“He was the most interesting man alive.” After Mike Leach’s death, those who knew him told RossDellenger stories—of unpredictable conversations, late-night adventures, wildlife encounters and more
From across the practice field, John Cohen saw coach Mike Leach step away from drills to take a phone call.Whoever could be calling to make Leach walk away from practice? Was it an emergency? A family issue?
“There will never be another Mike Leach,” says Washington State athletic director Pat Chun. "He was the most interesting man alive." If Leach went some place, he was driven there or he walked. He much preferred walking. At Washington State, he walked from his home to campus each day. During his early days at Mississippi State, he actually lived on campus, residing in a condo overlooking the school’s baseball stadium. The condo, owned by a donor, was primo seating for Bulldogs’ baseball games.
A nightcrawler and a noon-riser, that was Mike Leach. Peterson served as Leach’s high school relations director during the coach’s first year in Starkville. A Mississippian himself, Peterson helped introduce the coach to the state—its high school coaches, its soul food, its many diverse regions. “You didn’t know what it would be about it,” says Langlois, the school’s senior associate athletic director for communications. “He’d be like ‘Hey, I’m sitting here watching this documentary on Showtime about John McEnroe. Have you seen it?’ You look up and it’s 3:30.”
They then met Leach at a local bike shop before walking to his Key West home, where he and wife, Sharon, spent much of the offseason. A two-hour interview unfolded on Leach’s pool deck before the trio left, flew back to the mainland to interview more candidates and then returned to the island for a one-night stay to finalize the deal.
“He seamlessly bounced from one thing to another and tied them all together. I thought, ‘Here he is having just signed the MOU to be our football coach, and we are talking about the Navajo Indians.”If you timed it perfectly, you could catch Mike Leach wearing a full wetsuit, standing on a paddleboard and gliding across the water of the murky lake in the backyard of his Starkville home.
This was tradition, an especially important tradition to Leach. He never missed a Friday-night movie. He seemed to slip back into his days as a kid. He’d load up on popcorn, Coke and an assortment of candy, hunker down in his seat and prepare for the screen to flicker to life. “It was always fun talking to him pregame. He’s so wired differently than your stereotypical head coaches,” Chun says. “I’d go shake his hand on the field before games. One time, he asked if I’d seen the movieHarriet“This was 30 minutes before kickoff.”Mike Leach would never be described as a foodie. He ate plenty of junk food, despite Sharon steering him away from it.
Sharon packed the shorts with healthy snacks. Sliced apples, fruit packs, power bars, granola sticks. He’d even sometimes remove an entire sandwich.Leach carried around food quite often, even if you didn’t see it. Eric George, Mississippi State’s deputy athletic director, was alongside Leach one day when he pulled from his pocket a burrito wrapped in foil.“Yep!” Leach said as he took a giant bite.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Mike Leach almost coached at Villanova | Mike JensenWith the passing of the Mississippi State head coach, it’s worth going back to 1996, to the time former Villanova coach Andy Talley wanted a new offensive coordinator with big ideas
Read more »
'One of our own;' BYU mourns loss of coach Mike LeachAlthough he became one of the most successful and popular football coaches across the country, Mike Leach's love of the college game was sparked right here in Utah.
Read more »
‘I will see you again’: Tributes pour in for late Miss. State coach Mike LeachTributes are pouring in for Mississippi State Coach Mike Leach, who passed away on the morning of December 13.
Read more »
Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach dies at 61Mike 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.
Read more »
Mike Leach dies at 61: Coach revolutionized college footballLeach was known for his pass-happy offense, wide-ranging interests — he wrote a book about Native American leader Geronimo, had a passion for pirates and taught a class about insurgent warfare — an…
Read more »