Michael Charles Leach (March 9, 1961 – December 12, 2022) was an American college football coach who primarily coached at the NCAA Division I FBS level. Nicknamed "the Pirate", he was a two-time national coach of the year, three-time conference coach of the year and the mastermind behind the NCAA record-setting air raid offense. He was the head coach at Texas Tech University from 2000 to 2009, where he became the winningest coach in school history. After Texas Tech, he coached at Washington State University from 2012 to 2019, where he recorded the third-most wins of any coach in school history. He then coached at Mississippi State University from 2020 until his death in 2022.

Leach was known for directing offenses using lots of passing to several receivers, in a spread system known as the air raid, which Leach developed with Hal Mumme when Mumme was head coach and Leach was offensive coordinator at Iowa Wesleyan, Valdosta State, and Kentucky in the 1990s. Leach's offenses with Mumme, and later as a head coach himself, broke numerous school and NCAA records. On eighteen occasions, Leach led his unranked team to victory over a team ranked in the AP poll, which is the most in the AP era.

Early life and education Mike Leach was born to Frank and Sandra Leach in Susanville, California. His father Frank was a forester and the family moved around several times while Leach was growing up, before finally settling in Cody, Wyoming. Leach was raised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While growing up in Cody, he joined Boy Scout Troop 58 and earned the rank of Eagle in 1975. Leach graduated from Cody High School in 1979; he played football there from 1975 to 1978 and was recruited to play at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. An ankle injury he sustained in high school ruled out playing college football, so he played rugby instead.

Leach stayed close to the football program, occasionally sitting in on film room sessions. Led by head coach LaVell Edwards, offensive coordinator Norm Chow, and quarterbacks Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, and Steve Young, BYU played with a pass-heavy offense, which was uncommon in college football at that time. Leach graduated in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in American studies.

In 1986, Leach earned a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California. He is also one of the most prominent graduates of the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Alabama, from which he earned a Master of Sports Science in sports coaching in 1988.

Coaching career

Early coaching career Leach began his coaching career as an assistant at Cal Poly in 1987 before moving on to College of the Desert in 1988.

In 1989, he served as head coach of the Pori Bears in the American Football Association of Finland.

Also in 1989, he joined Hal Mumme's staff at Iowa Wesleyan University as offensive coordinator. The pair spent three seasons there before moving to Valdosta State (1992–1996) and then Kentucky (1997–1998). The partnership was known for the development of the air raid offense, which allowed their teams to rank highly in offensive statistics and set numerous records. Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch became a No. 1 overall NFL draft pick.

For the 1999 season, Leach joined the Oklahoma staff under head coach Bob Stoops. Oklahoma's offense, which had ranked 11th in the Big 12 Conference in 1998, improved under Leach to first in the conference in 1999.

Texas Tech

After one year at Oklahoma, Leach was hired as head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, another Big 12 member.

Under Leach, the Red Raiders' best finishes came with three nine-win seasons in 2002, 2005, and 2007 and an 11-win season in 2008. In 2002, Tech swept its in-state conference rivals Baylor, Texas, and Texas A&M for the first time since 1997 and then defeated Clemson, 55–15, in the Tangerine Bowl. It was the Red Raiders' first postseason win since 1995 when they beat the Air Force Falcons in the Copper Bowl. In 2005, the Red Raiders opened their season with a 6–0 record, their best start since 1998. Leach built a strong passing offense at Tech, where the Red Raiders led the NCAA in passing yardage for four years in a row.

He inserted Kliff Kingsbury at quarterback for three years. Kingsbury broke the NCAA records for completions in a career. Kingsbury was succeeded at the position by B. J. Symons, who produced the most passing yards in a season in NCAA history. Sonny Cumbie followed, leading the Red Raiders to an upset of the then-4th ranked California in the 2004 Holiday Bowl. Cody Hodges succeeded Cumbie, and subsequently led the NCAA in passing. Graham Harrell, the first non-senior starting QB since Kingsbury, struggled early in the 2006 season. However, he showed steady improvement beginning with the game against Iowa State and ended the season with a record-setting comeback victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Harrell also set NCAA records for passes completed in a season and career amongst others.

Texas Tech was known for its high-scoring offense and come-from-behind victories during Leach's tenure. A 70–35 win over TCU in 2004 began with TCU leading 21–0 with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter. Before Tech's scoring drives started, a TCU defensive back was caught mouthing into a TV camera, "They aren't going to score." Later in the season, Texas Tech beat Nebraska, 70–10, forcing the Cornhuskers to give up more points in a single game than they had before in their 114-year history. In 2005, the Red Raiders were losing to Kansas State, 13–10, late in the second quarter but won the game 59–20. Also in 2005, Tech had a halftime lead of 14–10 over Texas A&M. By the end of the game, they increased the margin to 56–17. It was the Aggies' worst loss to the Red Raiders in the 64-year-old series.

Leach was chosen to coach the South team during the 2007 inaugural Inta Juice North–South All-Star Classic game.

At the end of the 2008 season, Leach was 76–39 with the Red Raiders, including 7–2 against the Texas A&M Aggies and 2–7 against the Texas Longhorns.Mack Brown Football.com With a 5–4 record, he is the all-time winningest coach in postseason play in Tech football history. Leach was one of only sixteen active college football coaches who had never had a losing season after he left Texas Tech. This was followed by a 3–9 season in his seminal year with Washington State. Of those, he is among nine who have been a head coach for at least five seasons.

In February 2009, Leach signed a three-year contract extension with Texas Tech that would have paid him at least $2.5 million per year if he had stayed through 2013. Leach's guaranteed compensation would have been $1.6 million in 2006, $1.65 million in 2007, $1.75 million in 2008, $1.85 million in 2009 and $2.15 million in 2010.

2007 Texas game controversy During his post-game press conference after the 2007 loss against Texas, Leach used most of his time to rail against the officiating crew for what he felt were bad calls. He speculated that the officials may have favored Texas because the head official lived in Austin, because they were incompetent, or possibly because the conference wanted Texas to appear in a BCS bowl because of the increased appearance fees that such a bowl generates for the conference. Jim Vertuno of the Associated Press wrote, "Leach was upset officials disallowed two Tech touchdowns in the third quarter. The first was overruled when video replay clearly showed the receiver let the ball hit the ground. On the next play, a touchdown pass was negated by a holding penalty. Leach also wanted, but didn't get, a flag for roughing the quarterback." The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported, "Big 12 policy prohibits coaches from commenting publicly about game officials, so Leach's actions leave him open to reprimand, fine or worse." ESPN reported, "Big 12 official spokesman Bob Burda did not immediately respond to telephone messages seeking comment. Leach's rant will likely draw a fine from the league and possibly a suspension."

On November 13, 2007, the Big 12 fined Leach $10,000, the largest fine in Big 12 history. Leach also received a reprimand and was warned that further violations could result in suspension. In a Big 12 coaches' conference call that day, Leach added that he did not regret making any of the comments. Leach announced that he would appeal the fine. Tech alumni and fans began raising money to aid Leach in paying the penalty in the event that it was upheld. Optionally, the proceeds raised could be used charitably. So, just before Christmas 2007, Leach requested that the nearly $5,000 raised be used to purchase 400 hams to give to families in Lubbock, Texas. Future donations were to go to the university or athletic department. Following the 2008 Gator Bowl, in which Virginia scored twice on penalties against Tech for intentional grounding in the end zone, Leach joked, "I felt like we had a back there on the one safety, but I don't comment on officiating. I just give out hams is what I do."

2008 season Leach, along with players Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, were featured on the cover of the 2008 edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football. The magazine predicted that the 2008 Red Raider football team would be the best in Texas and would challenge for the Big 12 South title. Following a 9–0 beginning to the season, including a win over the undefeated #1 Texas Longhorns, Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers announced that the university would renegotiate Leach's contract following the conclusion of the football regular season and give him an extension.

The Red Raiders ended the 2008 regular season with 11 wins and 1 loss, the best in school history. The season also marked the first win over a #1 ranked team. Tech, along with Oklahoma and Texas, shared the Big 12 Conference South division title. On December 2, 2008, the Associated Press named Leach the Big 12 Coach of the Year. He received 16 votes for the honor by the agency's panel, while Texas' Mack Brown got 4. He won co-Coach of the Year honors from the Big 12 coaches; Oklahoma's Bob Stoops received the same recognition for the same season. The Dallas Morning News named him Coach of the Year as well. He garnered the 2008 George Munger Award, which is given annually to the top college coach of the year by the Maxwell Football Club.

After much controversy about how the tie-breaker should be handled between Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech fans, the Red Raiders ended up being left out of the BCS because of a rule that stated only two teams from each conference could enter BCS play per season. Oklahoma won the tie-breaker on account of their higher BCS ranking, ultimately losing to Florida in the national championship game. Texas Tech also ended up losing that year in the Cotton Bowl to Ole Miss 47–34.

Leach interviewed for the University of Washington head coaching job, which was vacated by Tyrone Willingham. ESPN reported that Leach withdrew his name from the coaching search following his interview. Auburn, where Tommy Tuberville resigned, had also been rumored to have contacted Leach. In an interview with the Associated Press, Tech quarterback Graham Harrell stated that there was a "great chance" Leach could leave. Harrell noted that Leach might leave for a newer challenge. After Leach withdrew his name from consideration for the Washington job, Harrell retracted his statements and believed Leach would remain the Red Raiders' coach.

Tech athletic director Gerald Myers had indicated that he would give a raise to Leach before Tech's bowl game, which he later negotiated. Leach and the university settled on a five-year extension worth $12.7 million after months of negotiations over the clauses of the contract.

2009 season