Original question: "What has Leach done to deserve my support?"
For me (excluding the 2012 season) there just appears to be (on average) more "fight" in the team than during the Wulff years (I know I know, don't bring him up, but HEY my College experience was during his tenure).
During those years it would be like our Cougs would "fight" during the 1st quarter, and if we were lucky we would make it to half time still in the game. Alas, game after game after game we would then get utterly steam-rolled by the end of the 4th quarter.
As for Leach, specifically for me, it all started with the 2013 Auburn game (although you could make a case for Apple Cup 2012). We came out SWINGIN’!!! Oh how exciting... then Auburn scored, then Auburn scored again on that fly sweep (or was it a punt/kick return?) and I thought to myself “Great….. here we go aaaagain.”. Then Deone Bucannon decided to officially introduce himself to the SEC by destroying their running back (IE: the “hit”). We score again, and now we got a game goin’ on fellas!!! Although we lost, it left a lasting impression on me. That impression carried through to USC, Arizona, Utah, etc…
Make no mistake, there were definite blow-outs (Arizona State, Oregon State, etc) during 2013, but on average I felt like we competed each game, and I also thought some of the blow-outs were a result of a few melt-downs by a particular individual on the team.
2014 was disappointing, but there were also “sparks” of action to get excited about. 2014 was like the team was a race car that the coaching staff/fans/admin were trying to get started, a sputtering engine that every once in a while we got runnin’. Who would have thought we’d go toe to toe with Oregon and give them a legitimate scare? Utah during that monsoon? We all know how much special teams and team defense killed us, but being the glass half full kind of guy we could have just as easily gone 7-5 (ST competence vs Rutgers, Nevada, Oregon and Cal) in my eyes. I wonder what we would all be chatting about right now if we had ended 7-5 or even another 6-6 season.
So, going forward, if I witness a regress in the “fight” of the team, and there are NO improvements to special teams and team defense, than Leach’s seat will be red hot as we approach the 2016 season.