LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The last time I saw Mike Leach, it wasn't at Kroger Field or even at Southeastern Conference football media days, where Leach was a must-see attraction the last three Julys.
It was at the Kentucky Derby media party at a hotel in downtown Louisville. He was sitting at a table with his wife, wearing a full-sized cowboy hat and enjoying food as well as a refreshment.
Leach was also doing one other thing: looking at his Daily Racing Form.
I said hello and asked him how he was enjoying Louisville. He said he loved the Derby.
Leach also said he had long wondered if sportswriters lived a glorious life and he was researching how glorious it really was. We both laughed. I wished him a Happy Derby and left him and his wife alone to enjoy their time in Louisville and at the media party. They did, because Leach returned for many more Derbies.
It was only last May when Leach lit up Twitter after Rich Strike lit up the Churchill Downs tote board by winning the Derby as an 80-1 shot:
"That horse winning the Kentucky Derby today is a good example of why an expanded college football playoff is needed. That horse hadn't won all the races leading up but it got its chance and that's what happened."
That's what I remembered about Leach when I heard the staggering news that he died Monday night at 61 years old, only two days after he suffered a health issue at his home in Starkville, Mississippi, where he coached the Mississippi State football team.
That was the perfect Mike Leach Tweet.
Always thinking. Always intriguing. Always provoking.
Always connected to the Bluegrass state, which began with his two-season stay as Hal Mumme's offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky, where they set Tim Couch free to become the top quarterback in America in 1997 and 1998.
Always comfortable saying things other college football coaches were not comfortable saying. Showing up at events, like the Derby press party, where you'd never see college football coaches who would demand luxury suite treatment.
And, most of all, always taking jobs where you needed a Rich Strike performance to succeed. Mike Leach could do that.
Neither Texas Tech (where Leach got his head coaching start in 2000, nor Washington State (his second head job) nor Mississippi State (where Leach coached the last three seasons) would make anybody's list of the top-30 jobs in America.
No problem. Not for Leach.
He had a plan. Yes, Leach was colorful, first-team all-quote. His topics ranged from Halloween candy to wedding planning to the Kentucky Derby. But Leach's quotes would not have mattered as much if he didn't win and entertain.
And Leach did win and entertain.
He took the Air Raid attack that he and Mumme developed at Iowa Wesleyan and Valdosta State and turned it into an irritant to defensive coordinators everywhere.
Bubble screens. Quick hitters. Misdirection. Elite timing. Surprise long throws. Leach and Mumme had a playbook unlike many others. They even made Steve Spurrier pay attention.
The big stage began at Kentucky, where the previous staff wasted Couch's freshman season by having him run the option attack and hand the ball off more than Couch was asked to flash his fabulous right arm.
UK athletics director C.M. Newton had to do something to appease the Kentucky fan base and to take advantage of Couch's considerable ability.
Enter Mumme and Leach.
In 1996, Kentucky threw the ball 261 times. Billy Jack Haskins had nearly twice as many passing attempts as Couch's 84. Kentucky lost seven of 11 games.
In 1997, Kentucky threw the ball 562 times. Couch 3,884 yards and 37 touchdowns. Kentucky improved to 5-6 but the Wildcats were only warming up.
In 1998, the Wildcats helped open Cardinal Stadium by flattening Louisville, 68-34. Couch threw for 498 yards. U of L athletic director Tom Jurich compared him to John Elway. Couch finished the season as a Heisman Trophy finalist while throwing for nearly 4,300 yards as the Wildcats finished 7-5 after losing to Penn State in the Outback Bowl.
The football world noticed — Couch, Mumme and Leach.
Couch went to the Cleveland Browns as the first pick in the NFL Draft.
Leach went to the Oklahoma Sooners, where Bob Stoops recruited him to run the OU offense.
One season was all Leach needed to prove that he could coach, teach and recruit to the Air Raid better than anybody:
- Ten seasons at Texas Tech without a losing year
- Eight seasons at Washington State that were punctuated with six bowl appearances
- Three seasons in Starkville, where Leach inherited a mess and went 4-7, 7-6 and 8-4.
The man never had a Top-25 job, yet six of his teams finished the season ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll, including a No. 12 finish at Texas Tech (2008) and a No. 10 ranking at Washington State (2018).
I always wondered what Leach would have accomplished if somebody had given him the keys to a legitimate football power — or if Leach had taken over at Kentucky.
In the rigid, harshly competitive world of college football, there was nothing cookie-cutter about Mike Leach. He took chances. He entertained. He spoke his mind.
And college football will be diminished without him.
Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
