Everyone is afraid to admit they want Mike Leach, but...
- Thread starter How_did_this_happen?
- Start date
I can't say that the article made me feel great. I agree with it 100%, but the last thing that I want is for the programs with $100 million annual budgets looking at our coach.
No left or upper right coast urban school could touch him, politically. No public B12 school could probably touch him due to the TT radioactivity. I have a hard time seeing any of the richer B10 schools being able to make him fit their culture. And the better SEC programs probably feel both that they are too good for him, and that he would not suck up to their alums properly.
That leaves several possibilities, but the list is shorter than you might think.
Anything is possible, but the likelihood is slim. It seems that most want to get his disciples, not the savior himself.
That leaves several possibilities, but the list is shorter than you might think.
Anything is possible, but the likelihood is slim. It seems that most want to get his disciples, not the savior himself.
The Big 12 people that I talk to love the idea of Mike Leach and anyone who pays attention to college football around here knows that the Adam James story was a soap opera where Leach was the victim. I think that the biggest thing that keeps Leach off the minds of Big 12 people is his nearly complete devotion to the forward pass. Oklahoma is changing minds on the Air Raid principles in an offense, but in the land of the big uglies, you're supposed to hand the ball off 30-40 times per game. This crazy talk of 75% passing attempts is too crazy for most of them.
Interesting article, but I am still not sure why these writers and observers always leap to the assumption that Leach would jump anywhere if only the opportunity presented itself.
If people really listened to him rather than just his sound bites it is pretty obvious he is very content and happy where he is right now. Reporters do not want to dig that deep and it doesn't make for a story, but Leach is far closer to a Bill Snyder / Mark Few type than some happy feet gun for hire.
You probably should should just seek parity with your Bowl opponents.
That's obviously is where your real terror is located.
Most people want to have their cake and eat it, too. Normal human behavior. This whole thread is nothing surprising.
Many schools want Leach's results without having to take Leach himself. Hence the uptick in value of his disciples.
And as Ping noted, CML likes Pullman. Sure, he might be enticed away. That could be said for most of us. But there is not a long list of places that he would be willing to go, and most of those schools will not be after him. So the odds are good that he will retire in Pullman at age 73 or so.
Many schools want Leach's results without having to take Leach himself. Hence the uptick in value of his disciples.
And as Ping noted, CML likes Pullman. Sure, he might be enticed away. That could be said for most of us. But there is not a long list of places that he would be willing to go, and most of those schools will not be after him. So the odds are good that he will retire in Pullman at age 73 or so.
I freely admit that I liked the offense Harrell helped run in '16 better than the last 2 years here. Had more creativity to it (outside of the Big Gulp gimmick). I'm curious about how he'll do there, but it might be a 2 year transition and I'm not sure Helton will be around for a year 3.
Best part of that article is its use of stupid acronyms and other odd references, making it a lot harder to read than it should be. May lead to nobody reading it, which would be fine with me. I'm fine with other programs letting "AML" stick around in Pullman a long time.
If only Leach’s O-Lineman had their hand in the DIRT. He’d be at The Ohio St University.
I had no problem reading the article or understanding the sarcasm he was trying to portray.
As fast as the air raid concepts are spreading throughout major collegiate and professional football, so too is the trend to hire young head coaches. A couple of years ago, the average age of all P5 conference head coaches was 49.5 years. Last year, the 21 head coaches hired averaged 45 years old.
Leach may very well move on one day, but the market for 57 year old head coaches is tightening; particularly at the blue blood programs that Leach would be most interested in. They want young, relatable guys on the recruiting trail.
More and more, I can see Leach sticking with us for the long haul. He’s pulling in close to $4m/year and has the program in a position to compete for the P12N title most seasons.
Leach may very well move on one day, but the market for 57 year old head coaches is tightening; particularly at the blue blood programs that Leach would be most interested in. They want young, relatable guys on the recruiting trail.
More and more, I can see Leach sticking with us for the long haul. He’s pulling in close to $4m/year and has the program in a position to compete for the P12N title most seasons.
I agree 100% with the thought that Leach isn't "LOOKING" to leave. I don't think he has his agent putting out feelers and testing the water. Last year showed everyone that WSU can get into the conversation for the playoff and that Leach has built a team that has the majority of pieces in place to compete well against just about anyone. Because of his fascination with Geronimo, I think Leach fancies himself as the rebel leader that takes down the more powerful foes using ingenuity and cunning rather than brute force. I don't think Leach would be as happy at a place like Alabama and he knows it.
The downside is that a school like Tennessee that's been down enough to be considered an underdog but still has a lot of resources obviously appealed to Leach when they came calling with a $6 million payday offered. FWIW, WSU has been ranked in the Top 10 three times since the last time that the Volunteers were. Schools like Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, South Carolina and such are programs that have just enough of a renegade, underdog feel and the financial power to outspend us that I'll always worry that Leach might consider an offer.
Overall though, I agree that Leach knows that he's got a good thing at WSU. Price proved that it's possible to get three straight Top 10 finishes and Leach is proving that it wasn't a fluke and that winning consistently at WSU can happen.
The downside is that a school like Tennessee that's been down enough to be considered an underdog but still has a lot of resources obviously appealed to Leach when they came calling with a $6 million payday offered. FWIW, WSU has been ranked in the Top 10 three times since the last time that the Volunteers were. Schools like Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, South Carolina and such are programs that have just enough of a renegade, underdog feel and the financial power to outspend us that I'll always worry that Leach might consider an offer.
Overall though, I agree that Leach knows that he's got a good thing at WSU. Price proved that it's possible to get three straight Top 10 finishes and Leach is proving that it wasn't a fluke and that winning consistently at WSU can happen.
please stop saying price had three 10 win seasons in a row, he didn't
Yes be more accurate . Price and staff recruited three straight ten win seasons
You are correct that technically, Price didn't coach that third season. If you don't think that Price was 100% responsible for the three 10 win seasons.......you are dead wrong. I'm not some MIke Price fan boy but the guy deserves credit for making that run happen. Of course, it's also important to remember that despite the success at the end, he still had more losing seasons than winning seasons. Leach hasn't gotten us to the Rose Bowl yet, but he's definitely far better at building a solid foundation than Price ever was.
I wonder if some of the Leach-Disciples-But-Not-Leach thing is hoping you can create a top offense without sacrificing anything on defense or the rest of the team.
Leach's defensive record @ WSU doesn't back up the fears, but I do wonder if schools are hoping to compartmentalize the offense and not make any tradeoffs, or relinquish coaching control of the team.
I'm pretty surprised Miami didn't come after him though. Would have thought they'd have at least a coin toss' chance of getting him.
Leach's defensive record @ WSU doesn't back up the fears, but I do wonder if schools are hoping to compartmentalize the offense and not make any tradeoffs, or relinquish coaching control of the team.
I'm pretty surprised Miami didn't come after him though. Would have thought they'd have at least a coin toss' chance of getting him.
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