What a great article ! We loved Coach Leach and the impact he had on WSU Football. We’ve also had the privilege of meeting Wade as he reached out to my daughter when she was diagnosed with cancer. Because of Wade, he arranged for Coach Leach to call my daughter and to say it made her day would be an understatement ! A conversation she will treasure forever. We will be there Saturday and will probably shed a few tears as we celebrate Coach !
Absolutely loved it when he came on the Bald Face Truth. Much respect from this ADHD person to him 😊. He didn’t break the mold, he just made a new one every few minutes.
Great article John. Yes, in a culture fixated on sports, there are many things more interesting. As you have highlighted many times there are also great stories inside sports, often ignored. You do a great job of spotlighting them. Thanks
Man, I miss this coach. He is the only football coach in my 71 years whose every word I listened to—carefully! Thanks for such a great tribute, John. Grateful!
Mike Leach seemed to have the rare gift of being able to find the common threads of seemingly unrelated events and he wove them into an enticing fabric. Few people can take the rote & mundane and find a way to make it interesting. Larry David did it with Seinfeld & does it with Curb Your Enthusiasm. Mike Leach could do it with stories of dog walks & road trips.
Maybe Leach knew so much about football that it bored him & therefore it didn't warrant his spending his leisure time talking about.
Regardless, we will miss his musings. Thanks for the Bubba story...
As a Coug I had the opportunity to hangout and talk and golf with Coach Leach. Well, we didn't really talk...I mostly listened as he talked about any and everything. Man he was so funny and very curious. Man, I miss that dude! Thanks Mike and GO COUGS!
Lost way too early. I miss the man. The first time I met him as at a donor event, when he first started, and he started rambling about "vampires" on this side of the state (in reference to the Twilight movie and Forks).
I would love to hear Leach's rant on what's going on with college football and more importantly WSU.
Leach undoubtedly would not be happy and frankly is the kind of person that would get on the phone with the Big-12 and say, you need to get them in that conference.
100% agree....and he would be make it his personal mission to make sure that the schools that "slighted" their conference mates, would be called out for their choices. He was never shy to discuss his Texas Tech unfair firing and never backed down from standing up for himself.
My takeaway from him was though he did his job well, he never seemed to take himself--or CFB--too seriously. He always had ways to disarm all of us, even other coaches, by these quirky anecdotes and keeping us from drilling down on a sport played by kids and meant for fun. Yes, some of it probably was self-protection but it also protected us fans from taking ourselves too serious, too. I guess I'm saying he was able to maintain perspective--in that job, quite an accomplishment.
He was a very smart guy. Knew a fair amount about a lot of things. Could talk to just about anyone because of it. Was fun to talk about sportswriting with him. He told me when I launched this ... "You unfiltered will be outstanding!"
Thank you JC. The words are a soothing balm and I feel like I just left the spa. I never get tired reading about one of the worlds most interesting persons.
I had the pleasure of meeting him once in Key West on Duval Street. I was a little hesitant about approaching him, but figured what the heck. What a guy. He talked to me for a good 10 minutes. I finally had to get rid of HIM so I could meet my wife for dinner. He is missed. Thanks John.
What a great article ! We loved Coach Leach and the impact he had on WSU Football. We’ve also had the privilege of meeting Wade as he reached out to my daughter when she was diagnosed with cancer. Because of Wade, he arranged for Coach Leach to call my daughter and to say it made her day would be an understatement ! A conversation she will treasure forever. We will be there Saturday and will probably shed a few tears as we celebrate Coach !
Thanks Patti.
awesome story Patti!! Thanks for sharing!!
Absolutely loved it when he came on the Bald Face Truth. Much respect from this ADHD person to him 😊. He didn’t break the mold, he just made a new one every few minutes.
Never dull.
We have a great coach at WSU now in Dickert, but dang it I miss Mike Leach. He was absolutely one of a kind that we'll never see again.
One of one...
Great article John. Yes, in a culture fixated on sports, there are many things more interesting. As you have highlighted many times there are also great stories inside sports, often ignored. You do a great job of spotlighting them. Thanks
Thank you Ray.
“That’s just genetic superiority!”
Man, I miss this coach. He is the only football coach in my 71 years whose every word I listened to—carefully! Thanks for such a great tribute, John. Grateful!
Perfect comment... and it was fast.
Mike Leach seemed to have the rare gift of being able to find the common threads of seemingly unrelated events and he wove them into an enticing fabric. Few people can take the rote & mundane and find a way to make it interesting. Larry David did it with Seinfeld & does it with Curb Your Enthusiasm. Mike Leach could do it with stories of dog walks & road trips.
Maybe Leach knew so much about football that it bored him & therefore it didn't warrant his spending his leisure time talking about.
Regardless, we will miss his musings. Thanks for the Bubba story...
He was never boring.
Great story, played ball with Wade in College. No surprise these two found each other... Good people.
That's truth.
As a Coug I had the opportunity to hangout and talk and golf with Coach Leach. Well, we didn't really talk...I mostly listened as he talked about any and everything. Man he was so funny and very curious. Man, I miss that dude! Thanks Mike and GO COUGS!
What a gift.
so sweet, John, such a good take on a wonderful, eclectic man and coach and friend of many...
good on you, brother to hold him up...sad that he is gone...Dan in Bend
Lost way too early. I miss the man. The first time I met him as at a donor event, when he first started, and he started rambling about "vampires" on this side of the state (in reference to the Twilight movie and Forks).
I would love to hear Leach's rant on what's going on with college football and more importantly WSU.
Leach undoubtedly would not be happy and frankly is the kind of person that would get on the phone with the Big-12 and say, you need to get them in that conference.
Can't imagine what he would have said... would have been fired up.
Cougar Chris if Mike Leach was still our coach Go Cougs would not have been left out of Power 4 football
100% agree....and he would be make it his personal mission to make sure that the schools that "slighted" their conference mates, would be called out for their choices. He was never shy to discuss his Texas Tech unfair firing and never backed down from standing up for himself.
He was so pissed at L Scott and W Dixon since the USC vs Cougs game, he would have never let all this shit go without serious backlash. Miss that guy.
Amen, Big Time!
My takeaway from him was though he did his job well, he never seemed to take himself--or CFB--too seriously. He always had ways to disarm all of us, even other coaches, by these quirky anecdotes and keeping us from drilling down on a sport played by kids and meant for fun. Yes, some of it probably was self-protection but it also protected us fans from taking ourselves too serious, too. I guess I'm saying he was able to maintain perspective--in that job, quite an accomplishment.
He was a very smart guy. Knew a fair amount about a lot of things. Could talk to just about anyone because of it. Was fun to talk about sportswriting with him. He told me when I launched this ... "You unfiltered will be outstanding!"
See, that's what I mean about him not being serious.
Ha, just kidding, John...
He was right!
Thank you JC. The words are a soothing balm and I feel like I just left the spa. I never get tired reading about one of the worlds most interesting persons.
thanks Chip
I had the pleasure of meeting him once in Key West on Duval Street. I was a little hesitant about approaching him, but figured what the heck. What a guy. He talked to me for a good 10 minutes. I finally had to get rid of HIM so I could meet my wife for dinner. He is missed. Thanks John.
👍👍👍
Rest in Peace, Pirate. And Wazzu, come Saturday make Bucky Badger walk the plank!
That would be something.
Loved the article on Mike Leach. You should play some of your old interviews during his walks😀
I love it. Will do.
Heck yes I'd watch a Mike Leach road trip. No doubt that would be a streaming hit somewhere.
That show would have dominated Netflix.