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Texas Tech, Ole Miss Honor Mike Leach at Texas Bowl

The late Mississippi State coach led the Red Raiders to five bowl wins in 10 seasons.

Patrick Andres

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In his own unique way, the late Mississippi State coach Mike Leach indelibly impacted Texas Tech and Ole Miss football history.

Coaching the Red Raiders from 2000-09, Leach helped Texas Tech reach previously unknown heights. A program that had won five bowl games in its history won five under Leach in a six-year span from 2002-07. The Red Raiders, who hadn’t scraped the AP top 10 since 1977 prior to Leach’s hiring, spent three weeks in 2008 ranked No. 2 in the country.

After a stint with Washington State, Leach took charge of the Bulldogs before the 2020 season. He tussled with the Rebels in three Egg Bowls, going 1-2 as Ole Miss ran a pass-happy offense not dissimilar from the Air Raid designs that Leach helped pioneer.

Fittingly, both schools paid him tribute with helmet decals in the Texas Bowl on Wednesday. Texas Tech’s included a skull and crossbones, referencing Leach’s well-documented love of pirates.

The Rebels’ decals featur the word “MIKE,” with the “I” stylized as Mississippi State’s famous cowbell.

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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