Leach returns to his old stomping grounds
Mississippi St. coach had success at Kyle Field while coaching Tech
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M, seeking every advantage in recruiting, would be wise to include a rousing sales pitch from … Mississippi State coach Mike Leach? Allow Leach to explain — maybe without meaning to.
“It’s one of the greatest places to play on earth,” Leach said of A&M’s Kyle Field. “I said that when I was at (Texas) Tech. It’s one of the Carnegie Halls of football. It’s gigantic, holds a ton of people, the grass is impeccable and, of course, the Aggies are always highly motivated.”
There was a time a little more than a decade ago when plenty of A&M fans — and some university brass — wanted to lure Leach from Tech, based on the spankings the Aggies routinely took from the attorneyturned-coach from Cody, Wyo., with a hankering for high-revving offenses.
“Mike is a shrewd guy,” A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said. “He knows what he’s doing. He’ll have some wrinkles in (his offense), no doubt.”
Leach, in his second season leading the Bulldogs, will coach in Kyle Field for the first time since 2008 when No. 15 A&M (3-1, 0-1 SEC) hosts Mississippi State (2-2, 0-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday. It’s no wonder Leach has a special place in his heart for A&M’s hallowed ground — he won three out of his five games at Kyle Field from 2000-09 while leading Tech to unprecedented ranks in the Associated Press poll (No. 2 at one point during the 2008 season).
“I’ve got some great memories of our games at Kyle Field over the years,” Leach said. “It was a fantastic experience. It helped that we won most of them.”
Leach was 7-3 overall against three A&M coaches: R.C. Slocum, Dennis Franchione and Mike Sherman. The most memorable A&MTech collision with Leach running the show took place 20 years ago in Lubbock,
when Tech fans ripped down a goal post at Jones Stadium and shoved it into the A&M fan section following a 12-0 Red Raiders triumph.
Then-A&M center Seth McKinney’s father, Mike McKinney, was in the stands and wound up with a gash above his eye requiring stitches in the A&M locker room. Mike McKinney also happened to be thenGov. Rick Perry’s chief of staff at the time.
“It was like the Alamo,” a bloody Mike McKinney said following the brouhaha. “They were coming up over the walls.”
Leach was fired at Tech following the 2009 season for what the university said was insubordination, among a string of incidents. He then led Washington State to a school-record five straight bowls while in Pullman, Wash., from 2012-19. His up-tempo offensive attack has led the nation in more than half his seasons as a head coach (10 of 19), but his time in the SEC to date has not been as kind as his Big 12 and Pac-12 runs.
The Bulldogs finished 20th nationally in passing offense last season en route
to a 4-7 record. Leach also had losing records (a combined 12-25) over his first three seasons at Washington State before righting the speedboat and earning a top 10 AP finish (No. 10) in 2018.
Leach said he’s grown accustomed over the years to opponents rushing three defenders and dropping the other eight in an effort to contain his offensive attack. Part of the problem in his approach of late is the overall better athletes in the SEC on defense compared to the Big 12 and Pac-12, at least based on overwhelming NFL draft numbers on that side of the ball.
“That’s never not been a part of the deal,” Leach said of his wide-open offense facing a consistent threeman rush. “And the better players you have (on offense) and the better you play together, the easier it is to attack (defenses). It kind of depends on what they’re working with, too.”
The Bulldogs have finally shown signs of life under Leach, 60, and lead the SEC and rank sixth nationally in passing offense through four contests with nearly 364 yards per game. Mississippi State lost by two points at Memphis in a contest marred by officiating mistakes and last weekend lost at home by three points to LSU in its SEC opener.
“They’ve had some tough luck in some tough games, games that could have gone either way,” Fisher said. “They predominantly go with four wideouts, but they’ll mix in two backs at times. … We’ll have dime packages, nickel packages and regular packages (on defense) — we’ll have them all ready to go.”
Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers is third nationally in passing yards (1,454) and fourth nationally in completion percentage (75.1 percent), having effectively employed Leach’s typically short passing game at a rapid pace A&M fans became frustratingly familiar with a couple decades ago.
“You’ve got to be relentless (on defense) and in great condition,” Fisher said. “And you’ve got to be that on each and every play. He does tons of things to you … (working) inside and then throwing the deep ball over the top.
“They’re in no-huddle, so as the game goes on, people wear down, and that creates another half-step where you can get open. All of a sudden, those balls start getting completed.”