Mike Leach’s Presence Still Felt at SEC Media Days

Coaches with a Mississippi connection didn’t wear ties in honor of the late Bulldogs’ coach

Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby, speaking at Omni Dallas Hotel, was one of three coaches to not wear a tie during their SEC Media Day appearance in honor of Mike Leach. / Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports

DALLAS – It’s been nearly two years since Mississippi State’s then-head coach Mike Leach suddenly and tragically passed away at 61 years old.

Leach certainly hasn’t been forgotten in that time and his presence was surely felt this past week at SEC Media Days.

MSU coach Jeff Lebby, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin and Auburn coach Hugh Freeze (who coached at Ole Miss from 2099-2900) were without a tie as they took to the podium for their media day appearance. The trio of coaches honored Leach by following in his footsteps by choosing not to wear a tie since there’s no requirement to wear one, as Kiffin recalled.

A couple years ago, Kiffin recruited Leach to back his effort to remove a requirement that coaches had to wear a tie during their SEC Media Day appearances.

“I asked [SEC commissioner Greg Sankey], ‘Is there a rule written somewhere about the tie?’ And the commissioner said, ‘No, there’s not,” Kiffin said. “I said, ‘Just like on offense, Coach (Art) Briles challenged that you’re supposed to huddle and that was a pretty good move. So, why are we wearing ties?’ The commissioner took into account what we said, and he actually did not wear a tie two years ago after that. He was buying into it.”

It's a story that fits Leach perfectly. He was a great coach and innovator, but knew how to have fun. It’s one of the many reasons Leach deserves a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Here at Mississippi State On SI, we have made they case several times about Leach deserving a spot in the hall of fame. This week, Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz made a passionate argument of his own for Leach’s candidacy.

“In Commissioner Sankey's remarks, he mentioned the new individuals that were going to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame…and that next summer we will be moving Media Days to Atlanta, and so it reminded me to call on CEO Steve Hatchell to do the right thing and to nominate Mike Leach for the College Football Hall of Fame. We need to put his name on the ballot,” Drinkwitz said Tuesday. “Coach Leach, in my mind, and I believe in most of the people in this room, is a no-doubt Hall-of-Famer. He impacted our game more in the last 50 years than a lot of other people, not only with his legacy, but also with his football acumen. His air raid offense is the dominate offense when you look at high school football, its elements in college football and all the way translating into the NFL game. We all know Y cross. We all know that six is four verticals. We all understand that rocket laser were tailback screens, rocket to the right, laser to the left. He won 158 career games, was the 2008 Big 12 Coach of the Year, two-time PAC-12 Coach of the Year, and in 2018 was the AFCA Football Coach of the Year. Won 11 games at Texas Tech and 11 games at Washington State. And I understand that his career winning percentage is .596, one win short of the 60 percent threshold, and I understand that standards are there for people to make decisions, but I also understand that Coach Leach would be a great value to the Hall of Fame, because of the legacy that he has, because of the impact that he made, because of the innovator that he was, because of the legacy of coaches that he left. And in my opinion, not only a winner, but a Hall-of-Famer.”

The Tigers’ coach then called on Hatchell to put Leach on the ballot himself. However, Hatchell’s position doesn’t allow him to place anyone on the ballot. That responsibility falls upon National Football Foundation leadership and the Honors Court

As told to FootballScoop, to be placed on the ballot for voting, “a coach must be three years removed the game to make the ballot unless he is 70 years old, and that policy still applies posthumously.” Leach was 61 at the time of his death, meaning he’s not eligible to be placed on the ballot until 2026 for inclusion in the 2027 class.

So, until then, Leach’s supporters should spend their time on building Leach’s case for candidacy in the hall of fame. We’ll definitely be joining in that effort.