Four-hundredths of a percentage point should not keep Mike Leach out of the College Football Hall of Fame, says National Football Foundation chair Archie Manning.
“I think Mike will be in the Hall of Fame, but it’ll be up to the Honor’s Committee,” Manning says.
Leach, the former Mississippi State, Washington State and Texas Tech coach who died on Dec. 12, does not meet the standard for a coach to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Induction requirements for coaches include (1) 10 years of head coaching experience, (2) 100 victories and (3) a winning percentage of 60 percent. Leach’s tenure ended with a winning mark of 59.6%.
However, Leach’s case is a unique situation, says Steve Hatchell, the president and CEO of the NFF, which operates the Hall of Fame. Leach’s impact on the game went beyond the field as he is heralded as one of the most important innovators of offensive football, revolutionizing the sport with the Air Raid offense.
Leach passed at the age of 61 and had planned to continue coaching despite battling severe pneumonia-like conditions this past season. He died of heart failure.
“Where the difference comes in here is that Mike was a young man and he passed away,” Hatchell says. “The fact that he passed away brings a different perspective on this. Everybody would say he’d continue to coach and continue to win.
“I’m positive the NFF will do the right thing.”
Since Hatchell took over at NFF in 2005, the organization has been notably stringent on its coaching induction requirements–a purposeful mission to protect the sanctity of the Hall of Fame. Over the years, administrators and coaches have expressed to Hatchell that the Hall continues to be “very strong” on the requirements, he says.
But both Hatchell and Manning believe that Leach’s circumstance could call for an exception.
“It’s different with Mike,” Hatchell says. “There was something special about him. There isn't an organization that thinks more of Mike than ours. To say we thought the world of Mike Leach is putting it mildly. We have great respect for him. This goes way beyond the coach. He was a smart and shrewd guy with great insight on a lot of things.”
Says Manning: “I don’t think minor percentage points should be a problem.”The only question should be when he’s inducted and not if he’s inducted, Manning says.
The Hall of Fame’s 2023 class has already been selected and will be announced in January. According to Hall of Fame requirements, coaches are not to be inducted until three years have passed since their retirement. Manning says Leach may be treated differently since he died as an active coach, a somewhat rare occurrence. The last sitting SEC head coach to die was Bo Rein, who was killed in a plane crash in 1980 a couple of months into his tenure at LSU. The last active FBS coach to die was Northwestern’s Randy Walker in 2006.
The 2024 class will be selected next fall through an elaborate nominating and voting process. Hatchell expects all three schools at which Leach coached to nominate the coach for the Hall. Nominees are sent to nine district screening committees spread across the country. They narrow the group to about 75. Those are placed on the national ballot and voted on by all dues-paying NFF chapter members, NFF academic members and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) members.
The results are compiled and provided to the Honor’s Court, which determines the final class members. The Honor’s Court includes coaches, media and administrators. The target each year is to induct about 12 players and two coaches, Hatchell says.
The Hall of Fame induction process can get controversial. Several coaches and their families and fans have mounted campaigns through the years to get an induction, most notably Howard Schnellenberger, the former Miami, FAU and Louisville coach who won a national title with the Hurricanes. Schnellenberger finished with a winning mark of 50.6%.
Since Leach’s death, there’s been a loud outcry from media, fans and even coaches to include Leach in the Hall of Fame despite his winning percentage. During a memorial for the coach in Starkville, Miss. earlier this week, Gary O’Hagan, Leach’s former agent and longtime friend, spent several minutes of his speech on the Hall of Fame issue.
“Mike Leach was unique and valuable to the sport,” O’Hagan says. “It’s not that Mike needs any special treatment. It’s that those in the Hall of Fame want Mike to be in the club with them.”
The issue is of importance to his former school. Mississippi State plays Illinois in the Reliaquest Bowl on Jan. 2. Mississippi State officials have discussed counting a potential bowl victory for both coach Zach Arnett and Leach.
There are other ways Leach could get closer to 60%. For example, Texas Tech fired Leach a day before the Red Raiders beat Michigan State after the 2009 season. The victory did not count toward Leach’s record.
