In his more than two decades as a college head coach, Mike Leach changed football forever.
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When Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach died last week at the age of 61 due to complications from heart disease, it sent shockwaves through the football world. . “I can’t imagine college football without him,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. said in a tweet upon hearing the news. Many others shared this sentiment.
Leach was a larger than life figure in the sport for countless reasons. Perpetually the most eccentric man in the room, he was a singular personality in a sea of coachespeak, eager to dispense far-reaching information on everything from Native American lore to the hierarchy of battle mascots. He was also consistent in his success – and even more consistent in his adherence to the principles that breed success. In 21 seasons, Leach led three different power conference teams to 19 combined bowl appearances
But most notable of all was Leach’s far-reaching influence on the style of the game. At the time of his death, the framework used by college football’s ultimate mad scientist and champion of unorthodoxy was pretty orthodox. During Leach’s final seasons in Starkville, coaches at all levels of the sport had embraced and implemented the principles that Leach had popularized over the decades.
The air raid offense is mentioned early and often in Leach’s obituary. He is synonymous with a philosophy that he neither invented nor was the first to deploy on a university campus. But that’s a big part of why so many people know the man who turned pirate and brought the scheme into the mainstream.
Leach Disciples Are Everywhere
College football head coaches who played or coached under Mike Leach prior to their head coaching tenures
| Coach | School(s)/team | Years | Role | Schools) | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Aranda | THE BAY | 2020-Pres. | Graduate. ast. | UTU | 2000-02 |
| Zach Arnett* | MSST | 2022 | Asst. coach | MSST | 2020-22 |
| Briles d’art | HOO, BAY | 2003-15 | Asst. coach | UTU | 2000-02 |
| Neal Brown | TRO, WVU | 2015-Pres. | Player | UK | 1998 |
| Jeff Choat | MT St. | 2016-20 | Asst. coach | WSU | 2012 |
| Sonny Cumbie | TTU, LTU | 2021-Pres. | Player | UTU | 2000-04 |
| Sonny Dykes | TCU + 3 others | 2010-Pres. | Asst. coach | UTU | 2000-06** |
| Josh Heupel | UCF, RTE | 2018-Pres. | Player | OU | 1999 |
| Dana Holgorsen | WVU, HOU | 2011-Pres. | Asst. coach | VAL, TTU | 2000-07 |
| Kingsbury Cliff | TTU, NFL | 2013-Pres. | Player | UTU | 2000-02 |
| Seth Littrell | UNT | 2016-22 | Coach-player | OR, TTU | 1999-08** |
| Greg McMackin | HAWTHORN | 2008-11 | Asst. coach | UTU | 2000-02 |
| Ruffin McNeill | ECU | 2010-15 | Asst. coach | UTU | 2000-09 |
| Eric Morris | UIW, UNT | 2018-Pres. | Coach-player | TTU, WSU | 2004-12 |
| lincoln riley | OR, USC | 2017-Pres. | Coach-player | UTU | 2002-09 |
| Ken Wilson | NVE | 2022 | Asst. coach | WSU | 2013-19 |
As an assistant coach at BYU,
Leach was one of the few head coaches with no college playing experience.
“>3 Leach had a ringside seat for the passing-heavy concepts coach LaVell Edwards implemented to rewrite the school’s (and the nation’s) record books. Relentless on-court strategy helped Jim McMahon become the first modern major college QB to eclipse 4,000 passing yards in a season in 1980. Leach took that in the lab, merging the BYU spread offense with Houston-fueled running and shooting principles and air raiding innovations he learned under his mentor Hal Mumme (who himself was inspired by Bill Walsh’s attack on the Coast west) to build a foundation that has punished opposing defenses for decades.
Space and simplicity from sideline to sideline were privileged. In an age when playbooks have the thickness of George RR Martin’s epics, Leach’s list – mesh, Y-crosses and four greens, for the most part – could fit on a note card. “If we adopt a new game, I’ve always tried to cut one that we have so we can control the package and practice it and execute it, because execution is the most important thing,” Leach said. “Better to have a package that is too small than too big.”
When coaches imported small-scale sideline billboards to relay plays, Leach merely lifted a finger or two. When traditionalists demanded the ball be broken under center, Leach relied on the shotgun for more than 98% of his games in Pullman and Starkville. And in a complete rejection of conservative coaching, which often scripts and constrains arguably the most important position in the sport, Leach quarterbacks have been given complete freedom to adjust every play at the line of scrimmage. .
In many ways, Leach’s offensive philosophy directly opposed the status quo. And like many things that are misunderstood, that contrast has led to Leach being derided for using fanciful tricks in a sport that has long prioritized traditions like repeatedly running headlong into a wall of humanity. . Leach didn’t like that tradition much either, so his teams finished each of the last 12 seasons he coached last at peak pace.
Opponents would say radicalism was the reason Leach never made it to a conference championship game, let alone win a conference title. But as we mentioned earlier, there were inherent downsides to the positions he held: Mississippi State, Texas Tech, and Washington State never won a conference championship in the era. modern. And it’s not like Leach has never won a big game – perhaps his signature win as a coach was the Red Raiders’ iconic last-second win over No. 1 Texas in 2008. :
More importantly, the big picture of the college football landscape is fundamentally different now than it was when Leach got his first head coaching job in 2000. Points and pass attempts have skyrocketed. That alone is at least partially attributable to Leach, who came to Lubbock and immediately tasked quarterback Kliff Kingsbury with throwing the ball for the nation’s lead (then No. 2 in an all-time season) 585 times. From that point on, the game’s all-time rankings have never been the same. Ninety-two of the 100 most prolific passing yard seasons since 1956
The first year that Sports-Reference.com has data.
“>4 have taken place since 1998, when Leach — as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator — helped Tim Couch throw for 4,275 yards. (At the time, that mark ranked eighth on the list; now, it ranks 77th.) Quarterbacks coached by Leach account for four of the 11 highest single-season pass totals in subdivision history. Soccer Bowl.
The success of Leach’s philosophy was on point this season. The completion rate (as a share of all offensive plays) reached an all-time high of 53.2%, and three of Heisman’s top five voters played for Leach’s disciples.
Caleb Williams at USC (Lincoln Riley), Max Duggan at TCU (Sonny Dykes) and Hendon Hooker at Tennessee (Josh Heupel).
“>5 If USC hadn’t planted their face in the Pac-12 Championship game, half the field in the college football playoffs would have performed some version of the airstrike.
Dykes coached under Leach at Texas Tech.
“>6
It’s not just college play, either: Many of the staple games Leach relied on are now standard in the NFL as well. To take just one example, look at the depth of today’s quarterback pitches. Teams led by Leach consistently threw the ball towards or behind the line of scrimmage, ranking near the national lead most of the time. “We want to make it short for people who can score,” he once said. This mantra of verification has taken hold in both college and the pros. Like the NCAA, the NFL has reached an all-time high in short passing proliferation.
That makes a lot of sense considering that at least a handful of the league’s starting quarterbacks have been dragged down by an air raid.
Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Jalen Hurts, Geno Smith and Jared Goff.
“>7 Patrick Mahomes played under Kingsbury at Texas Tech before exploding onto the scene in 2018 and establishing himself as an all-time great. What was once considered a deceptive offense that only worked in college is now a staple at every level of the game.
“Three of the last four teams that have won the Super Bowl have run [the air raid]so I guess it works pretty well,” Leach told the AP in August.
Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, and there’s been plenty of that for Leach in recent years. Leave it to a qualified attorney with no college gaming experience to get the ball rolling. “If you do the same thing everyone else does, that’s all you are – everyone,” he once said. On or off the pitch, there was no one quite like Leach. But when you watch a game these days, at any level of the sport, you’ll see everyone doing what Leach was doing decades ago.
Neil Paine contributed research.
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