MIKE LEACH
How on God’s green Earth has he done it? It truly is miraculous. Seriously. Mike Leach. Whew!!!
Michael Charles Leach is 56 years old. He is presently the Head Coach of the Washington State Cougar football team where he’s held court since 2012. His record with WSU at this writing is 35–34 and overall as a head coach he is 119–77 (84–43 @ Texas Tech from 2000-’09). He is 6–6 in Bowl Games.
Leach to his credit paid the typical industry dues: his respective tenures as an assistant focusing on the offensive line and the linebacking crew, then working his way up to the offensive coordinator position, including stays at Cal Poly; College of the Desert; the Pori Bears (Finland); Iowa Wesleyan; Valdosta State; Kentucky; and Oklahoma.
He graduated from Brigham Young (’83) and never played college football, one of only four NCAA Division 1 head football coaches to hold that atypical distinction (Paul Johnson — Georgia Tech; David Cutcliffe — Duke; and Chad Morris — SMU).
He may be the only head coach who is able to practice law (J.D. Pepperdine University School of Law ’86) and he earned a Master’s Degree of Sports Science in Sports Coaching (1988) from the United States Sports Academy.
Leach is a maverick to put it mildly. His interests are varied and his eccentricities are the stuff of legend.
He is fascinated by 18th.-century pirates Blackbeard and Calico Jack. Native American leader Geronimo, American pioneer Daniel Boone, grizzly bears, chimpanzees, whales and American artist Jackson Pollock have also infatuated him.
Quick with a quip and not unfond of the spotlight, he also is no stranger to controversy. In fact at times it has stuck to him like flypaper. Add to that his litigious nature and it’s a thrill a minute with Mike Leach, particularly when he opens his mouth to speak.
A football coach with this kind of mentality and personality mix would certainly enjoy the challenge of creating a high-flying offense and enjoy he did. Think Don Coryell.
Leach piloted prolific pass-oriented offenses that broke both school and NCAA records at Valdosta State and Kentucky where he was the OC under Hal Mumme; together they developed the famed “Air Raid Offense.”
Highly-touted QB Tim Couch was the primary beneficiary then (1998) as the brainchild offense turned him into a consensus All-American, the SEC Player of the Year and a #1 overall NFL draft pick in 1999.
Leach then moved on to the University of Oklahoma under Bob Stoops with his bag of (offensive) tricks in tow, achieving similar results in ’99 (quarterback Josh Heupel passing for 3,460 yards and 30 TDs) before landing the head coaching gig at Texas Tech in 2000.
From 2003–2008 inclusive Leach’s TTU QBs placed themselves among the school’s top ten in career, single-season and single-game passing yards, a remarkable achievement at a university whose first season of play was in 1925.
Leach led the Red Raiders to winning seasons each year he was at the helm. In ’02, ’05, and ’07 his squad won nine games; in 2008, eleven. In 2002, Tech swept its in-state conference rivals Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M for the first time since 1997.
Making a bowl appearance at the end of that campaign — the school’s first since ’95 — Texas Tech blasted Clemson, 55–15 in the Tangerine Bowl classic.
For four consecutive seasons during his reign, the Red Raiders ranked #1 in the NCAA in passing yardage. Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, Sonny Cumbie, Cody Hodges and Graham Harrell.
Records galore.
Come-from-behind victories with swagger became a Mike Leach hallmark.
To wit:
In 2004 with eight minutes left in the second quarter, TCU was spanking Tech to the tune of 21–0 when a TV camera homed in on a Horned Frogs defensive back mouthing, “They aren’t going to score.” Final? Texas Tech 70-TCU 35.
Later that season Tech hammered Nebraska 70–10, forcing the Huskers to allow more points in a single contest than they ever had in their illustrious 114-year history.
In 2005 the Red Raiders were down 13–10 to Kansas State late in the second quarter and roared back to win 59–20.
And in ’05 again, a slightly different scenario unfolded as Texas Tech was up 14–10 against Texas A&M at the half. No matter; Leach wasn’t happy. They won the game 56–17 with the same pomp, handing the Aggies their worst loss in the two teams’ 64-year-old-series.
When he left Texas Tech Mike Leach was one of only 16 active head coaches who had never had a losing season. On November 21, 2009 he passed his predecessor Spike Dykes as the all-time winningest coach in Texas Tech’s 85-year football history.
But his colorful ways and competitive bent invited and stirred controversy. He was assessed the largest fine in Big 12 annals ($10,000 in ’07) for railing against an officiating crew as well as publicly questioning the conference’s motives. He was also formally reprimanded and warned that further violations (outbursts?) could bring a suspension.
It was like water off a duck’s back.
Not so perhaps with respect to the Adam James saga. Which ultimately resulted in Leach’s firing.
‘He said, she said.’ The issues? Leach vs. James regarding philosophy, principle and work ethic.
Leach as only Leach could be. James as himself and also the son of former college, NFL and ESPN star Craig James.
Young James’ football (and baseball) teammates in agreement about him as a person and teammate.
And ultimately the innovative, forward-thinking and highly successful head coach nose-to-nose with the former SMU Mustang legend who shared the famed “Pony Express” backfield with NFL Hall-of-Famer Eric Dickerson. Serious stuff.
“Pirates function as a team. There were a lot of castes and classes in England at the time. But with pirates, it didn’t matter if you were black, white, rich or poor. The object was to get a treasure. If the captain did a bad job, you could just overthrow him.
— -Mike Leach
The teamwork exhibited by pirates is what Leach is all about.
Adam James, in the estimation of Leach and many others did not fit the mold. Leach characterized him as lazy and entitled. It was a widely-held opinion of Craig’s kid that he was something of an attention-seeking crybaby.
Former teammate (2006–2009) Eric Morris expounded. “You can find out a lot about a person after playing three years of college football with them…Ever since the day he [James] arrived on the Texas Tech campus you couldn’t help but to feel a negative energy from him. He expected people to baby him and that he was going to make it solely on the fact that his father was a very successful player.
Coach Leach has never been a coach to just give something to someone because of who they are. He believes that everyone is equal and you have to earn respect from your coaches and teammates. Adam was never known as a hard worker. I can honestly agree with this because we played the same position and I witnessed his laziness on a daily bases [sic]…During practices, Adam always tried to get by with doing the least he possibly could…It was almost like he was playing the game of football to please someone other than himself…”
Quite a mouthful.
Former record-setting quarterback Harrell echoed Morris’ sentiments remarking, “Adam James is one of the few players who has never bought into what Texas Tech football was built on and in my years there with him had a negative impact on the team because of his attitude and work ethic on and off the field.
Coach Leach demands a lot out of every player in the program and pushed his players and coaches as hard as any coach I have ever been around, but he is fair to every player and would never make and [sic] decision or action that is not best for the Texas Tech football program…Adam was a kid that seemed like he had been given everything he wanted his whole life and acted like if things did not go exactly how he wanted someone was treating him unfairly or someone needed to be blamed for his failures…”
According to Craig James, Leach’s treatment of his son subsequent to his being diagnosed with a mild concussion, may have been injurious to his health and served absolutely no medical or educational purposes.
“Mike Leach’s actions with Adam were inhumane and dangerous, designed to inflict punishment and create great mental anguish,” James wrote in an email to the Tech brass. “Action must be taken to not only insure the safety of Adam but to protect his teammates from this and other forms of abuse Coach Leach inflicts on his players.”
Daddy Craig was just getting warmed up. “Have…you seen the shed and electrical closet Adam was confined to?…Walk in them and turn the lights off. NOW, imagine standing there for three hours in the cold without being allowed to sit down or lean against the wall. This story will become public at some point and you can count on the fact that some television cameras will show this picture.”
Mike Leach, harkening back to his love of the pirate culture, had frequently whipped up his boys by urging them to “swing their swords.”
He swung his sword by refusing to sign a letter presented to him by the university hierarchy which asserted that he would not punish anyone under a doctor’s care. He claimed that he ordered James off the field and that was the extent of his involvement.
It was also strongly suggested that Leach could be fined as much as $60,000 and that he should apologize to the James family. This would put the James complaint to rest he was advised.
Leach was steadfast. “I’m not going to do any of those things, because I haven’t done anything wrong…you’re not going to railroad me with false charges.”
The Board of Regents members were getting nervous.
Then the fur started to fly. Threatened with possible termination, the conservative Leach retained far-left liberal counsel.
In spite of the fact that Leach supporters in the university upper-level chain of command considered the incident isolated and not systemic, pressure to respond was intensified. The welfare of the student-athlete was at stake during a time when the concussion issue was beginning to gather steam.
The regents and the university’s legal team wanted something in writing from Leach and he wasn’t going to give it to them, plain and simple.
On December 28, 2009 Leach was suspended from coaching the Red Raiders in their upcoming Alamo Bowl game against Michigan State. Two days later he was fired, TTU officials characterizing Leach’s refusal to apologize to Adam James, “a defiant act of insubordination.”
He was let go one day before a tenure bonus of $800,000 and more than $1,700,000 of contractual guaranteed income for 2009 was due him.
On January 8, 2010 Leach sued Texas Tech University for wrongful termination. He claimed that school officials not only fired him without cause, but made defamatory statements in a willful attempt to prevent him from being hired elsewhere.
In May of 2010 District Judge Bill Sowder dismissed all but one of Leach’s claims on the grounds of sovereign immunity, but he allowed Leach’s claim for breach of contract to proceed, finding that the university had waived its immunity on this claim by its conduct. Also dismissed by Sowder were Leach’s claims against three university administrators.
While both parties sought to appeal the decision, Leach’s attorneys indicated that they would drop their appeal if Texas Tech would do the same and allow the breach of contract claim to proceed to a jury trial.
In early 2011 Texas 7th. Court of Appeals ruled that the university was immune from Leach’s breach of contract claim but that Leach could claim non-monetary reparations.
Leach and his lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court of Texas and in February of 2012 the state’s highest court rejected the appeal without comment, meaning it was their ruling that Leach’s lawsuits were without merit.
On August 6, 2012 Judge Sowder issued a summary judgment dismissing Leach’s lawsuits against ESPN, Spaeth Communications and Craig James. The Leach camp indicated that they would appeal.
Mike Leach’s WSU Cougars are now 6–1. They play Pac-12 rival Colorado (3–3) Saturday night Oct. 21st. in Pullman, Washington.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in October 2017.]
[Addendum: Despite agreeing in principle to a one-year contract extension on December 5, 2019 keeping him at WSU through the 2024 season, Leach agreed to become the Head Coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs on January 9, 2020. Before accepting the job at MSU, Leach talked to the University of Arkansas about its opening.]
