Mike Leach, the gruff, pioneering and unfiltered college football coach who helped revolutionize the passing game with the Air Raid offense, has died following complications from a heart condition, Mississippi State said Tuesday. He was 61.
FILE - Texas Tech coach Mike Leach waits as a play is reviewed during the first quarter of their NCAA college football game against Texas in Austin, Texas, Sept. 19, 2009. Mike Leach, the gruff, pioneering and unfiltered college football coach who helped revolutionize the passing game with the Air Raid offense, has died following complications from a heart condition, Mississippi State said Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. He was 61.
Leach fought through a bout with pneumonia late in this season, coughing uncontrollably at times during news conferences, but seemed to be improving, according to those who worked with him. An interview with Leach was as likely to veer off into politics, wedding planning or hypothetical mascot fights as it was to stick to football. He considered Donald Trump a friend before the billionaire businessman ran for president and then campaigned for him in 2016.
Six of the 20 best passing seasons in major college football history were by quarterbacks who played for Leach, including four of the top six. A convergence of those traits cost Leach his first head coaching job. He went 84-43 with the Red Raiders, never having a losing season at the Big 12 school and reaching No. 2 in the country in 2008 with a team that went 11-2 and matched a school record for victories.
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