Leach’s return

Mike Leach’s debut as Mississippi State coach Saturday at LSU will be the second time he’s been with the visiting team at Tiger Stadium — also known as “Death Valley.”

The first time was on Oct. 17, 1998, when Leach was Kentucky’s offensive coordinator and the Wildcats upset the No. 21 Tigers 39-36.

“That was one of the most exciting, thrilling games ever,” Leach said. “I think that may be the best game-day environment as far as traveling to it. I mean, that was a heck of a deal.

“The grounds were all filled up. There were little old ladies with their grandchildren flipping off our bus. As you got closer [to the stadium], they’d start rocking your bus. Then the history and tradition of that stadium is really outstanding.”

Leach said he stopped to see Mike, LSU’s live tiger mascot, at his enclosure.

“I made sure somebody else was closer to the tiger than me,” Leach said. “So that if the Tiger escaped, then he’d eat that guy before he got to me.”

With restrictions on attendance because of the coronavirus pandemic, about 26,000 fans will be allowed at Tiger Stadium for Saturday’s game.

“I won’t have to wait for a guy to get to the sideline to yell at him if I don’t like what I see,” Leach said. “He’ll be able to hear me out there on the field.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that maybe we can have full stadiums before the end of the season.” primarily for covering politics, science and business.

But there was Orgeron, the LSU coach, being featured on a segment Sunday night.

Orgeron, who led the Tigers to a 15-0 record and the national championship last season, said he likes to watch “60 Minutes,” and that it was an honor to be on the show.

Orgeron got his first coaching job at a major school in 1986 as a graduate assistant for the University of Arkansas weight room staff. He told “60 Minutes” that when he got the call about the job, he accepted it — even though he didn’t know where Arkansas was — and tossed away the shovel he was using on a shrimp boat.

Orgeron clarified on the SEC coaches call Wednesday that he knows the state of Arkansas is just north of his native Louisiana, but that he didn’t at that time know where Fayetteville and the UA campus were located.

“I didn’t know how to get there,” he said. “I’d never been across the Louisiana state line into Arkansas. I know where the state of Arkansas is, but the University of Arkansas? I had no clue.”