Mike Leach, Mississippi State coach behind the ‘Air Raid’ offense, dies at 61
Air Raid #AirRaid
Mike Leach, Mississippi State’s charismatic and quotable football coach, died Monday night following complications from a heart condition, the university announced Tuesday morning. He was 61.
On Sunday, Leach experienced what the university described as a “personal health issue” at his Starkville, Miss., home, and he was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, where he died.
“Mike was a giving and attentive husband, father and grandfather,” the Leach family said in the university’s statement announcing Leach’s death. “He was able to participate in organ donation at UMMC as a final act of charity. We are supported and uplifted by the outpouring of love and prayers from family, friends, Mississippi State University, the hospital staff, and football fans around the world. Thank you for sharing in the joy of our beloved husband and father’s life.”
Leach, who was in his third season at Mississippi State, had a 19-17 record at the school. His 8-4 Mississippi State team is preparing for the ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois on Jan. 2, and Leach reportedly was at practice as recently as Saturday. The university said Sunday that defensive coordinator Zach Arnett would lead the program in Leach’s absence.
“Coach Mike Leach cast a tremendous shadow not just over Mississippi State University, but over the entire college football landscape,” university president Mark E. Keenum said in a statement. “His innovative ‘Air Raid’ offense changed the game. Mike’s keen intellect and unvarnished candor made him one of the nation’s true coaching legends. His passing brings great sadness to our university, to the Southeastern Conference, and to all who loved college football. I will miss Mike’s profound curiosity, his honesty, and his wide-open approach to pursuing excellence in all things.
“Mike’s death also underscores the fragility and uncertainty of our lives. Three weeks ago, Mike and I were together in the locker room celebrating a hard-fought victory [over rival Mississippi] in Oxford. Mike Leach truly embraced life and lived in such a manner as to leave no regrets. That’s a worthy legacy.”
Before arriving at Mississippi State in 2020, Leach coached at Texas Tech from 2000 to 2009 and at Washington State from 2012 to 2019, earning national coach of the year honors from the American Football Coaches Association in 2018. He had an overall record of 158-107, and next month would have marked his 18th bowl appearance.
Leach made a major mark on college football as a proponent of the record-setting “Air Raid” offense. He helped Will Rogers, a junior quarterback for Mississippi State, break in just 28 games an SEC record for career completions that previously took Georgia’s Aaron Murray 52 games to set. Rogers also holds Mississippi State career records with 10,428 passing yards and 81 passing touchdowns.
Leach’s influence extended beyond his own team. His prolific coaching tree of coaches he mentored when they were players or assistant coaches includes USC’s Lincoln Riley, TCU’s Sonny Dykes, Houston’s Dana Holgorsen and the Arizona Cardinals’ Kliff Kingsbury.
“There is no way I would be where I am today if not for Mike Leach and everything he taught me about the game,” Kingsbury said in a statement released by the Cardinals. “Truly one of the most innovative offensive minds in football, he was more than a coach. He was a mentor, a friend and one of the most special people I’ve ever met.”
Off the field, Leach had wide-ranging interests and had obtained a law degree from Pepperdine. He often traveled abroad during the offseason and taught a class on football’s relationship to insurgent warfare. He wrote a best-seller, “Swing Your Sword,” on his approach to leadership and football. He wrote another book about Apache leader Geronimo.
“Every conversation with Mike made you think,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “His humor, depth and point of view continually challenged all of us to think differently and reevaluate our perspectives.”
Leach frequently was a breath of fresh air in a sport filled with coach speak, never shying from offering an opinion on any matter he was asked about.
“I mean, I completely hate candy corn,” Leach said last year when asked to rate Halloween candy in one particularly memorable exchange.
“I’ve always liked Lane — and I know you’re not supposed to like anything from Ole Miss — but I’ve always liked him, kind of an entertaining guy,” Leach said of Lane Kiffin, the coach at archrival Mississippi, during his first news conference after getting the Mississippi State job.
“They ought to let me handle that,” Leach said this summer of possible realignment in the SEC. “I’ll have that done by lunch. I think it would be brilliant to let me handle it.”
Leach is survived by his wife, Sharon, and four children.