Where Mississippi State Football HC Mike Leach Is Ranked Among SEC Coaches Ahead of 2022 Season

Leach has an experienced group of talented student-athletes ready to compete among the best teams in the Southeastern Conference.

Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach looks to lead the Bulldogs to a successful campaign in 2022 as he enters hit third season in the SEC. 

Leach helped the Bulldogs to a 7-6 overall record last season, with three of those losses coming by three points or less. They picked up huge wins against three ranked SEC opponents: Texas A&M, Kentucky and Auburn. His team showed significant improvement from the 2020 season: a year in which it played only conference opponents and finished with a 4-7 record.

According to CBS Sports, Leach is ranked eighth among SEC head coaches and 26th overall ahead of the 2022 season. His Air Raid offense is positioned to have success as quarterback Will Rogers returns for his junior year. The signal-caller is just one of many talented players returning for the Bulldogs this season, and he has seemingly developed under Leach's Air Raid offense.  

The Bulldogs come into the 2022 season with high hopes, but Leach will need his veterans to step up heading into a grueling year that features arguably the most difficult schedule in the country. State has the potential to become a dark-horse candidate if it pulls off victories against storied opponents and continues to improve.

If Leach can lead Mississippi State to success once again, then he will quickly be regarded as one of the program's best coaches in recent history. 

Here is a complete list of CBS Sports' rankings of SEC coaches ahead of the 2022 season:

1. Nick Saban (Alabama)

2. Kirby Smart (Georgia)

3. Jimbo Fisher (Texas A&M)

4. Brian Kelly (LSU)

5. Mark Stoops (Kentucky)

6. Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss)

7. Sam Pittman (Arkansas)

8. Mike Leach (Mississippi State)

9. Billy Napier (Florida)

10. Josh Heupel (Tennessee)

11. Shane Beamer (South Carolina)

12. Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri)

13. Bryan Harsin (Auburn)

14. Clark Lea (Vanderbilt)