Mike Leach (coach)

Michael C. "Mike" Leach (born March 9, 1961) is an American college football coach. He is the head coach of the Washington State Cougars football team. Previously, he was head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team, leading the Red Raiders to winning seasons in every year of his tenure.

Personal life
Born to Frank and Sandra Leach in Susanville, California, Mike Leach claims Cody, Wyoming, as his hometown. He graduated from Cody High School before studying at Brigham Young University, where he closely followed the exploits of the Brigham Young Cougars. The Cougars, guided by head coach LaVell Edwards and offensive coordinator Norm Chow, played a pass-oriented offense. Leach graduated in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in American Studies.

In 1986, Leach earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Pepperdine University School of Law. Leach is also one of the most prominent graduates of the United States Sports Academy, from which he earned a Master's of Sports Science in Sports Coaching in 1988. Leach is married with four children. He was raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Leach is atypical among NCAA Division I head football coaches in that he did not play football at the college level. He was one of only seven such coaches, with Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech, David Cutcliffe at Duke, George O'Leary at UCF, Bobby Hauck at UNLV, Charlie Weis at Kansas, and Chip Kelly at Oregon.

Famous among fans for his fascination with 18th-century pirates such as Blackbeard and Calico Jack, Leach has lectured his players on the history of pirates, and told them before games to "swing their swords." His office has been described as a museum of pirate paraphernalia. In particular, Leach admires the teamwork exhibited by pirates: 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.

Leach's affinity for pirates came to bear in a cameo he made on the TV series Friday Night Lights. In the show's fourth season, he portrays a "random loon" at a gas station who implores a despondent coach Eric Taylor to "swing your sword" and "find your inner pirate."

Leach spends time during each off-season learning as much as he can about various things that interest him. Aside from pirates, he has researched topics such as Native American leader Geronimo, American pioneer Daniel Boone, grizzly bears, chimpanzees, whales, and American artist Jackson Pollock.

Offensive scheme
Leach is known for building some very potent offenses, directing very prolific passing-oriented teams that have broken school and NCAA records at Valdosta State and Kentucky where he was offensive coordinator under Hal Mumme, developing their famed "Air Raid Offense", at Oklahoma under head coach Bob Stoops, and Texas Tech, where he became head coach in 2000. Leach's spread offense relies heavily on passing and he has seen several of his quarterbacks post NCAA records. At Kentucky he tutored prospect Tim Couch into a No. 1 NFL draft pick. At Oklahoma, Josh Heupel became an NFL draft pick following a year under Leach's tutelage.

Texas Tech
The Leach-coached Red Raiders' best finishes came with their nine-win seasons in 2002, 2005, and 2007 and an 11-win season in 2008. In 2002, Tech swept its in-state conference rivals Baylor, Texas, and Texas A&M for the first time since 1997 and then defeated Clemson, 55–15, in the Tangerine Bowl. It was the Red Raiders' first postseason win since 1995 when they beat the Air Force Falcons in the Copper Bowl. In 2005, the Red Raiders opened their season with a 6–0 record, their best start since 1998, and defeated Oklahoma for the first time under Leach. Leach built a strong passing offense at Tech, where the Red Raiders led the NCAA in passing yardage for four years in a row.

He inserted Kliff Kingsbury at quarterback for three years. Kingsbury broke the NCAA records for completions in a career. Kingsbury was succeeded at the position by B. J. Symons, who produced the most passing yards in a season in NCAA history. Sonny Cumbie followed, leading the Red Raiders to an upset of the then-4th ranked California in the Holiday Bowl. Cody Hodges succeeded Cumbie, and subsequently lead the NCAA in passing. Graham Harrell, the first non-senior starting QB since Kingsbury, struggled early in the 2006 season. However, he showed steady improvement beginning with the game against Iowa State and ended the season with a record-setting comeback victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Harrell also set NCAA records for passes completed in a season and career amongst others.



Under Mike Leach, Texas Tech was known for its high-scoring offense and come-from-behind victories. A 70–35 win over TCU in 2004 began with TCU leading 21–0 with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter. Before Tech's scoring drives started, a TCU defensive back was caught mouthing into a TV camera, "They aren't going to score." Later in the season, Texas Tech beat Nebraska, 70–10, forcing the Cornhuskers to give up more points in a single game than they had before in their 114-year history. In 2005, the Red Raiders were losing to Kansas State, 13–10, late in the second quarter but won the game 59–20. Also in 2005, Tech had a halftime lead of 14–10 over Texas A&M. By the end of the game, they increased the margin to 56–17. It was the Aggies' worst loss to the Red Raiders in the 64-year-old series.

Leach also coached the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I-A bowl game history in the 2006 Insight Bowl versus the University of Minnesota. With Texas Tech trailing 38–7 in the third quarter, the Red Raiders overcame this 31 point deficit and beat the Golden Gophers 44–41 in overtime, topping BYU's 28 point comeback against SMU in the 1980 Holiday Bowl. In addition, Leach won the 2008 Gator Bowl 31–28 after trailing 28–14 with 3:39 remaining.

Mike Leach was chosen to coach the South team during the 2007 inaugural Inta Juice North-South All-Star Classic game.

At the end of the 2008 season, Leach was 76–39 with the Red Raiders, including 7–2 against the Texas A&M Aggies and 2–7 against the Texas Longhorns. With a 5–4 record, he is the all-time winningest coach in postseason play in Tech football history. Leach is one of only sixteen active college football coaches who have never had a losing season. Of those, he is among nine who have been a head coach for at least five seasons.

In February 2009, Leach signed a three-year contract extension with Texas Tech that would pay him at least $2.5 million per year if he stayed in place through 2013. Leach's guaranteed compensation would have been $1.6 million in 2006, $1.65 million in 2007, $1.75 million in 2008, $1.85 million in 2009 and $2.15 million in 2010.

2007 Texas game controversy
During his post-game press conference after the 2007 game against Texas, Leach used most of his time to rail against the officiating crew for what he felt were bad calls. He speculated that the officials may have favored Texas because the head official lived in Austin, because they were incompetent, or possibly because the conference wanted Texas to appear in a BCS bowl because of the increased appearance fees that such a bowl generates for the conference. Jim Vertuno of the Associated Press wrote "Leach was upset officials disallowed two Tech touchdowns in the third quarter. The first was overruled when video replay clearly showed the receiver let the ball hit the ground. On the next play, a touchdown pass was negated by a holding penalty. Leach also wanted, but didn't get, a flag for roughing the quarterback." The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported, "Big 12 policy prohibits coaches from commenting publicly about game officials, so Leach's actions leave him open to reprimand, fine or worse." ESPN reported, "Big 12 official spokesman Bob Burda did not immediately respond to telephone messages seeking comment. Leach's rant will likely draw a fine from the league and possibly a suspension."

On November 13, 2007, the Big 12 fined Leach $10,000, the largest fine in Big 12 history. Leach also received a reprimand and was warned that further violations could result in suspension. In a Big 12 coaches' conference call that day, Leach added that he does not regret making any of the comments. Leach announced that he would appeal the fine. Tech alumni and fans began raising money to aid Leach in paying the penalty in the event that it was upheld. Optionally, the proceeds raised could be used charitably. So, just before Christmas 2007, Leach requested that the nearly $5,000 raised to that point be spent on 400 hams to be given free to families in Lubbock, Texas. Future donations were to go to the university or athletic department. Following the 2008 Gator Bowl, in which Virginia scored twice on penalties against Tech for intentional grounding in the end zone, Leach joked, "I felt like we had a back there on the one safety, but I don't comment on officiating. I just give out hams is what I do."

2008 season
Leach, along with players Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree were featured on the cover of the 2008 edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football. The magazine predicted that the 2008 Red Raider football team would be the best in Texas and would challenge for the Big 12 South title. Following a 9–0 beginning to the season, including a win over the undefeated #1 Texas Longhorns, Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers announced that the university would renegotiate Leach's contract following the conclusion of the football regular season and give him an extension.

The Red Raiders ended the 2008 regular season with 11 wins and 1 loss, the best in school history. The season also marked the first win over a #1 ranked team. Tech, along with Oklahoma and Texas, shared the Big 12 Conference South division title. On December 2, 2008, the Associated Press named Leach the Big 12 Coach of the Year. He received 16 votes for the honor by the agency's panel, while Texas' Mack Brown got 4. He won co-Coach of the Year honors from the Big 12 coaches; Oklahoma's Bob Stoops received the same recognition for the same season. The Dallas Morning News named him Coach of the Year as well. He garnered the 2008 George Munger Award, which is given annually to the top college coach of the year by the Maxwell Football Club.

After much controversy about how the tie-breaker should be handled between Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech fans, the Red Raiders ended up being left out of the BCS because of a rule that states only two teams from each conference can enter BCS play per season. Oklahoma won the tie-breaker on account of their higher BCS ranking, ultimately losing to Florida in the national championship. Texas Tech also ended up losing that year in the Cotton Bowl to Ole Miss 47–34, making Texas the only team of the three to win their bowl game.

Leach interviewed for the University of Washington head coaching job, which was vacated by Tyrone Willingham. ESPN reported that Leach withdrew his name from the coaching search following his interview. Auburn, where Tommy Tuberville resigned, had also been rumored to have contacted Leach. In an interview with the Associated Press, Tech quarterback Graham Harrell stated that there was a "great chance" Leach could leave. Harrell noted that Leach might leave for a newer challenge. After Leach did not take the Washington job, Harrell retracted his statements and believed Leach would remain the Red Raiders' coach.

Tech athletic director Gerald Myers had indicated that he would give a raise to Leach before Tech's bowl game, which he later negotiated. Leach and the university settled on a 5-year extension worth $12.7 million after months of negotiations over the clauses of the contract.

2009 season
On October 31, 2009, after the Red Raiders' win over Kansas, Leach tied his predecessor Spike Dykes as the all-time winningest coach in Texas Tech's 85-year football history. On November 21, 2009, Leach passed Dykes for first all-time on the school's wins list with a win over the Oklahoma Sooners.

Firing
On December 28, 2009, Leach was suspended indefinitely by Texas Tech pending investigation of alleged inappropriate treatment of Adam James, son of former SMU and New England Patriots running back (and former ESPN college football analyst) Craig James. On December 16, James suffered a concussion. He was examined the next day, and told not to practice that afternoon due to the concussion. According to a James family source, Leach ordered him to stand in the equipment room near the Raiders' practice facility. According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, school officials claim they gave Leach an ultimatum to apologize to James in writing by December 28 or Leach would be suspended. His attorney, Ted Liggett, disputed the characterization of events as reported by the university and other news sources, and said that James had been treated reasonably in light of his condition.

Leach immediately sought an injunction that would allow him to coach in the 2010 Alamo Bowl. However, on December 30, Texas Tech fired Leach, calling his refusal to apologize to James "a defiant act of insubordination." This was the day before Leach was reportedly owed an $800,000 tenure bonus and over $1,700,000 for contractual guaranteed income for 2009. Texas Tech lawyers handed a termination letter to Liggett just minutes before the two sides were to appear in a Lubbock courtroom for a hearing. Liggett was also told that Leach would not be allowed to coach in the Alamo Bowl regardless of how the hearing turned out. School officials later said that other incidents had come to light during its investigation of Leach, but declined to elaborate. Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill was named interim head coach and led the team during their appearance in the Alamo Bowl.

In a statement, Leach said that he believed the firing was motivated in part by simmering acrimony over the contract negotiations. He also said he planned to sue Texas Tech for wrongful termination.

On December 31, Leach spoke with The New York Times in his first interview since being fired from Texas Tech. He said that he did not know where James had been taken, having only ordered him taken "out of the light." He claimed the controversy stemmed from Craig James' constant lobbying for more playing time for his son, whom he characterized as lazy and feeling entitled.

On January 8, 2010, Leach formally filed suit against Texas Tech for wrongful termination and other claims. He claimed that school officials not only fired him without cause, but issued defamatory statements in a willful attempt to keep him from being hired elsewhere. During a deposition for the case obtained by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Adam James admitted under oath that he found the closet incident "funny." In May 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 Texas Tech had waived its immunity on this claim by its conduct. The judge also dismissed Leach's claims against three university administrators. Both parties have taken steps to appeal the decision, although Leach's attorneys have said they would drop their appeal if Texas Tech would do likewise and allow the breach of contract claim to proceed to a jury trial. Early in 2011, Texas 7th Court of Appeals ruled that Texas Tech was immune from Leach's claim of breach of contract but that Leach can claim non-monetary reparations; Leach attorney Paul Dobrowski announced his intention to appeal to the Supreme Court of Texas.

In February 2012, The Texas Supreme Court rejected Leach's appeal without comment signifying their belief that Leach's lawsuit(s) were without merit. After that ruling, Texas Tech attorney Dicky Gregg stated "As we've said from the beginning, we were right on the law and the facts, and the (Texas) Supreme Court has just held that we were correct on the law."

Friday Night Lights series creator Peter Berg has hinted that he has written a movie script for the characters from the TV series that is based on Leach's firing from Texas Tech.

Post-Texas Tech
In August 2010, Leach joined CBS College Sports Network, where he worked as a color analyst with play-by-play announcer Roger Twibell.

In 2010, Leach joined host Jack Arute to co-host "College Football Playbook" on SiriusXM College Sports Nation Channel 91, which airs weekdays 12 pm – 3 pm ET.

In 2011, Leach released an autobiographical book, Swing Your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and in Life, through Diversion Books. The book debuted at #6 on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Leach was considered by many in the national media to be a candidate for the head coaching vacancies at University of Miami, University of Maryland, and University of Minnesota following the 2010 regular season. After at least two interviews at Maryland, he was considered the frontrunner for that job until the administration decided instead to hire Randy Edsall away from University of Connecticut. Leach was mentioned in connection with a number of other vacancies in head-coaching positions during 2011, including Washington State, Arizona, Ole Miss, Kansas, Penn State, and Tulane.

Washington State
Leach agreed to terms with Washington State on November 30, 2011 and began coaching for the 2012 season. He has a 5-year rollover contract, which makes Leach the 4th highest paid coach in the Pac-12.

Leach's first season has been a controversial one. Washington State was 1-8 in Pac-12 play through the end of the season, and more allegations of player abuse erupted on November 10, 2012 when star wide receiver Marquess Wilson quit the team citing "physical, emotional and verbal abuse" by the coaching staff. Immediately after the allegations were made, Washington State University President Elson Floyd issued a statement indicating that he had requested investigations into the alleged incident(s) from both the WSU Athletic Department and the Pac-12 Conference. The investigations determined that the claims made against Leach were without merit, and Wilson later recanted the allegations.

Head coaching record

 * Did not coach bowl game.

Notable accomplishments
Leach had notable accomplishments at Kentucky and at Texas Tech.

Kentucky

 * Four NCAA, 42 SEC, and 116 school records broken as Kentucky's offensive coordinator

Texas Tech

 * 10 consecutive winning seasons
 * 8 consecutive seasons with at least 8 wins
 * 4 seasons with at least 9 wins
 * 1 season with 11 wins
 * 9 consecutive bowl appearances
 * 5 bowl wins (most by any individual coach in the history of the program)
 * 4 seasons completed with team ranked in the Top 25
 * 19–11 record against in-state conference rivals Baylor, Texas, and Texas A&M
 * 53–11 record at Jones AT&T Stadium, home of the Texas Tech Red Raider football team
 * 2008 AP Big 12 Coach of the Year
 * 2008 Big 12 Coach of the Year
 * Coached 1 Fred Biletnikoff Award (Best Wide Receiver) winner: Michael Crabtree (two-time winner)
 * Coached 1 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Best Senior Quarterback) winner: Graham Harrell
 * Coached 1 Mosi Tatupu Award (Best Kick Returner) winner: Wes Welker
 * Coached 3 Sammy Baugh Trophy (Outstanding Quarterback) winners: Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, and Graham Harrell
 * More than 150 NCAA, Big 12 and school records broken as Texas Tech's head coach

Coaching tree
Assistant coaches under Mike Leach who became NCAA head coaches:
 * Greg McMackin, Hawaii Warriors (2008–2011)
 * Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (2010–2012), California Golden Bears (2013-present)
 * Ruffin McNeill, East Carolina Pirates (2010–present)
 * Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia Mountaineers (2011–present)
 * Art Briles, Baylor Bears (2008–present)

Players under Mike Leach who became NCAA head coaches:
 * Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech Red Raiders (2012–present)