Happy Birthday Mike Leach
Current Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach celebrates the big 6-0 today.
Mississippi State head coach and wildcard personality Mike Leach turns 60 years old today. Leach has been coaching since 1987 and it doesn’t appear that he is going to stop any time soon.
Leach began coaching at Cal Poly as an assistant, coached the Pori Bears in Finland, and then bounced around the collegiate circuit from 1989-1999. In 2000, he earned his first division one head coaching job with the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
While at Texas Tech, he posted a record of 84-43 and led the Red Raiders to wins in the Gator Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Houston Bowl, Insight Bowl, and Tangerine Bowl. He would be fired in 2009 after allegations of player mistreatment were brought to the schools attention.
Between his termination at Texas Tech and being hired by Washington State, Leach did color commentary, radio, and even released an autobiography.
In 2011, Leach was hired as the Washington State head coach. In his first season, he went 3-9 with wins over UNLV and Eastern Washington who are FCS schools and an upset win over their rivals, University of Washington in the Apple Cup. That same year, more allegations of player mistreatment were announced but were dismissed because of little proof.
In 2018, Leach brought in grad transfer Gardner Minshew who lit up the PAC 12. Leach and the Cougars went 10-2 and were invited to the Alamo Bowl where they beat the Iowa State Cyclones 28-26.
When 2020 rolled around, Leach was offered the head coaching job in Starkville, Mississippi. He accepted and was the new Mississippi State head coach. In his first season he went 4-7 and won the Armed Forces Bowl vs Tulsa which ended in a brawl.
Leach tweets out memes, has an eccentric personality, and is good at what he does. He is an odd ball but that’s what makes him a good college football coach.