Mike Leach Brought a Decade's Worth of Embarrassment to Mississippi State in Less Than a Year

BleedGopher

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per Douglas:

Mike Leach is not having fun anymore. As the Mississippi State Bulldogs prepare to finish their season against the Missouri Tigers, the curmudgeonly coach went on a rant about the hardships and uncertainty of playing college football during a pandemic which has now claimed the lives of 300,000 Americans. Leach, who was presumably paid to go on this rant next to a large bottle of Coca Cola, sounded fed up with everything he had to deal with this season and finished by blaming "the politicians" who made this "one of the most joyless season on earth."


Yes. Hopefully, we do. With all the cancellations and infected players, it often seems like we shouldn't have done it this way in the first place, but there had to be a college football season. For normalcy! For the kids! Mostly for the money, of which Leach got a lot. So sorry if this was "joyless." No one really had to do this.

Maybe they should fire Leach. Ever since he was hired by MSU, he's been a constant embarrassment on and off the field. If the school is lucky, he can get them into some bowl that doesn't mean anything to anyone in a couple years. If they're not, they spend the next couple years expressing their disappointed in bad tweets. Let's look back at the banner year Leach had in Starkville and wonder if any other school had such a joyless season.

The Bulldogs began their 2020 season with a huge upset over the sixth-ranked defending national champions, the LSU Tigers. A great time was had by all, especially Leach, who joked that the Packers, Patriots and Chiefs weren't available to play that day so they settled for LSU. Does it matter that LSU turned out to be a .500 or worse team that was only ranked in the top 10 because of players who were no longer on the team?


Go Gophers!!
 

I'm surprised he didn't pause mid-rant and hold up the damn plastic bottle, look into the camera, give a phony smile and say, "The Original Great Taste: Coca-Cola!"
 


I don't blame any coach for talking about how rough it has been for their players, players are in a tough spot.

Having said that 'the politicians' stuff is kinda wonky, those guys are dealing with BIGGER topics than what Mike is dealing with ....

You can talk about the players having a hard time, that's cool. But if you expand that perspective and now you're in the realm of folks out there dying / sick, then you're being an asshole with your bitching.

Having said all that I return to my theory that Mike is a one trick pony (admittedly the trick is pretty good) and I fear his time at Mississippi State is largely just collecting a paycheck while he runs out the clock.....
 




Mike has put a "knife in the back" of a whole bunch of people in his career.

He has never taken any responsibility for anything but wins. Which were all because of him. His overall record, to him at least, is 141-0. He's never been "beaten". The 97 losses are because of his assistants, the administration, his players or the refs.

Many fans loved the idea of bringing "The Pirate" up here. Mainly because of his record and how entertaining his Offense was. Though there were a number of them who came out and talked about how they wanted to see him give the Administration at the U Hell!

If he did we never would have gotten last year's wonderful season.

Why? After not getting the recruits he needed after '17 & '18, which would have both been losing seasons, he would have left with a snarl and without taking any credit for those loses.
 
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Mike has put a "knife in back" of a whole bunch of people in his career.

He has never taken any responsibility for anything but wins. Which were all because of him. His overall record, to him at least, is 141-0. He's never been "beaten". The 97 losses are because of his assistants, the administration, his players or the Refs.

Many fans loved the idea of bringing "The Pirate" up here. Mainly because of his record and how entertaining his Offense was. Though there were a number of them who came out and talked about how they wanted to see him give the Administration at the U Hell!

If he did we never would have gotten last year's wonderful season.

Why? After not getting the recruits he needed after '17 & '18, which would have both been losing seasons, he would have left with a snarl and without taking any credit for those loses.
Disagree. Easier to win at Minnesota than Wazzu and Texas tech IMO
In 18 seasons at those two schools he had 3 losing seasons and one was a 6-6 season with a bowl loss.

I agree he would be a bad quote in this market though. He would only work here if the U of M was willing to be publicly scolded all the time by the local media which they have proven they do not want.
 



Everyone and everything has an expiration date - Mike may well have reached his as a ball coach.

This guy always gets yah -

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It's his first season at Mississippi State installing a brand new offense. It always takes his teams some time to get up to speed. They were pretty bad in his first three seasons at Washington State, I'd guess they will struggle a bit for the next couple of years.

As far as his rant, it sounded more like frustration with the year than blaming particular people. I think a lot of people are frustrated with the year. I didn't really take it as Leach saying they shouldn't have had restrictions or complaining about COVID precautions. I took at as him saying it was confusing, tense, and frustrating because it was so abnormal. I think that's a sentiment most of us can agree. As far as him saying it at the press conference, I mean. . . that's Mike Leach. He is going to say what's on his mind if you ask him a question and he's usually going to answer it honestly.

I don't think this is a big deal at all.
 


Remember when so many on here were pining for him to be the Gophers next coach? Yikes
I know I was, that's for sure. He is a hell of a coach but he brings a lot of baggage and he has a big mouth.
 



He should have stayed in Pullman where is atypical behavior could be hidden by the remotenes of Wazzu.
I can tell you the folks that live around Mississippi State should have been able to hide his stupidity but he surpassed expectations
 

It's his first season at Mississippi State installing a brand new offense. It always takes his teams some time to get up to speed. They were pretty bad in his first three seasons at Washington State, I'd guess they will struggle a bit for the next couple of years.

As far as his rant, it sounded more like frustration with the year than blaming particular people. I think a lot of people are frustrated with the year. I didn't really take it as Leach saying they shouldn't have had restrictions or complaining about COVID precautions. I took at as him saying it was confusing, tense, and frustrating because it was so abnormal. I think that's a sentiment most of us can agree. As far as him saying it at the press conference, I mean. . . that's Mike Leach. He is going to say what's on his mind if you ask him a question and he's usually going to answer it honestly.

I don't think this is a big deal at all.
People like this need to tone it down. Unnecessary rants, not taking responsibility or explaining the issue as to why etc., is a better route to go. If this is Mike Leach as you say, I certainty don't want him around here.
 

Hey, shit happens. Everyone had a bad year and difficulties. Deal with it, learn from it and move on.

That is one shining light about PJ. He may go on about his slogans and motivational techniques, but you will never heard about him or his player bitching about how bad it was. Oh he may throw in the occasional "down 33 players" comments, but everything is built on taking the positive approach and making the most of the hand you are dealt.
 

People like this need to tone it down. Unnecessary rants, not taking responsibility or explaining the issue as to why etc., is a better route to go. If this is Mike Leach as you say, I certainty don't want him around here.

Did you listen to the rant? It really was pretty much just "this year has been a mess".
 

Hey, shit happens. Everyone had a bad year and difficulties. Deal with it, learn from it and move on.

That is one shining light about PJ. He may go on about his slogans and motivational techniques, but you will never heard about him or his player bitching about how bad it was. Oh he may throw in the occasional "down 33 players" comments, but everything is built on taking the positive approach and making the most of the hand you are dealt.

I like PJ but c'mon. His first few years were nothing but talking about how bad we had it.
 


Did you listen to the rant? It really was pretty much just "this year has been a mess".
At this point, people are just looking for things to be offended about. You're 100% right, but it makes for a much better story if you interpret from it what you want and run with it.
 

At this point, people are just looking for things to be offended about. You're 100% right, but it makes for a much better story if you interpret from it what you want and run with it.
I'm offended by this post!
 

Did you listen to the rant? It really was pretty much just "this year has been a mess".
Rant comes in many shapes and forms. This one wasn't an extreme. Guess I'm just not a fan of him. Or should I say I don't trust him. I could be all wrong though and I will admit that.
 


Remember when so many on here were pining for him to be the Gophers next coach? Yikes
I’d for sure rather have a lot of people than him. I’d rather have him the Claeys personally.
 


I didn't have a single issue with what Leach said. I probably could have done without the politician comment but nothing he said was incorrect. You test one way, then test another way, then you contact trace this way, then a week later, you contact trace another way. I have a job working in a local high school who has managed to stay in our "hybrid model" the entire year and I make far less money with Leach makes, but I can relate to the constant changing of goal posts. We make a plan we think will "work" but when it is time to execute the plan the requirements and recommendations change. There is no joy, no one is having fun. There is stress, there is no one that is comfortable.

What joy is there in a season where you have players opting out, opting in, opting back out. Having two conference games cancelled. Not knowing if your team, or full team, are going to play.

To me Leach made the comment meaning just cancel the season next time.
 








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