Mississippi State football coach Leach dies at 61

Mike Leach, the gruff, pioneering and unfiltered college football coach who helped revolutionize the game with the Air Raid offense, has died following complications from a heart condition, Mississippi State said Tuesday. He was 61.

Leach, who was in his third season as head coach at Mississippi State, fell ill Sunday at his home in Starkville, Mississippi. He was treated at a local hospital before being airlifted to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, about 120 miles away. He died Monday night.

“Mike was a giving and attentive husband, father and grandfather,” the family said in a statement. “We are supported and uplifted by the outpouring of love and prayers from family, friends, Mississippi State University, the hospital staff, and football fans around the world. Thank you for sharing in the joy of our beloved husband and father’s life.”

In 21 seasons as a head

Leach coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State, Leach went 158107, including 19-17 with the Bulldogs.

No. 24 Mississippi State (8-4) is slated to play in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois on Jan. 2 in Tampa.

Defensive coordinator Zach Arnett will run the team for now.

Leach was known for his pass-happy offense, wideranging interests — he wrote a book about Native American leader Geronimo, had a passion for pirates and taught a class about insurgent warfare — and rambling, off-thecuff news conferences.

His teams were consistent winners at programs where success did not come easy. And his quarterbacks put up massive passing statistics, running a relatively simple offense called the Air Raid that he did not invent but certainly mastered.

Six of the 20 best passing seasons in major college football history were by quarterbacks who played for Leach, including four of the top six.

Leach turned passers such as B.J. Symons (448.7 yards per game), Graham Harrell (438.8), Connor Halliday (430.3) and Anthony Gordon (429.2) into recordsetters and Heisman Trophy contenders.

Leach also had a penchant for butting heads with authority, and he wasn’t shy about criticizing players he felt were not playing with enough toughness.

A convergence of those traits cost Leach his first head coaching job. He went 84-43 with the Red Raiders, never having a losing season at the Big 12 school and reaching No. 2 in the country in 2008 with a team that went 11-2 and matched a school record for victories.

But he was fired by Texas Tech in December 2009 after being accused of mistreating a player, Adam Jones — the son of former ESPN announcer and NFL player Craig James — who had suffered a concussion.

Leach was out of coaching for two seasons before landing at Washington State in 2012. After three losing seasons, the Cougars soon looked very much like his Texas Tech teams. In 2018, Washington State went 112, setting a school record for wins, and was ranked as high as No. 7 in the country. He was 55-47 in eight seasons with the Cougars.

Leach took over at Mississippi State in 2020.

Born March 9, 1961, in Susanville,

Calif., Leach grew up in Cody, Wyoming. He attended BYU and later got a law degree from Pepperdine.

Leach didn’t play college football, but watching the innovative passing attack used by then-BYU coach LaVell Edwards at a time when most teams were still run-heavy piqued his interest in drawing up plays.

In 1987, he broke into college coaching at Cal PolySan Luis Obispo, but it was at Iowa Wesleyan where he found his muse. Head coach Hal Mumme had invented the Air Raid while coaching high school in Texas. At Iowa Wesleyan, with Leach as offensive coordinator, it began to take hold and fundamentally change the way football was played.

Leach followed Mumme to Valdosta State and then to the SEC at Kentucky. He spent one season as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator in 1999 before getting his own program at Texas Tech.

• Purdue hired Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters as its new coach.

The 36-year-old Walters replaces Jeff Brohm, who left to become head coach at Louisville.

Illinois was 8-4 this season, with five wins holding their opponents under seven points and seven wins at 10 points or fewer.

It’s the first head coaching job for Walters, a former safety at Colorado.

Purdue (8-5), the Big Ten West Division champion, is preparing for the Citrus Bowl against LSU on Jan. 2.

Source: Correa, Giants agree on 13-year deal

Star shortstop Carlos Correa and the San Francisco Giants have agreed to a $350 million, 13-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

Correa, 28, was a Gold Glove winner and two-time All-Star with the Astros, with whom he spent his first seven major league seasons.

He joined the Minnesota Twins this past season and batted .291 with 22 homers and 64 RBIs in 136 games.

• Free agent right-hander Ross Stripling agreed on a $25 million, two-year contract with the Giants.

He expects to be a starter in a rotation including Logan Webb, newcomer Sean Manaea, Alex Cobb and Alex Wood. Stripling’s contract includes a $5 million signing bonus and allows him to opt out after next season, when he will earn $7.5 million. He has a $12.5 million salary for 2024.

Stripling had Giants manager Gabe Kapler as his minor league coordinator with the Dodgers, Giants outfielder Joc Pederson as a roommate in the Dodgers system and Giants executive Farhan Zaidi as general manager.

Stripling, 32, was 23-25 with a 3.68 ERA in fourplus seasons with the Dodgers before being dealt to Toronto in August 2020.

He had career bests of 10 wins, a 3.01 ERA, 24 starts and 134 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays last season.

• The Cleveland Guardians have reached agreement with free agent catcher Mike Zunino on a $6 million, one-year contract.

Zunino, a 10-year veteran and All-Star in 2021, spent the past four seasons with Tampa Bay.

The 31-year-old Zunino hit 33 homers with 62 RBIs in 109 games for the Rays in 2021. He played in just 36 games last season before being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and undergoing surgery.

Zunino is just a .200 career hitter, but he’s hit at least 20 homers four times. He spent his first six major league seasons with Seattle.