Seeing Both Sides
September 28, 2022 | Football, Joel Coleman
Darcel McBath has first-hand experience playing for and coaching alongside Mike Leach.
STARKVILLE – Darcel McBath's NFL career was over and he was trying to figure out his next step.
It was around six or seven years ago when McBath was first contemplating dipping his toes in the coaching waters. Around the same time, he reached out to his former college coach at Texas Tech who was then at Washington State – Mike Leach.
"I said, 'Coach, I'm really thinking about coaching,'" McBath recalled. "He said, 'If you're serious about it, show me you're serious about it.' So, I did."
You're aware of how the story ends. McBath now serves as cornerbacks coach alongside Leach at Mississippi State. Leach has gone from McBath's coach, to being his boss.
As a result, few people have gotten to know Leach as well as McBath has over the course of his playing and coaching career. Here are a few things he's observed along the way.
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McBath is pretty sure he remembers when he first really caught Leach's eye as one of his players. It was McBath's freshman year at Texas Tech.
"I started on scout team, and if you ask [Leach], one of the most important things on his teams is how good your scout team is," McBath said. "We took pride in it. I'd like to say we had one of the best scout teams to ever be assembled back then. We took pride in giving our guys great looks our freshman year. That's when he really noticed us and noticed me, and the relationship blossomed from there."
The relationship blossomed right along with McBath's career. From 2005 through 2008, McBath racked up 224 total tackles and had 12 interceptions for the Red Raiders. He became one of the country's top cornerbacks, in part, because of how he was able to thrive under Leach's style of leadership.
"He's a lot of fun to play for to be honest with you," McBath said. "He's a players' coach, which I don't know if a lot of people know that. He's a players' coach and my favorite thing about Coach Leach is he always lets his guys be themselves. You be you. I almost feel like the more different you are, the more he likes you. That's always been his personality and playing for him, you always felt comfortable in yourself, which leads to a team being closer and tighter. Obviously, it leads to success because he's had a ton of it."
McBath indicates, as his coach, Leach always found the perfect balance of relating to him while still pushing him to live up to the Leach standard.
"And that standard doesn't waver," McBath said. "It's high, and it's tough. But it's very, very rewarding. Playing for him, I wasn't perfect. He got on my tail. There were a lot of coaching moments and points throughout my career where he helped get me where I am today that were really, really tough. Without those moments and without that guidance back then, I wouldn't be who I am."
Leach helped push McBath to become a second-round NFL Draft pick by the Denver Broncos in 2009. McBath went on to play five seasons of pro football with stints in Denver, Jacksonville and San Francisco. McBath played and made a tackle in Super Bowl XLVII as a member of the 49ers.
Some time passed after McBath's playing career before he reached back out to Leach about coaching. That's when McBath was told he needed to show Leach he was serious about his intentions.
Soon enough, McBath would be reunited with Leach, and he got to see his old coach in new light – though things weren't really that different at all.
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To prove to Leach he wanted to coach, McBath had an in.
"I lucked up because Seth Littrell, who was our running backs coach at Texas Tech, got the head job at North Texas," McBath said. "I reached out and was like, 'Hey, I want to come hang around and come up and see you guys do this and see if it's something I'm interested in.' He was gracious enough to allow me to do that.
"I ended up volunteering at North Texas as an intern, quality control guy. It was no pay, every day, doing what everyone else did, and I loved every second of it. At the end of the year, Coach Leach called me and gave me an opportunity to reunite with him and go up to Washington State. From there, the rest is history."
McBath was with Leach at Washington State from 2017 through 2019, then followed Leach to Starkville when Leach was hired at Mississippi State in 2020.
All told, McBath has now coached alongside Leach for about six years, and one of the biggest things he's learned:
"He's the same guy," McBath said. "He may say things a different way now, but his message hasn't changed. And it's so true. I think that's the hardest thing in coaching and being successful. People think you have to switch it up. No, you may need to change the way you say something or improve upon something, but the keys to success, those always stay the same."
Player or coach, it doesn't matter. Leach has long sought to bring the same characteristics out of both those wearing the pads and helmets, as well as those leading the guys.
"It's hard for people to wrap their mind around, but he's so laid back, he understands if we can just all do this, this, this and this, success will come our way," McBath said. "If we outwork everybody day in and day out and we can put the focus on us and take responsibility for the result we produce, success will come. And part of that you'll hear him say all the time, we're going to be the toughest team. We're going to be the toughest team and toughest coaching staff mentally and physically. That's a big part of our success."
For McBath, there is one big difference to coaching for Leach as opposed to playing for him.
"The cool thing about being a coach is you get to see the method behind all the madness," McBath said. "We used to do [our spring workout drill] Midnight Maneuvers and as a player, I was like, 'Man, what are we doing?' It was some of the hardest stuff you've ever been through. But you get it now. You get why. Coach has always been so straightforward and simple in terms of what it's going to take to be successful in this game and it's always worked."
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So, what has been Leach's view of McBath over the nearly two decades the two have been linked together?
"Well, he was a confident guy and an intense guy [as a player]," Leach said. "He's kind of a powerfully built guy, but he could run. He's always been fast. There's [defensive backs] out there playing now that's probably not as good as he is right now. First of all, he was a good player, but he's also a really even-tempered guy that was smart and kind of a student of football…He, of course, went on to the NFL and did really well there.
"But he's always been very stable, very common sense and very clear [as a coach]. He's demanding when he has to be, but also builds guys up and is just a really good coach. As a player, you knew he was going to be a pretty good coach, but you also knew he wasn't going to be done playing after college either. So that's how it unfolded. He's one of those guys where it kind of unfolded how you thought it would."
It's unfolded in such a way that come Saturday, when Mississippi State battles Texas A&M, there McBath will be staring down the Aggies with Leach, just as the two used to do in their Red Raider days.
You better believe McBath is proud to have the chance to still get to compete alongside Leach.
"There's no doubt," McBath said. "We've had a lot of success together and we plan to continue to have a lot of success."
