Mike Leach press conference...GOLD!

Well, that was honest. And fricking hilarious! Well said coach, well said. 

Do they not have those in Pullman?

He just needs to "do a better job of coaching." The players just "didn't execute."

Every word of this was honest and amazing. I'm a teacher and a coach at a small school and I see this attitude on a daily basis. It's ok to fail a test, it's ok to miss a tackle, it's ok to settle. When are people going to stand up and say that it isn't ok to do less than your best? Applaud Leach for saying this, I'm guessing some of his players needed to hear it, but it is a good reminder for all of us to not get lazy or soft.

Good stuff. Did he blow the time-out at the end of the BSU game, though? Regardless, a fun listen.

This ain't intramurals brother

I agree with everything he said in the beginning.

When he started to talk about his team, WSU...I don't follow them so can't speak for WSU's toughness.

But participation awards are now a 'thing'. Remember when losing made people better because they wanted to be the best? If you truly want to be good: lose and let it light a fire under your ass and win. Or you can be like youth nowadays and just quit til you find something that's easy. Entitlement is crazy nowadays. Kids want everything given to them, rather than earn it.

Competition either brings out the best in people, or the worst. Nothing in between.

The guy is a cretin. He honestly hates his players.

Locking the guy with the concussion in the closet was my personal favorite.

Funny video though.

When my kids were 5, 6, 7 years old and I coached their teams, I set the world record for "good job"s and "attaboy"s, and I gave every kid a trophy at the end of the season.  At that age, winning or losing is way down the list of things that matter.  My goals with those little kids were (1) teach them some fundamentals and (2) help them enjoy basketball or soccer so they want to play again the following season.  If Mike Leach thinks his team doesn't play hard because of guys like me, I respectfully demur.

I don't like coaches who dis their teams in the press.  Keep it in house.

are acting like this is his first time doing this?  His kids knew what they were getting into when they signed the LOI. And he does this alot with his team since he has been there, but hasnt been infront of the cameras....they had pretty solid expectations this year and they are blowing it....so he made it public...he isnt dumb, he knows what he is doing. 

Cougs are playing soft as hell, completely agree with him...BUT he should take a good chunk of blame for the Boise State loss..horrible clock managment.  But this is needed, they need a effing fire lit under them.

They will beat Idaho, and then Oregon comes to town.

has only coached places like Lubbock, Texas and Pullman, Washington because those are the only places where he can be tolerated.

I have watched Leach "football" for years. He has single handedly cost his team tens of losses, specificlally because of decisions HE makes ingame. Then, he blames his players.

You never, ever, throw your players under the bus like that to the press, especially college kids, 95% of which will not have football as their livelihood.

His comments about the entitled generation are nothing new, every generation says that about the newest/youngest generation.

Leach is nothing more than a mite on the grand map of college football.

Honesty like this doesn't happen much these days. Coach and player interviews/pressers are so boring and stock I don't watch any of them. This is refreshing.

are continually not doing what you tell them to do, maybe you should recruit more intelligent, or at least more coachable players, huh?  Maybe he's being candid, but it's also whining about someone else being the source of all the team's problems.  He should try looking in the mirror, and THEN trying to fix the problems in a more positive way.  Just my opinion.  (You can tell I'm not Mike Leach fan)

But I probably would have said it in a different way. This is a culture that is happening and starting at a earlier age. Most kids today feel entitled to certain things or think they should be treated or talked to a certain way. I've coached at a very high national level for the last 25 years and yes the kids today are more or less whinny at all levels and all sports. It really starts at home and parents thinking they know more then paid professionals etc: I don't totally agree w everything he said but he's right on a lot of fronts and kids today act just like there parents. Most parents scream to much, complain to much, cry to much and more importantly talk in general to much at games.

If Harbaugh said the same thing the same way everyone here would be applauding him as a no nonsense coach who doesn't sugar coat anything and is building toughness in the program. Granted he's doing a lot of that he just goes about it a different way. But if he had a presser like that the board here would be agreeing 100% after a loss etc: that's the part that kills me about this place at times.

When RR was here it was "change in philosophy is needed and he's the guy"

When Hoke was here it was "we need a Michigan Man that understands Michigan"

Now it's Harbaugh and its "we need to get back to the basics of Michigan Football"

I love Michigan and Michigan Football but sometimes you have to call a spade a spade and stop front running. I still for think that if RR was left alone his style would have worked out. But I am happier then a pig in shit that we have Harbaugh. But don't think that this coaching regime is not going to mess up just like others have too.

Back to Leach, he's the mad scientist as people say and a acquired taste. But to his credit he has turned there culture around a bit and is just saying what everyone from WSU is thinking. I applaud any coach who says it like it is and stands by what he says.

After spring and fall camps, and at the start of the season, he is admitting that he doesn't have a formed team, and that the team has numerous serious flaws.  And he is airing that out in public.

This is not leadership.

The thing with Mike Leach is that he somehow manages to be both a weird eccentric and a stereotypical football coach at the same time.

I think that when people go play for Mike Leach they know that it's not gonna be the same as everywhere else. Mike Leach is known for 'wake up call' press conferences with 'quotables' and you know that's what you're going to get there.

But at the same time, no football coach in America will not essentially do the same thing when things go badly and it becomes obvious that players are underperforming. Wazzu had a very good year last year and it's easy to imagine players getting complacent. There's not a coach out there who wouldn't go after his players in that scenario. The reality is that coaching can't all be pats on the back because people don't always need pats on the back. That applies to all areas of life.

Managers who are afraid to go after their staff's weaknesses and to challenge them because they're afraid of ruffling feathers will encourage complacency and undermine the pursuit of excellence. Sometimes even your best guys need a kick in the a** because they are at risk of losing sight of the team goals. It's easy to start skating by in a long season or a long fiscal year, everyone's at a point where they might be tempted to mail it in, it's the bossman's job to make sure it doesn't happen. This is Mike Leach's way of turning on the pressure to make people sweat a little. I've had bosses like that and it's surprisingly effective.

I'm a big fan of Mike Leach.

gotta love Leach, he's the man

Pure comedy gold. I'm not exactly sure if he's actually trying to get it going or if he's throwing in the towel.

Can't wait to see the memes that come from this video.

Hilarious. I would tune in and watch that every time

...since he's coaching a team I don't really care about.  

However, regarding participation trophies, I couldn't care less about those.  Specifically how they've become a talking point for baby boomers to grumble about how entitled millenials and kids these days are.  (I say this as someone between 'boomer' and 'millenial')  

Does anyone with a triple-digit IQ really think that we have a ton of participation trophies now because todays kids are entitled brats who've gone soft?  The reason we have them is because of - like with most things - money.  Trophies cost money to obtain.  As trophy-making companies figured out in the 1960's - if you can mass-produce them at low cost and sell more of them, you earn more money.  Given this math, do you think they either promoted the hell out of this idea to youth soccer leagues or exercised forbearance out of a sense of social responsibility?

I personally think they're kind of dumb but I think it's even dumber to turn them into a symbol for the "pussification of America" - a phrase that I kind of like since it lets me know I can disregard everything else that comes afterwards.  As anyone with kids knows, they're smarter than adults think.  They know the trophies are meaningless, so instead of heaping derision on the kids who get them, maybe spare some for the boomers who foisted them onto said kids?