Mississippi State coach Mike Leach passed away earlier this week. At 61, Leach is gone too soon.
Leach is known for his colorful personality and hilarious interviews. The former Texas Tech and Washington State head coach brought the air raid offense to the SEC when he agreed to be Mississippi State’s head coach in 2020.
Just a few weeks ago, Leach was doing what he loved: coaching college football. Now, he leaves behind a heartbroken family and university.
Fellow coaches, players, media, and fans all paid tribute on Twitter to Mike Leach for his great personality and ability to have extremely memorable personal interactions. Leach did things to help people, like giving media credentials to young members of the media in college, that other folks simply don’t do.
There are more awesome stories of Mike Leach. We can’t fit them all in one article. Below are some of the best Mike Leach memories, including one from Georgia coach Kirby Smart, and tributes we found:
Mississippi State mourns Mike Leach's passing
MSU Bulldog family, college football community mourns the death of Coach Mike Leachhttps://t.co/LzWyLyX3xM
— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) December 13, 2022
Leach made history at Mississippi State and Texas Tech
Mike Leach as head coach:
10 years at Texas Tech (2000-09): 84-43
10 years prior: 59-538 years at Washington State (2012-19): 55-47
8 years prior: 29-67Leach holds or tied for the single-season wins record at both places. Texas Tech won 11 games in 2008. Wazzu won 11 in 2018. pic.twitter.com/OpsfAB5Y2w
— Mike Ferguson (@MikeWFerguson) December 13, 2022
ESPN's Ryan McGee has an excellent tribute for Leach
I’ve watched and read a myriad of tributes to Mike Leach. None are any finer than this one from the SEC Network, voiced by @ESPNMcGee. Find a few minutes and give it a look.
🎥: @SECNetwork pic.twitter.com/blql9Svfve
— Christopher Gabriel (@CGProgram) December 13, 2022
Leach goes out of the way to help young student journalist
My sophomore year at Washington State, I created a blog to cover WSU Football. It was just me and @JackEllis99 going to practices, taking pictures, trying to sneak in media scrums and get interviews with players.@Coach_Leach pulled me aside 1 week into fall camp.
— Andrew Baertlein (@AndrewBaertlein) December 13, 2022
RGIII, Matthew McConaughey sad to hear of Leach's passing
So sad to hear of Mike Leach’s passing. Praying for his family and loved ones.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) December 13, 2022
My friend Mike Leach moved on yesterday. One of the most curious, inventive, independent minded wild men to ever walk the earth. He was a gem like no other. Put a prayer up there for his his wife Sharon and their kids. pic.twitter.com/YnecDHFapr
— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) December 13, 2022
Mississippi State tribute video for Mike Leach
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵.#HailState🏴☠️ pic.twitter.com/kShEfc7cm4
— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) December 14, 2022
Story: Leach found a walk-on kicker
This is just one of the many amazing stories Mike Leach gave us ❤️
RIP coach
🎥: @CBSSportsHQpic.twitter.com/XJRju1CEEP
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) December 14, 2022
Leach made time for others and for coaching
One big takeaway from everyone's Mike Leach stories today is that he somehow had time for every phone call and conversation and made incredible Cameos and still went out and scored 48 points every weekend by just throwing it to where they ain't.
— Dave Wilson (@dwil) December 13, 2022
'Find your inner pirate'
May we never forget Mike Leach.
Thanks for everything, Coach. pic.twitter.com/yoCG7rWn80
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) December 13, 2022
Leach's expansive coaching tree will continue his legacy
Leach's tree: Lincoln Riley, Dave Aranda, Sonny Cumbie, Dana Holgorsen, Seth Littrell, Art Briles, Ken Wilson, Neal Brown, Josh Heupel, Eric Morris, Sonny Dykes, Kliff Kingsbury, Ruffin McNeill and assistants Wes Welker, Bill Bedenbaugh, Robert Anae, Alex Grinch, Brandon Jones. https://t.co/UO3940VbZ1
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 13, 2022
Awesome story during Leach's time at Oklahoma
This remains one of my favorite stories I’ve done, on the time Mike Leach planted a fake play script before the '99 OU-Texas game. The caper actually worked and OU led 17-0 before the Horns realized they’d been duped (he was so excited when this story ran) https://t.co/6QVLuone6D
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) December 13, 2022
Georgia coach Kirby Smart remembers Leach
RIP to a man who changed this game and so many lives within it. pic.twitter.com/q4w2gDOJO0
— Coach Kirby Smart (@KirbySmartUGA) December 13, 2022
College Football Hall of Fame honors Leach
The College Football Hall of Fame honors the memory of Coach Mike Leach ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9fwAYFzYXq
— College Football Hall of Fame (@cfbhall) December 14, 2022
Leach's opinions on candy
Compiled a thread of my favorite Mike Leach moments. Hope you all enjoy. RIP Coach. First, his thoughts on candy pic.twitter.com/Ly69VfZnwz
— Connor Schmidling (@CSchmidling) December 13, 2022
ESPN's Scott Van Pelt remembers Leach
One Big Thing
Mike Leach pic.twitter.com/AHkCyQwzf1— Stanford Steve (@StanfordSteve82) December 14, 2022
