Washington, especially its sports fans, has lost one of the most innovative and entertaining figures of our time. Former Washington State football coach Mike Leach, 61, died Monday night.
Leach, who left WSU after the 2019 season to coach Mississippi State, reportedly suffered heart issues.
His arrival in Pullman in 2012 was a coup for the Cougars. Leach was a larger-than-life personality, known for his colorful references to pirates as well as his high-octane offenses that revolutionized football. He had been out of coaching since his controversial firing in 2009 by Texas Tech.
The Air Raid offense he helped create conquered college football and much of the NFL, to the consternation of so-called experts who proclaimed it would never last. Leach built his version on simplicity and the constant practice of fundamentals, instead of a complex playbook. That understanding of fundamentals over complexity seems applicable across almost any human endeavor.
The dreadful football program that Leach inherited at WSU gradually turned around, with a series of winning seasons and bowl appearances. WSU cemented a spot on the national stage when ESPN’s “College GameDay” came to Pullman in 2018, and WSU beat Oregon. The Cougars went on to defeat Iowa State in the Alamo Bowl for a school-record 11th win that year.
Leach had a knack for taking unheralded athletes and making them stars, including quarterback Gardner Minshew, a character in his own right.
What you saw, and heard, with Leach was what you got.
He was refreshingly candid, from discussing bad officiating to his distaste for disco music. Leach had a law degree and was deeply interested in the world and other people. He’d go on tangents during football meetings and interviews, discussing movies, TV shows or Bigfoot. He wrote for a law review. He co-taught a WSU class, “Insurgent Warfare and Football Strategies.”
WSU football has been in the news for firing Leach’s successor, former coach Nick Rolovich, because he refused to comply with the state mandate for getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
Leach didn’t talk much about vaccinations. But he did talk about everything else. And he sure could coach. Washington has missed him since he headed to Mississippi, but it was nice to know he was out there still coaching. Now he’s just missed.
This last Monday the 16th, I listened once again to Martin Luther King Jr’s speeches given April 4, 1967, and April 3, 1968. Many of his words still apply to our society today.
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