Lincoln Riley supports College Football Hall of Fame inducting Mike Leach

The USC football coach gave a passionate plea for the College Football Hall of Fame to induct Mike Leach after the HOF declined to consider him.

Mike Leach was declined consideration for the College Football Hall of Fame despite protests from media and fans. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The late Mike Leach remains ineligible for the College Football Hall of Fame, but there is still plenty of support for the Hall to change its rule, with USC coach Lincoln Riley being the latest to express his desire for Leach's induction.

"I know a couple of my counterparts have said some of the same things regarding this notion, but obviously Mike Leach meant a lot to my career," Riley said at Big Ten Media Days.

"Instrumental in my upbringing. I know there's been a lot of debate and talk about him belonging in the College Football Hall of Fame and I certainly want to voice my support for that happening."

Leach, who died suddenly late in 2022, is credited with helping popularize the Air Raid offense, an aggressive, pass-oriented strategy that has strongly influenced the game of football at both the college and NFL levels in the 21st century.

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But the rule that seems to exclude Leach from the Hall of Fame is as follows: A candidate for the honor "must have been a head coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage."

Leach checks out on two of those three demands: he coached for more than a decade and more than 100 games.

But his career record in that time was 158 wins against 107 losses — a .596 winning percentage, just .004 percent away from the mark he needs to be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

"I know there's technicalities and rules that have to happen, but I totally agree that the Hall of Fame is simply not complete without Mike Leach being in," Riley said.

He added: "That's something that's very important to me. He changed the game a lot and changed a lot of people's lives, mine included in the process."

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