As much as I despise....

[Loyal Coug1]

Brand X, they have a great article about Coach Leach's 5 biggest wins at WSU.Well worth the read and viewing the video clips. And while I was in attendance for some of these games, and watched the others, my dementia (or drunkenness at those times) makes me forget a couple of them. Not Oregon or USC though. UCLA? Pretty hazy.......

I have a great picture of me and Logwone Mitz (spelling?) at Gameday in 2018. He was wearing this Cougar head to toe sort of a onesie jammy pants thing? F-ing hilarious. He introcued himself, and I'm like "how do you forget a Coug named Logwone Mitz?"

Good times.

 

[PeteTheChop]

After Twittergate, it seemed like Brand X went out of its way to take shots at CML up until his departure.

Not sure if it was politics or they thought Coach had a wandering eye, but the tone just seemed negative for whatever reasons.

Don’t remember Brand Y being the same way.

 

[WillieThePimp]

Couple of other good articles with some interesting perspective on Leach:

'A brilliant football mind': Mike Leach's unique life and football legacy

The life and career of Mike Leach was that of a true American original. From his beginnings as a college rugby player to helping take the Air Raid to the big time, he changed college football by always doing it his way.

www.espn.com

Commentary: Mike Leach was as complicated as all of us

To reflect on Mike Leach’s life, and the many lives he strived to live (author, lawyer, football coach, philosopher) is to hold up a mirror. To the media he could be incredibly dismissive, showing up 45 minutes late to interviews and trivializing livelihoods. Other times he gave unparalleled...

www.spokesman.com

From Jacob Thorpe:

“The worst version of Leach I saw was at the final news conference of a forgettable season, when he mocked a reporter in front of his peers for his lack of career advancement. It was personal, mean and unprovoked.

That reporter later told me that during one of the worst days of his life, sometime after that news conference, Leach walked him home and spent hours processing this reporter’s sadness, giving him words of encouragement and recommended readings that had helped Leach through similar low moments. The reporter considered Leach a friend, and someone who had helped him immensely.”

 

[Flatlandcoug]

From Jacob Thorpe:

“The worst version of Leach I saw was at the final news conference of a forgettable season, when he mocked a reporter in front of his peers for his lack of career advancement. It was personal, mean and unprovoked.

That reporter later told me that during one of the worst days of his life, sometime after that news conference, Leach walked him home and spent hours processing this reporter’s sadness, giving him words of encouragement and recommended readings that had helped Leach through similar low moments. The reporter considered Leach a friend, and someone who had helped him immensely.”

The Jacob Thorpe comment really encapsulated Leach's essence. He could be incredibly abrasive and rude in ways that far exceeded the needs of the moment....but it was balanced by the fact that he was also could be one of the most insightful and thoughtful people you'll ever meet. I certainly didn't agree with everything that Leach did while he was at WSU, but there is no doubt that he was one of the best hires ever made by WSU, both as a football coach and overall representative of WSU.

 

[Brent H.]

The Jacob Thorpe comment really encapsulated Leach's essence. He could be incredibly abrasive and rude in ways that far exceeded the needs of the moment....but it was balanced by the fact that he was also could be one of the most insightful and thoughtful people you'll ever meet. I certainly didn't agree with everything that Leach did while he was at WSU, but there is no doubt that he was one of the best hires ever made by WSU, both as a football coach and overall representative of WSU.

Leach had the most bizarre relationship with the media. He would troll them with his depth chart, injuries, who's playing, who's not, call them names during post game press conference, but at the same time have these incredible conversations. As so many people have described him he was incredibly complicated. While he bans questions from Brand X, he promotes two college kids blog who cover Wazzu athletics, gets them credentialed, they make some money off selling ads and were able to travel and cover the team for the 2018 and 2019 season. That jumped started their careers. The dude's behavior never made any sense. He was so unpredictable.

But I agree with you, he was probably the best hire in Wazzu's history in terms of brand recognition. He was exactly what Washington State needed and we were exactly what he needed.

 

[gpcoug]

Agreed some stuff went a little too far. But it cuts both ways. If he was a regular coach speak guy you also wouldn't have had the funny stories, random thoughts, etc.

He could certainly come off as a jerk but besides the Adam James thing (which ended up being bs) there weren't any big controversies. Like Sark style out on the town getting hammered, or any number of coaches caught cheating on a wife with younger college staffers etc.

 

[WillieThePimp]

Leach had the most bizarre relationship with the media. He would troll them with his depth chart, injuries, who's playing, who's not, call them names during post game press conference, but at the same time have these incredible conversations. As so many people have described him he was incredibly complicated. While he bans questions from Brand X, he promotes two college kids blog who cover Wazzu athletics, gets them credentialed, they make some money off selling ads and were able to travel and cover the team for the 2018 and 2019 season. That jumped started their careers. The dude's behavior never made any sense. He was so unpredictable.

But I agree with you, he was probably the best hire in Wazzu's history in terms of brand recognition. He was exactly what Washington State needed and we were exactly what he needed.

Unpredictable which means he was moody AF. Have known and dealt with plenty of people like this - when it becomes a big problem is when there is a power dynamic.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Agreed some stuff went a little too far. But it cuts both ways. If he was a regular coach speak guy you also wouldn't have had the funny stories, random thoughts, etc.

He could certainly come off as a jerk but besides the Adam James thing (which ended up being bs) there weren't any big controversies. Like Sark style out on the town getting hammered, or any number of coaches caught cheating on a wife with younger college staffers etc.

The Mike Leach experience was better because of his quirks. I'd say that the Zombie OL thing after Utah was a pretty childish action on his part and a great example of how petty and aggravating he could be when he was frustrated. Didn't hurt anybody and wasn't a big deal, but just a good example of Leach being a bit of a turd. We all remember the water spraying incident and know that it was blown out of proportion and stupid to the point where I don't even remember (or care) what the particulars were. His actions with Adam James were petty and stupid. Should not have fired him for it and Craig James will always be the guy that K5H in my book, but Leach made decisions that made it easy for Tech to fire him because they were dumb and petty and they were looking for an excuse.

For all of his quirks and faults, he's still a better man than most of us will ever be. Modest in his everyday actions. Watched the Pac-12 walking to work video above and he lived in an extremely modest house for a guy making 7 figures, he treated strangers well and, as you said, never got caught in a scandal that really mattered. Sucks that he's gone too soon even if I no longer rooted for his success on the football field. The world is not as good of a place without him in it.

 

[ShockandAweWSU]

Leach was Def not a fan of cfc. One of the reason why I stopped visiting their site. Trying to run off the best coach in Wazzu history....especially as generous as they were to the Wulff Era. Leach got to the point where he wouldn't take any question from cfc reporters.

 

[PeteTheChop]

Leach was Def not a fan of cfc. One of the reason why I stopped visiting their site. Trying to run off the best coach in Wazzu history....especially as generous as they were to the Wulff Era. Leach got to the point where he wouldn't take any question from cfc reporters.

Brand X leadership was no fan of CML.

Again, for whatever reasons

 

[How_did_this_happen?]

Brand X leadership was no fan of CML.

Again, for whatever reasons

Likely due to his political bent.

 

[etowncoug]

Likely due to his political bent.

I have no idea, but the way they went after him following the Hillinski suicide was one of the most disgusting things I've seen on the interwebs.

 

[WillieThePimp]

Likely due to his political bent.

Of course you would think that. As they say, if the only tool you have is a hammer then everything looks like a nail.

 

[WillieThePimp]

I have no idea, but the way they went after him following the Hillinski suicide was one of the most disgusting things I've seen on the interwebs.

Missed that as I cancelled my subscription there years ago. What did they do?

 

[etowncoug]

Missed that as I cancelled my subscription there years ago. What did they do?

Wrote an article citing unnamed sources who claimed Leach was insensitive to the pain the players were feeling. Claimed Leach wasn't supportive of players mental health. Implied he wasn't a safe person for a hurting TH to reach out to. Disgusting stuff. Leach refused to talk to CF after that.

 

[95coug]

Wrote an article citing unnamed sources who claimed Leach was insensitive to the pain the players were feeling. Claimed Leach wasn't supportive of players mental health. Implied he wasn't a safe person for a hurting TH to reach out to. Disgusting stuff. Leach refused to talk to CF after that.

Makes sense. All of the great coaches are warm & fuzzy types that serve as confidants for their players. Nick Saban, Bobby Bowden, Woody Hayes...

 

[Coug90]

Wrote an article citing unnamed sources who claimed Leach was insensitive to the pain the players were feeling. Claimed Leach wasn't supportive of players mental health. Implied he wasn't a safe person for a hurting TH to reach out to. Disgusting stuff. Leach refused to talk to CF after that.

Damn what rubbish. Hinting fault from a suicide publicly is about as low as it gets.

 

[PeteTheChop]

Wrote an article citing unnamed sources who claimed Leach was insensitive to the pain the players were feeling. Claimed Leach wasn't supportive of players mental health. Implied he wasn't a safe person for a hurting TH to reach out to. Disgusting stuff. Leach refused to talk to CF after that.

Good summary etown.

Also seemed like Brand X took CML to task for the “flirtation” with Tennessee. Can’t remember if that was before or after Twittergate, but it seems like those guys pretty much washed their hands of Coach Leach by that point.