CC: Why no love for Mike Leach?

Submitted by LJ on

In the discussion of myriad coaching candidates on this board and the main page, there has been nary a mention of Mike Leach.  What gives?  Pros:

  • Awesome, fun to watch offense that throws it 60 times a game and racks up yards by the hundreds
  • Turned a historically mediocre Texas Tech program into a perennial winner in a brutal division
  • Has taken Washington State, maybe the least-advantaged Power 5 school in the country, to a bowl game in year 2, and has come inches away from beating Oregon in year 3 (also outgaining opponents in their other losses)
  • Press conferences would be hilarious
  • Would absolutely take the job

I know there's the whole Adam James concussion thing, but it seems pretty likely that was a witch hunt conducted by a crazy administration.  And we seem to have no problem overlooking shady business when it comes to Gundy or Miles.  What gives?  Is it just the cultural fit thing again?  It seems like he should at least be in the big bag of names being tossed around.

TennBlue

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^

Except his offense does not fit our personnel in the least, so we'd have another multi-year rebuilding effort as ex-players and alumni scream about how the air raid isn't Michigan Football.

 

Beyond that, they love him in Pullman and he seems to love it there.  I don't think he's interested in Michigan or all the crap he'd have to put up with here.

LJ

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:06 PM ^

What about our personnel doesn't fit?  He doesn't run the QB.  Assuming Shane gets some real coaching, I'd think he could sling it around in that offense.  And we have other air-raid style candidates already in the list (Kevin Wilson, Art Briles, etc).

And you really think we can't pull a coach out of Washington State?  If so, hold me, TomVH.

Yost Ghost

October 2nd, 2014 at 7:27 PM ^

Sorry I stand corrected 99.9% of the people don't like it there. If you enjoy that part of the country you're going to live in Spokane or Ceour d'Alene not Pullman. Besides there being nothing to do there they compounded the shear boredom of the place by banning any alcohol on campus. But yeah you're right it's a great place.

DeBored

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^

I mentioned him as one of my favorites in the big ass non-Harbaugh CC thread, but I also said he is probably unhireable.  I can't see the Regents, or the AD to be named later getting on board with a wildman like Leach.  The press would run with the concussion concerns, although the Morris thing will have died down quite a bit in hiring season.  Personally, he's one of my favorite coaches whatever school he is at.

Ryno2317

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^

While I kind of like his determination, he would certainly not be a good fit here.  He won't be on anyone's list during the coaching search. 

Tater

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^

The same mentality that ended up forcing Rich Rod out of Ann Arbor would chew Leach up and spit him out after a few losses.  Michigan is a conservative program.  They want coaches who say the same shit that coaches said fifty years ago.  Like Rich Rod, Leach is honest and doesn't have much of a filter.  Imagine what would happen if Leach said this in Ann Arbor:

"As coaches, we failed to make our coaching points more compelling than their fat little girlfriends."

Leach could probaly get Michigan into the playoff relatively soon, but he just doesn't fit in with the politics of Michigan football.

Mr Miggle

October 2nd, 2014 at 5:26 PM ^

as an institution. Not for a football coach. I'm not talking about style of play. That's driven by their football side, former coaches or players. Given that last couple of years, that resistance should have weakened considerably.

You're right, quotes like the one you cited would make the administration cringe. He's not a good fit here. He's not a good fit at most institutions. There's a reason he's in Pullman. It's far from any major media market, probably the most remote of any power conference school.

Of course there's zero chance Michigan's next coach comes with his own high profile concussion controversy.

 

Sauce Castillo

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:17 PM ^

wait, wait, wait, you cited "Press conference would be hilarious" as a reason for hiring him?!?! How bout we just win, I don't care what the pressers look like.  And theres at least 5 other guys that we can realistically get that I would take before Leach ever pops up as a relevant name I'd want to persue. We'd have to lose out on just about everyone else, even some college coordinators, before I'd want Leach.

LJ

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^

It's not just any school in another power 5 conference.  It's Washington State, a school with all of 4 conference titles in program history.  They are to the Pac12 was Eastern Michigan is to the MAC.  And Leach has no ties there.

Sauce Castillo

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:24 PM ^

While I'm here I might as well fan the Harbaugh flames, please take with a grain of salt as it passed through a lot of people but my best friend’s uncle was out in SF last week and was with the Giants owner in his box for a baseball game.  Of course Giants owner is good friends with Niners owner and said they believe if the timing and everything works out with Harbaugh he would leave for Michigan and that they are at odds with each other so much they want him gone. Idk how much is true but it did heighten my attentiveness. 

mackbru

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^

He's highly skilled obviously. And smart. But he's also a narcissistic loose-cannon who just would not seem to fit Michigan's sensibility and need for stability. And coming off our ConcussionGate, I doubt you want to hire another coach who had his own ConcussionGate. I appreciate that he likely got at least somewhat railroaded at Tech. But still. Why would M ever even consider going there? Imagine the press. Come on, man.

Yeoman

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:52 PM ^

Of course he got railroaded at Tech.

He got railroaded because he was despised by so many people--players, boosters, the administration--that they let Craig fucking James run a scheme to get him out of town. That's real hatred.

There's a reason he stayed at Tech so long. There's a reason he wound up at Wazzoo instead of a higher profile job. There's a reason he spent years begging people for interviews, offering to pay his way to Auburn if they'd talk to him (they wouldn't), even ambushing Miami's AD in a hotel lobby for an "interview" so he could tell Tech he'd had one. The Kentucky job, where he'd been OC, came open twice and they weren't interested in him either time. And that was all before he sued his own school, which is pretty much a death sentence for a career.

It's the very stuff that makes him popular with a certain segment of fandom that makes him essentially unemployable. Anyone that would wish Leach on Michigan really does want this program to implode.