I never really followed the programs that he coached over the years, notably: Texas Tech, Washington State, and now Mississippi State, but he was a colorful guy and a very successful coach, winning wherever he went. He held a deep fascination with 18th century pirates and his office reflected that fascination with lots of pirate memorabilia. He also used pirates as an analogy for men of all different classes, colors, and backgrounds coming together for a common purpose. He was good for college football and he’ll be missed. Most recently, his Mississippi State Bulldogs upset Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels, the loss with huge implications for Ole Miss.

Coach Mike Leach Dead at 61

I’ll add this link as well. He was a funny guy and this page contains several short videos of Leach at a microphone.

BTW, he grew up in Cody, Wyoming
Link

The story I heard was that he had a massive heart attack and no one got to him for at least 15 minutes, that's bad when seconds and minutes count in this type scenario.

Love him or hate him, his teams were gonna sling it down the field. He’ll always be a Red Raider to me. 61 is way too young, what a shame, he’ll be missed.

He was a character, a quality that college football will miss and will likely not realize they miss.

He'd finally had a solid year after all the COVID nonsense, and we beat Ole Piss this year, so we were all excited to see where things went this coming season.

I hate it for his family, wife and four children.

Go rest easy, Pirate.

Really sad, indeed. He’ll me missed! I always enjoyed his random rants / insights into whatever it was he was talking about. Really interesting guy. And a hell of a brilliant football mind!

1997-98 were exciting times in Kentucky with a couple of free spirits like Hal Mumme and Mike Leach coaching Tim Couch's rocket arm at qb. Air raid at its best! RIP Coach.

Hal Mumme and Mike Leach were the architects of the Air Raid offense, helping change the game of football in the process.
https://www.saturdaydownsouth....-just-like-brothers/

Leach and Mumme used a lot of systems and schematics from BYU’s LaVell Edwards, who coached successful quarterbacks such as Ty Detmer, Steve Young and Jim McMahon to success in the college and pro game...

Another good article
https://www.msn.com/en-us/spor...ta-state/ar-AA15f9fg

Breaks my heart for his family, the conference and football as a whole.

There will likely never be another coach like The Pirate.

Watched many games with Coach Leach in Martin Stadium ...

Mike Leach is a treasure, and I'll miss his wit an humor.

For those of you not familiar with his unique personality, take a look.

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It's left a huge hole in college football, he was one of kind and always had fantastic interviews.

I have been following him since his Texas Tech days. He was always entertaining.

Fair winds and following seas Coach.

Lots of people sharing Coach Mike Leach stories. Here’s another:
_________

How welcoming, how kind was Mike Leach?
Jeff Tyler of Wetumpka, AL contacted me to tell me a great story.
It’s a story that reminds us of Coach Leach’s patience, his keen memory and his interest in others.
I think you will enjoy this tale!

“Three years ago, I took my 11-year-old son to a Mississippi State game.
Jackson wanted to see pre-game warm-ups, so we were practically the first fans in the stadium.
We took our upper level seats, and my son asked if he could walk down to the field level seats to watch warm-ups, and I let him.
Well, this kid somehow managed to convince a security guard that he was supposed to be on the field.
The next thing I saw was my son walking up to Coach Leach and fist bumping him.

“The two started talking, and a few minutes later Coach Leach was calling over a couple of his players.
Now, my son was a center on his YMCA team- Coach Leach had his centers showing my son how to snap the ball!
I was in the upper deck, totally dumbfounded that an SEC coach just spent time in pre-game showing some kid he’d never met how to snap a football.
My kid comes back to our upper deck seats beaming with pride- I saw it as a memory of a lifetime.

“Two years later we went to another game- my son was again in the front row watching warm-ups.
A graduate assistant ran over and yelled, Are you Jackson?’ and my son said, ‘Yes!’
The graduate assistant said, ‘Coach Leach wants to see you,’ and he took my son out on the field.

“Coach Leach asked my son if he’d been practicing, and then made him do several snaps.
Coach told him to keep working on it, gave him a football and sent him on his way.
I was in the stands dumbfounded that a coach remembered my son’s name, remembered that day, and knew what spending five minutes of his time with a kid could mean.”

Thanks, Jeff, for this wonderful story.

I’m asking myself as I write this, “What other college football coach would do such a thing?”, and the answer is, “Pretty much none.”

If anyone wonders why Mike Leach was and is so loved, they need only listen to the story of the coach and 11-year-old Jackson Tyler.

Then we will all understand…

In a snap.