Kyle Gets Contrary: Why I Don't Like Mike Leach

I cannot really argue with any of your points, but I will say he has done a nice job of making a name for himself and his football program. No, this does not mean I think Lanie boy is doing the right thing, having not played a game yet and all that. But prior to Leach, I had not thought twice about TT football since we beat them in the rain that night during Donnan’s first year,

I think he is a little over the top at times and maybe to be “different” as you noted, but sometimes, I think he is pretty amusing.
I do understand that he is going against the grain with his offensive system and that can cause him to have a chip on his shoulder, kinda like June Jones. But I think that is a cross that he, Jones and others just have to carry until they manage to convince people otherwise. In a way Corch Meyers has to do the same thing, but the big difference is that Corch Meyers has the hardware and results to back up his defense.

It’s the common thing coaches are trying to boast about and tear down rival schools for, and that is whether their program can ready and give them a path to the NFL. When the NFL passes on your start QB in a weak draft class, and articles are constantly being written about the inability for spread scheme QB’s to make it in the NFL, it makes it less likely for top QB talent (which Texas historically has had a lot of) to want to come to your school. He’s probably seeing this and trying to discount their opinions. He just seems to forget that their the NFL and they conform to no one.

It may, in fact, merely make him a slightly less puffy Eric Cartman.

That made me lol.

Esteemed Georgia blogger Kyle T. King details why he’s not fond of Mike Leach and although I can’t make anyone like anyone else, perhaps I can provide some insight. I think the premise of King’s article is that Leach hasn’t done much to be able to criticize other coaches and his tantrums are misplaced.

1. Winning at Texas Tech: I think some time next year Mike Leach will become the winningest coach in Texas Tech history. I know that sounds like an awfully low bar and it doesn’t seem as if Leach has been at Texas Tech long enough to be in that position, but that’s the position he’s in. For one, it demonstrates the relatively lack of football success at Texas Tech and, second, it demonstrates Leach’s coaching ability.
   
   

   It’s hard to quantify the talent gap between Texas and OU and Texas Tech. If you want to look at players in the NFL or recruit rankings or whatever, Texas Tech is usually 4th or 5th in the conference. Leach does more with less than any other coach in America.
   
   

   I would welcome Kyle to drive to Lubbock with me from Dallas on any given weekend that I can make it out to a game. I can guarantee you that by the end of the process he and I will be either very good friends or bitter enemies (hopefully the former). Six hours there and six hours back with little to no scenery. I know it seems completely foreign to most, but the fact that Leach has been able to build a winner in Lubbock is nothing to take for granted. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I love Lubbock. Going to school at Texas Tech was the best thing that ever happened to me, but the difference between Lubbock and Austin is that you’ve got to really want to be in Lubbock. It is not an easy destination.
   
   

   I wrote earlier this week the following:
   
   

   College coaches are paid to do two things, win games and graduate players. I’ll let you decide the order, but right now, Leach does both. The fact that none of his quarterbacks have stuck on an NFL roster isn’t indicative of his success at Texas Tech or his success at producing successful collegiate quarterbacks. Thus far, I think Leach has hit on almost all of his starting quarterbacks, and as of right now, he probably has a better track record than most NFL teams at developing quarterbacks.

   Complain about Leach all you want, but he has the highest public university graduation rate among football players in the NCAA. I think the fact that he has accomplished both goals says something about what he is as a coach.
   
   

   To say that Texas Tech has to beat UT and OU before talking. Okay, just give us a little more time. I don’t think that Texas Tech will ever have the funding, the stadium or resources that either of those programs ever have. Leach is 2-2 against both of those programs in the last two years. Give him time.

2. Defending His Players: Comments started being made that Cleveland Browns head coach felt that Michael Crabtree was a diva during his visit. Rumors started flying and Leach had two options at that point. Leach could have kept his mouth shut, or he could have defended his player. Leach decided to defend his player. I get that he may have gone a bit overboard, but that’s what you get with Leach. No filter. You get the good and the bad. Leach did lash out and there are Texas Tech fans that would prefer that he not do this, but you don’t get that option with Leach. We’ve discussed this on DTN and I fall on the side that I’d rather have a coach absolutely defend his players, whether it be Michael Crabtree, Graham Harrell or Brandon Willliams than sit back on the sideline and let his players get beat up in the press.
3. Leach vs. Sherman: This has obviously spiraled out of control. I think at this point, it would be best if every one just let it go, but up until today, neither party wanted to let the other have the last word. When Leach commented about TAMU’s Stephen McGee, I don’t think he was talking about Sherman I think he was either talking about Dennis Franchione and/or NFL scouts in general. Franchione: If McGee was an outstanding quarterback, then why didn’t they utilize his talents other than as an option quarterback. NFL Scouts: All they every look at is measurables rather than results. I hate the fact that McGee has been dragged into this verbal spat, but the truth of the matter is that Leach again defended his player in Harrell, but he also opined on McGee, but I think he had the NFL and Fran in his sights.
4. System vs. Measurables: From the same piece I wrote linked above:
   
   

   . . . The reason why Graham Harrell didn’t get drafted is because, for whatever reason, the NFL scouts didn’t like his measurables, whatever that is. If Matt Stafford had gone to Texas Tech rather than Georgia, there’s no doubt in my mind that he still would have been picked #1 overall, despite the fact that he ran the spread offense. I have no idea if and when a Texas Tech quarterback gets drafted, possibly ever. If there was ever an instance where it might happen, it’s going to be the next two year. The NFL is going to have a 6-4/220 quarterback with a strong arm in Taylor Potts. If there’s ever a chance to get a guy in the NFL, it’s Potts.
   
   

   I would like to stress that just because Leach hasn’t produced NFL success doesn’t mean that he’s not successful. Typically, Texas Tech doesn’t get the guys with measurables, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean that whoever he recruits can’t play quarterback. I don’t know that Seth Doege or Jacob Karam or Scotty Young will ever be drafted, hell I have no idea if they’ll even been successful college quarterbacks. What I can say is that Leach has shown a propensity to make seemingly lowly rated quarterback prospects into collegiate winners. I have idea as to the star rating for guys like Kingsbury, Cumbie, Symons, or Hodges, but I don’t think that it’s so crazy to think that these guys weren’t going to stick on an NFL roster.
   
   

   Snip
   
   

   It seems as if the elite programs typically get quarterbacks with those measurables, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t guys who are 6-0 or 6-2 that maybe weigh 190 with pretty good arms and an extreme ability to quckly read a defense can’t or shouldn’t play college football.
   
   

   Ask any Missouri or Kansas fan if they would trade Chase Daniel or Todd Reesing for Kansas State’s Josh Freeman (apologies to BOTC).

I think most of us realize, and trust me when I say that there are plenty of Texas Tech fans that have a similar love/hate relationship with Leach. King is not alone in his stance, I can assure him of that, but he’s damned good at what he does

What a slightly more puffy Eric Cartman might look like:

….is that he had absolutley no background in football before entering the coaching proffesion, which makes what he’s done all the more amazing. When he says things like “I can teach a quarterback how to take a snap under center in an hour,” I imagine the caveat “AND I NEVER EVEN PLAYED FOOTBALL, MUCH LESS QUARTERBACK” is running through his head.

It also raises the question, “What did Mike Leach ever do that entitles him to talk this way to other coaches?” It was one thing for Steve Spurrier to say “something just happens to them at Georgia” while he was beating the Bulldogs like a bass drum or to say “you can’t spell ‘Citrus’ without U-T” when his Gators’ annual victories over the Volunteers routinely sent Tennessee to the Citrus Bowl; it might be ill-mannered, but it ain’t bragging if you can do it, and the Evil Genius did it (hence the “genius” portion of the formulation).

In so far as you’re talking about Mike Leach’s comments directed at HC Mike Sherman of Texas A&M, Leach has routinely beaten Texas A&M. If it’s fair for Spurrier to do it, it’s at least fair for Leach to do it against Texas A&M. We’ve had a lot of success against the Aggies under Leach.

Granted, Spike Dykes’s last four Texas Tech teams lost five games apiece . . . but, then again, Mike Leach’s first four Red Raider clubs all lost at least that many.

Spike Dyke’s last four Texas Tech teams: 28-20, 0-2 in bowl games
Leach’s first four Red Raider clubs: 31-21, 2-2 in bowl games

Maybe a close question, but I think it’s easy to argue that Leach had the better teams.

Is it his 5-4 record in bowl games?

The answer to that might be: Hell yea! In context, that means Mike Leach has won as many Bowl games for Texas Tech as had all his predecessors combined. Since we lost our first bowl game in 1937, it’s been slim pickings out in West Texas… until Mike Leach. Spike Dykes was 2-7, by comparison.

This is not to say that Mike Leach isn’t a good coach; he is a good head coach and an outstanding offensive coordinator (although it is open to debate to what extent Hal Mumme made him rather than the other way around), and he has earned the right to smart off about Texas A&M. Still, actually winning something with your players ought to be a prerequisite to directing scathing put-downs to fellow coaches who doubt whether they would be able to win anything with your players.

So much here, and you kind of address my earlier point. But it really shouldn’t be open to debate to what extent Hal Mumme made him rather than the other way around; Mumme without Leach has been a series of failures, and Leach without Mumme has been a series of successes. The Kentucky offense got worse after Leach left, even though Mumme remained. I’d love to hear an argument how Mumme made Leach and not the other way around.

I get that bloggers like him because he gives good interview. He doesn’t communicate in coachspeak. That may make him quotable, but it doesn’t make him right.

Yes but it does not make him wrong, either. I haven’t gathered from this post (maybe the comments; I haven’t read them all) that you actually disagreed with anything that Leach has said, merely that you don’t like his delivery, or that you don’t think he has the right to express himself so candidly because one must win that right in a Big 12 Championship.

You don’t hear Mark Richt ripping N.F.L. coaches who question his quarterbacks’ abilities to succeed in the professional ranks, and Mark Richt has coached two Heisman Trophy winners, the winningest quarterback in Division I-A college football history, and a No. 1 draft pick.

I don’t hear Mark Rict doing much of anything, because I have never read a story about Mark Richt. I wouldn’t know he was the Georgia coach unless you told me. Maybe that’s the best way to coach, maybe the platonic ideal of CFB coaching is someone who remains quiet and uncontroversial. That doesn’t make him entertaining, though. It’s doubtful that a Texas Tech blog will discuss the personality of Mark Richt anytime this century.

For many of us who really love having Mike Leach as our head coach, we don’t need to agree with everything he says to recognize that he’s smart and witty enough to make us, Tech, relevant to people who would otherwise not care one way or the other. As you’ve pointed out, he’s one of the most blogged about coaches in the world, yet he hasn’t really accomplished all that much on a national scale (though I think you are dramatically underestimating the context — no one wins in Lubbock like Mike Leach, and I’m not sure Mark Richt would, either). Our relevance, through Leach, greatly exceeds our success. In the grand scheme of things, being a recognizeable team plays a huge role in your ability to get on TV, to compel recruits to attend your school in the middle of nowhere, to increase alumni dollar participation, etc.

I get the bigger point of your post, which is that you don’t like the way Leach presents himself. You’re not alone, most Aggies probably agree with you. I’d be very interested to hear what specifically you found disagreeable or WRONG about what he has said. It’s one thing to say he has no right to talk trash because he hasn’t won enough, or that he has no right to talk trash because that’s simply not how civilized people communicate. It’s another thing entirely to say that he’s wrong, and I’m not sure you’ve said that here.

Have you read EDSBS’ take on Leach’s honesty? I thought it was pretty brilliant. Enjoy:

Surely You Jest, Mr. Leach

I’d say that, as always, my disagreements with you are sent with the utmost respect because I really think you are one of the brightest CFB writers, not just on this network or in the blogosphere, but anywhere, and so know that I don’t ever disagree with you lightly. But I’m not sure we even disagree on anything here. It is plausible that Mike Leach talks more trash than his record would otherwise justify. He’s not collegial. I think we can agree on those things, and just disagree about whether that makes him awesome. You mention Eric Cartman, my favorite South Park character. I’ve never liked watching Leave It To Beaver, nor am I accustomed to reading canned coach statements and being entertained. This is just a game, and Coach is just a character on a male-worshipped soap opera. The product of CFB is: Entertainment. Somewhere on Leach’s job description is the word: Entertainer. My expectation of what a HC owes me, as a fan, is fun. And I’m grinning ear to ear.

And as Seth pointed out, how important is this talking business? In the grand scheme of things, Leach might not be friendly to his peers, but he graduates his players. If we’re really judging Mike Leach on his role model capacity, shouldn’t we applaud that he graduates the most players in the Big 12? That he treats all his players equally, no matter how good they are? (Benching of starting RB Shannon Woods for a year, making example of Ed Britton, starting split end and most experienced receiver on the team, essentially kicking starting DE Mckinnor Dixon off the team, even though we also just lost Brandon Williams to the draft.)

Everybody probably says this about their head coach, but I think Mike Leach really, really cares about his kids. And there’s some substance to support that. He makes them graduate, he walks into living rooms and emphasizes getting them degrees first, snaps second. And he’s successful at that. And when he feels like his players or former players have been mistreated, either indirectly by a system that probably can’t be supported intelligently (the NFL draft emphasis on measurables) or directly by the spreading of a rumor (Crabtree=diva), he stands up for them. Even if his vocal chords aren’t in the right place, I think his heart absolutely is.

The “Student” in “Student-Athlete” was probably concocted by the NCAA merely to avoid workman’s compensation laws. They might claim to take it seriously, but only because it affords them some amount of labor, antitrust, and tax law freedom. Mike Leach acts like he takes Student-Athlete seriously. And as disagreeable as his tone may be, I don’t think most NCAA (or NFL) coaches are honest. I think par for the course is that when you ask them a question, you can tell that they are lieing because they are answering it. The problem with Mike Leach might be that he’s TOO honest.

And because of that, he’s a rarity in CFB, because I am not cynical about him.