Mike Leach

Michael Charles Leach (March 9, 1961 – December 12, 2022) was an American college football coach who primarily coached at the NCAA Division I FBS level.

He was a two-time national coach of the year, three-time conference coach of the year and the mastermind behind the NCAA record-setting air raid offense.

While growing up in Cody, he joined Boy Scout Troop 58 and earned the rank of Eagle in 1975.

Leach graduated from Cody High School in 1979; he played football there from 1975 to 1978 and was recruited to play at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah.

An ankle injury he sustained in high school ruled out playing college football, so he played rugby instead.

Leach stayed close to the football program, occasionally sitting in on film room sessions.

Led by head coach LaVell Edwards, offensive coordinator Norm Chow, and quarterbacks Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, and Steve Young, BYU played with a pass-heavy offense, which was uncommon in college football at that time.

Leach graduated in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in American studies.

In 1986, Leach earned a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California.

Leach began his coaching career as an assistant at Cal Poly in 1987 before moving on to College of the Desert in 1988.

He is also one of the most prominent graduates of the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Alabama, from which he earned a Master of Sports Science in sports coaching in 1988.

In 1989, he served as head coach of the Pori Bears in the American Football Association of Finland.

Also in 1989, he joined Hal Mumme's staff at Iowa Wesleyan University as offensive coordinator.

Leach was known for directing offenses using lots of passing to several receivers, in a spread system known as the air raid, which Leach developed with Hal Mumme when Mumme was head coach and Leach was offensive coordinator at Iowa Wesleyan, Valdosta State, and Kentucky in the 1990s.

Leach's offenses with Mumme, and later as a head coach himself, have broken numerous school and NCAA records.

On eighteen occasions, Leach led his unranked team to victory over a team ranked in the AP poll, which is the most in the AP era.

Mike Leach was born to Frank and Sandra Leach in Susanville, California.

His father Frank was a forester and the family moved around several times while Leach was growing up, before finally settling in Cody, Wyoming.

Leach was raised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The pair spent three seasons there before moving to Valdosta State (1992–1996) and then Kentucky (1997–1998).

The partnership was known for the development of the air raid offense, which allowed their teams to rank highly in offensive statistics and set numerous records.

Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch became a No. 1 overall NFL draft pick.

It was the Red Raiders' first postseason win since 1995 when they beat the Air Force Falcons in the Copper Bowl.

Oklahoma's offense, which had ranked 11th in the Big 12 Conference in 1998, improved under Leach to first in the conference in 1999.

After one year at Oklahoma, Leach was hired as head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, another Big 12 member.

For the 1999 season, Leach joined the Oklahoma staff under head coach Bob Stoops.

He was the head coach at Texas Tech University from 2000 to 2009, where he became the winningest coach in school history.

Under Leach, the Red Raiders' best finishes came with three 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.

Sonny Cumbie followed, leading the Red Raiders to an upset of the then-4th ranked California in the 2004 Holiday Bowl.

Cody Hodges succeeded Cumbie, and subsequently led the NCAA in passing.

In 2005, the Red Raiders opened their season with a 6–0 record, their best start since 1998.

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.

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.

After Texas Tech, he coached at Washington State University from 2012 to 2019, where he recorded the third-most wins of any coach in school history.

He then coached at Mississippi State University from 2020 until his death in 2022.