it becomes clear that his ability to change the sport will loom large.
Cohen said that Mike doesn't want you to know what he knows. It's eye- opening when he does. He doesn't get a lot of credit for his football thinking. He's a great football thinker.
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