The Thing I do Like About Mike Leach

[ShotgunDawg]

I don't think he'd be able to recruit well enough to win big in the SEC, but at least we'd know and get to find out.

We can debate if Mike Leach is the right guy or not, but the truth is that 1. nobody knows and 2. Chances are he'd still win the 4 non con games and probably 2 - 4 SEC games. The floor for him is really really high but comes with the chance that he's actually a better recruiter than some think and when given real athletes, he can put a competent defense on the field.

The main thing though is, at least MSU would get to find out how good this guy really is. We wouldn't have to watch Kentucky or someone like that hire him and beat us 63-28 someday.

So to me, while I personally don't believe he'd win big at MSU, I honestly don't see Leach as being a big risk. At worst, he likely wins 6 games a year and we get tons of good media publicity.

At best, he recruits in the 20s, grabs some polished HS WRs from Dallas and Houston, and we run an offense that most of the SEC isn't built to stop and we post a 9 or 10 win season.

[Hambone]

I’m not following.... if we win on an average 6 games a year I don’t think we’d see “ton of good media coverage”

Yes, the interviews with him would be golden at first. But this is the same coach the publicly calls his team soft almost every year. He’s a finesse spread coach that plays against some of the weakest defenses year in and year out. No, they aren’t all bad, but I would say over 3/4 of the PAC 12 is Charming soft on defense.

Could he work out, maybe so. Right now the national media is calling this search a disaster and who knows where it ends up.

[KOdawg1]

If we hire Mike Leach, I'm done. I will follow baseball and women's basketball only and that'll be it.

[Dawgface]

See link on his recently signed contract. I would be surprised if we would offer enough to entice him to come here.

https://www.si.com/college/2019/12/05/mike-leach-contract-extension-washington-state

[ShotgunDawg]

I’m not following.... if we win on an average 6 games a year I don’t think we’d see “ton of good media coverage”

Yes, the interviews with him would be golden at first. But this is the same coach the publicly calls his team soft almost every year. He’s a finesse spread coach that plays against some of the weakest defenses year in and year out. No, they aren’t all bad, but I would say over 3/4 of the PAC 12 is Charming soft on defense.

Could he work out, maybe so. Right now the national media is calling this search a disaster and who knows where it ends up.

Relax bro.

The search is not a disaster. Who cares what the national media says? Really... they're blue blood blow hard that don't cover the rest of the sport.

[ShotgunDawg]

If we hire Mike Leach, I'm done. I will follow baseball and women's basketball only and that'll be it.

Why? That's seems pretty stupid.

[ShotgunDawg]

See link on his recently signed contract. I would be surprised if we would offer enough to entice him to come here.

https://www.si.com/college/2019/12/05/mike-leach-contract-extension-washington-state

Im not sure it would be about money for him.

I think it would be about vindication. To me Leach is the type that has made money and had a wonderful career but has a question mark that can't be answered until he coaches in a real conference at a school that can reasonably recruit.

[bluelightstar]

I really don't intend to politicize this, but why do we think a guy who tweets out conspiracy theories about Barack Obama is going to be able to recruit African-American moms in Mississippi...?

[Irondawg]

Yeah but worse case is he recruits back in the 40's, goes 5-7 for 3 years and leaves the talent really reduced for the next guy. At least we have a half decent roster waiting for whoever we get.

[Hambone]

Sorry, but how can you say that this isn’t a disaster???

Put the shoe on the other foot, if this was Ole Miss right now we would ALL be on this board saying how inept they are and what a shit show their search had become.

Aside from Joe Judge getting hired by the Giants (perfectly understandable). How could you not say this isn’t a disaster? We’ve had 3 head coaches “confirmed” as our next head coach (Napier, Judge, Sarkisian) with Billboards lobbying for a 4th guy (Hudspeth)

As far as chilling out, I’m fine. We will hire who we hire. But when you fire a coach with a winning record (HELL YES he needed to go). But then appear you don’t have someone lined up immediately, it’s not a good look.

[HancockCountyDog]

I really don't intend to politicize this, but why do we think a guy who tweets out conspiracy theories about Barack Obama is going to be able to recruit African-American moms in Mississippi...?

I was wondering when this would come up, no matter where you fall politically, this would be a major problem for him, and more than anything he would double down on it if brought yo his attention.

[ShotgunDawg]

I really don't intend to politicize this, but why do we think a guy who tweets out conspiracy theories about Barack Obama is going to be able to recruit African-American moms in Mississippi...?

I don't.

[ShotgunDawg]

Sorry, but how can you say that this isn’t a disaster???

Put the shoe on the other foot, if this was Ole Miss right now we would ALL be on this board saying how inept they are and what a shit show their search had become.

Aside from Joe Judge getting hired by the Giants (perfectly understandable). How could you not say this isn’t a disaster? We’ve had 3 head coaches “confirmed” as our next head coach (Napier, Judge, Sarkisian) with Billboards lobbying for a 4th guy (Hudspeth)

As far as chilling out, I’m fine. We will hire who we hire. But when you fire a coach with a winning record (HELL YES he needed to go). But then appear you don’t have someone lined up immediately, it’s not a good look.

Ole Miss' search took longer than ours has so far.

Also, you think you know far more than what you do.

Judge it after the fact. Relax.

[PGHBulldogBG]

The national media thought the Tennessee search was a national disaster and we got an A hire with Moorhead. Pruitt is starting to turn things around at UT after taking over a mess. I don’t really think they know anything. Choosing the right coach is not easy, but I do think Cohen always picks bad candidates to interview

[KOdawg1]

Why? That's seems pretty stupid.
This is coming from the guy who lost his freaking mind when Willie Gay announced he was going pro. I mean, like a 6 year old girl. Look in the mirror before you call anyone or their actions stupid buddy

[smootness]

Sorry, but how can you say that this isn’t a disaster???

Put the shoe on the other foot, if this was Ole Miss right now we would ALL be on this board saying how inept they are and what a shit show their search had become.

Yeah, so maybe it should be a lesson that in those cases, perhaps we shouldn't be laughing. We will pretty much laugh at them no matter what. We certainly thought it was a joke that they hired Hugh Freeze, and that didn't turn out so well for us.

Also, this whole idea that it's awful Cohen didn't already have his next coach lined up when he fired Moorhead is a joke. That's not how it works in 90+% of cases. And honestly, why should it? We want him to hire a coach without doing a full search and due diligence across the board? Because in order to already have someone lined up, you basically have to be dead set on one and only one coach. And that's usually not a great way to go about it unless that guy is someone like Nick Saban.

[smootness]

I do agree, btw, that Leach's issue is more his ceiling than his floor, and that's due to recruiting. I think he would give us a puncher's chance against the big boys in the conference while also leaving us open to getting upset ourselves more than we would like. But I think in general, 5-6 wins is probably the absolute floor for him. It's kind of hard to know just how well he would do because his style does work a little better in the Big 12 and Pac 12, but at the same time, he hasn't gone to a program as stable as ours is right now, so it's hard to know if the 8-win range is just who he is and only in a weaker conference or if he could do even bigger things at a program with a more solid foundation.

[msugolf]

I was wondering when this would come up, no matter where you fall politically, this would be a major problem for him, and more than anything he would double down on it if brought yo his attention.

I really think it has the potential to be disastrous on a level that people haven't realized. People just automatically assume that he'll be able to attract WRs because of his system. That's so far from the truth its laughable. Especially considering he has stated recruiting is over rated. I can promise you that OM will still be able to get the guys WE THINK should be signing with us, not to mention that LSU, Bama, Auburn, TN will get their fair share too.

If we have to flip the current roster and it tanks in 3-4 years then it'll make the Croom rebuild look like a speed bump compared to what we'll face.

[Irondawg]

It's only appears a disaster because or internet cowboy heros's claiming to have sources and the mods on 24/7 jumping the gun a few times. Otherwise all we're doing is doing normal legwork on coaches with only the Judge things being a kink in the process, but nobody is giving us grief over that one.

Our own internal perception here trumps the reality. None of the fans I'm friends with from other schools haven mentioned anything about this being a mess - to them it all just looks like a normal hiring process.

[ShotgunDawg]

Sorry, but how can you say that this isn?t a disaster???

Put the shoe on the other foot, if this was Ole Miss right now we would ALL be on this board saying how inept they are and what a shit show their search had become.

Aside from Joe Judge getting hired by the Giants (perfectly understandable). How could you not say this isn?t a disaster? We?ve had 3 head coaches ?confirmed? as our next head coach (Napier, Judge, Sarkisian) with Billboards lobbying for a 4th guy (Hudspeth)

As far as chilling out, I?m fine. We will hire who we hire. But when you fire a coach with a winning record (HELL YES he needed to go). But then appear you don?t have someone lined up immediately, it?s not a good look.

Ole Miss' search took longer than ours has so far.

Also, you think you know far more than what you do.

Judge it after the fact. Relax.

[Cooterpoot]

We aren't hiring Leach.

[basedog]

Please no on Leach! We don't need a "has been", we need someone who is eager to prove himself and we move our program forward. This isn't Mike Leach, it's not that I don't like him but I'd rather listen to him rant in another press conference other than ours!

[smootness]

I really think it has the potential to be disastrous on a level that people haven't realized. People just automatically assume that he'll be able to attract WRs because of his system. That's so far from the truth its laughable. Especially considering he has stated recruiting is over rated. I can promise you that OM will still be able to get the guys WE THINK should be signing with us, not to mention that LSU, Bama, Auburn, TN will get their fair share too.

If we have to flip the current roster and it tanks in 3-4 years then it'll make the Croom rebuild look like a speed bump compared to what we'll face.

I feel confident in saying Leach probably will not win championships in the SEC at Mississippi State. Having said that, I could say the same about just about every potential coach out there. For him, it's because of recruiting. You do have to recruit to a certain level to really get up there in the SEC.

Having said that, if anyone could compete, even in the SEC, with lackluster recruiting, it is Mike Leach. He's done it at TT and WSU to this point. Yes, those situations are different. But at TT, he recruited about middle of the pack in the Big 12, averaged about 7th in the conference; at WSU, it's worse, he averages about 9th in the conference. Yet he performed better than that in both spots, much better at WSU. So his main issue is that fans would never be satisfied with his recruiting. Even if he was winning around 8-9 games a year, fans would be saying, 'Can you imagine what we could be doing if he would actually care about recruiting?' and 'He's proven you can win here, even with lesser talent; now we need to find someone who can get better talent.'

I do think in the SEC, his recruiting would bump up some, but I feel like the best he would do here is in the 25-30 range and he'd fall more consistently around the bottom of the top 40.

[Quaoarsking]

I really don't intend to politicize this, but why do we think a guy who tweets out conspiracy theories about Barack Obama is going to be able to recruit African-American moms in Mississippi...?

His politics, including what he put on twitter one time, aren't any different than #MAGAMullen.

[bluelightstar]

His politics, including what he put on twitter one time, aren't any different than #MAGAMullen.

I'm well aware of what Mullen's politics were. I'm not saying a Republican or a conservative can't recruit in MS, AL, etc. Heck, many African-Americans are pretty conservative. I'm specifically talking about Leach's Obama tweets, which I think would go over like a lead balloon in a lot of those homes.

[ShotgunDawg]

This is coming from the guy who lost his freaking mind when Willie Gay announced he was going pro. I mean, like a 6 year old girl. Look in the mirror before you call anyone or their actions stupid buddy

Willie Gay is a selfish player. That was my main point.

[Dawgface]

I've about come to the conclusion he will finally come to terms with Napier or pull a rabbit out of the hat. Someone not mentioned.

[Spiderman]

I was wondering when this would come up, no matter where you fall politically, this would be a major problem for him, and more than anything he would double down on it if brought yo his attention.

So he doesn't sign any black players from the most liberal area in the nation????

Give me a break

[DownwardDawg]

Sorry, but how can you say that this isn?t a disaster???

Put the shoe on the other foot, if this was Ole Miss right now we would ALL be on this board saying how inept they are and what a shit show their search had become.

Aside from Joe Judge getting hired by the Giants (perfectly understandable). How could you not say this isn?t a disaster? We?ve had 3 head coaches ?confirmed? as our next head coach (Napier, Judge, Sarkisian) with Billboards lobbying for a 4th guy (Hudspeth)

As far as chilling out, I?m fine. We will hire who we hire. But when you fire a coach with a winning record (HELL YES he needed to go). But then appear you don?t have someone lined up immediately, it?s not a good look.

Stop believing what you read on a message board. The search has not been a disaster. Enjoy reading all this crap and have fun with it. Finebaum is like all the rest, he doesn?t have a clue what has happened.

[Spiderman]

If you were offered Coach X who had won 139 games in 18 years for a winning percentage of 60%, had been to 16 bowls in those 18 years, had had record setting offenses, all while coaching at bottom feeders in 2 different P5 conferences, would you take him?

Fan says, hell yeah!!

But it's reveled it's Leach.

Fan says ...NOOOOOOO

Good lord. And half the ones that say they would be mad if Leach was hired are the ones bitching we can't get a proven head coach.

I remember when Jackie was hired and LOT of State fans clutched their pearls and said... He's an outlaw. He's not our type and will destroy our program. (Like it could be destroyed at that time).

State took a chance on Jackie. Again, I not saying he should be who State hires, but if they do, we could do a TON worse

[tcdog70]

I really don't intend to politicize this, but why do we think a guy who tweets out conspiracy theories about Barack Obama is going to be able to recruit African-American moms in Mississippi...?

What? if Ole Miss can recruit A-americans--then Leach should have no problem.

[Joebob]

I really don't intend to politicize this, but why do we think a guy who tweets out conspiracy theories about Barack Obama is going to be able to recruit African-American moms in Mississippi...?

I hadn?t heard this before. It definitely puts his recruitment possibilities in a different light.

[trojandawg]

I?m not following.... if we win on an average 6 games a year I don?t think we?d see ?ton of good media coverage?

Yes, the interviews with him would be golden at first. But this is the same coach the publicly calls his team soft almost every year. He?s a finesse spread coach that plays against some of the weakest defenses year in and year out. No, they aren?t all bad, but I would say over 3/4 of the PAC 12 is Charming soft on defense.

Could he work out, maybe so. Right now the national media is calling this search a disaster and who knows where it ends up.

NOT a FIT