Remembering Mike Leach
Mississippi State and all of college football will never be the same again.
Joel Coleman, Senior Writer
12/13/2022
STARKVILLE – Where do you start?
No, seriously. If you were to sit down at a keyboard and attempt to put the life and impact of Mike Leach into words, where would you start?
Leach passed away on Monday night at the age of 61, nearly three full years into his tenure as Mississippi State’s head football coach. He left behind his wife, Sharon, his kids, Janeen, Kimberly, Cody and Kiersten, as well as an entire country full of friends, players, fans and admirers whose support, adoration or amusement (or some combination of the three) were fitting for maybe the most fascinating man to ever coach football or do anything else under the sun.
But again, how does one begin to encapsulate everything that turned Leach into the national treasure he was?
Any of us can try all we want, but any of our verbiage is sure to come up short. Maybe, just maybe, there’s one man who can paint the picture. That man just so happens to be Leach himself.
“You might be the luckiest man alive and not even know it.”
Those words were spoken by Leach in his cameo appearance on the television show Friday Night Lights back in 2009. Some 13 years later, now that Leach’s time in this life is through, the line might well be suited to reverberate in the minds of those who watched on, rooted for or loved Leach. Whether we knew it in the moment or not, with Leach, we were all lucky to have gotten the chance to experience true, unmatched greatness.
It’s rare in life to fully appreciate what’s right in front of you. Oftentimes, human beings’ greatest appreciation for something comes once it’s lost. When a void appears, people’s minds seem to be wired to finally completely recognize exactly what was before them.
In some way, that might sum up where we are now with the loss of Leach. Because right here, right now – in Starkville, Mississippi, in Pullman, Washington, in Lubbock, Texas, and all across America – there’s a gaping hole in the college football landscape that no one will ever be able to fill. Never.
Never is a long time of course. Yet it seems incredibly safe to say that not again will there be a coach that is as captivating and entertaining off the field as he is incredibly successful on it.
Gallery: Mike Leach
Who else could possibly come along that could earn a Top-25 win one moment before seamlessly delivering wedding advice making for some can’t-miss live television the next? This space could go on for days recounting the viral Leach moments.
He’s seemingly ranked every mascot that’s existed and given his takes on which are the toughest. MSU’s Bully? “He’s like the Fonzie of bulldogs…you don’t mess with him.”
Leach has talked of the awfulness of candy corn and the right way to drink coffee. Straight black, remember. No need to hide its “harsh, bitter taste.” It’s all about the effect, not the experience.
The thing about Leach’s humor that made it so great was that it was almost always anchored in thoughtfulness. Very rarely was anything spur of the moment with Leach. His responses were calculated. The wheels always turned in his mind. Responses were often funny, but they made us laugh because they were anchored in reason.
Leach was very much a thinking man. He knew a great deal about any topic ever broached. The man wrote a book on Geronimo for crying out loud. He was infatuated with pirates. Current events? History? Bigfoot? Leach could discuss it all. He probably knew more about everything than whoever his audience happened to be, but if he didn’t, he’d take the time to learn and absorb new information from absolutely anyone.
Leach had every right to have an ego. There wasn’t one to be found. He was just Coach Leach, day after day after day. That was enough. He was unabashedly himself.
And oh yes, he won – 158 times as a head coach at the FBS level in fact. At the time of Leach’s passing, only one other active Southeastern Conference coach had more career victories on college football’s highest stage. Only four other active head coaches in the country had more career triumphs than Leach.
Forget all that though. Life’s true impact is measured by the lives one touches and one glance at social media over the last couple of days has solidified Leach’s spot among the most influential individuals ever associated with athletics.
It’s clear Leach helped shape the game of football as we all know it today. His Air Raid offense and/or its concepts are now seen at every level of football from the NFL down. Many of his former players and coworkers carry on the Leach legacy as part of his remarkable coaching tree, assuredly continuing to pass down Leach traits to those under them.
Leach is gone, but in many ways, he absolutely lives on. He always will because, quite frankly, who could ever forget him?
We really were the luckiest men and women alive, because we all got the great honor to enjoy, learn from and experience the life of Leach. If we didn’t know it already, we sure do now.
College football will always have other coaches. There’ll always be big personalities. But there’ll never be another Mike Leach.