Good Breakdown of Mike Leach Offense

[ShotgunDawg]

I'm starving for football & saw this video posted somewhere else.

It's an NFL draft guru breaking down the Wazzou QB, but to do that he really goes in depth with the Leach offense. It's strengths & deficiencies.

I'm not all the way through it, but here are a couple early thought's I've had:

1. Offense is so spread out that it creates a ton of space. I look at the WRs we're currently recruiting & the speed they possess & am salivating at what guys like Robertson, Teddy Knox, Tulu, K Johnson, Nabors, Coleman, etc could do in this offense. Sheesh it could be fun if they close on these guys. It also makes sense as to why we haven't recruited some other in-state WRs as hard. It's not that those guys aren't good players & may play in the NFL, I just think that Leach believes that if the QB makes quick decisions & gets the ball out his hand, there just isn't much of a need for big bodied guys that have average speed. With 5 WRs & a good decision maker at WR, he just wants to put a boat load of speed on the field & have the QB throw to the open guy.

2. QB has to get he ball out quickly & as much as I love Shrader, this will be his battle. Shrader has a longer release, which I'm sure Leach will want to attempt to shorten.

3. Bo Bounds interviewed Spurrier Jr recently & Jr said "We've never had a running back like this & are trying to figure out how to use him". Throw Marks right in there with Kylin in talent & the point is Mike Leach has never had running backs like this & they are trying to adapt the offense to those players. To me, the immediate thing I think of is how they run their redzone offense. It'll be fun to see how Leach adapts this offense to premier RBs he's never had.

4. I love how little pump fakes are built into the early portions of some plays. Throws off the pass rush & coverage. Actually reminds me some of Freeze's offense in that regard

5. Oregon gives a good bit of cushion to the WRs. It'll be interesting how Leach, like every other new SEC coach, handles press coverage from 1st round caliber CBs.

I can't wait to see us run this & the ceiling of Mississippi State in this offense with the type of players we have access. I mean, this game is against Oregon & Oregon doesn't have bad players. Maybe not LSU, Auburn, or Bama type players, but Oregon Certainly has mid-level SEC type talent on defense.

Enjoy & let me know what you see.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUMMzujE_f8

[gtowndawg]

I'm currently reading his book. It definitely gives a lot of good insight into his system and how he wants to run a program overall. I see why a few players probably want to leave (he makes it hard).

[confucius say]

Good find. Lots of good in here.

The mesh and sail and smash concepts are run over and over. Simple, but a lot on the qb to process.

Screens screens screens. I like it. Also the RB had I would guess 5-6 receptions and should have had a few more.

One thing about if you see more press man coverage in the sec, the db's eyes are not going to be on the qb and the qb is unaccounted for in man unless they play man across the board and spy, which limits the max you can rush to 5 (which should prevent overloading a protection). If you don't spy and bring 6 (or 5 with man-free behind it) a mobile qb could kill press man. To me, the next step for a leach offense to kill it is a mobile qb like a mahomes or a college Dak.

[Jarius]

Good post. Watch our 98 game against Kentucky to see how he will deal with SEC defenses. He lit our ass up.....and everyone else.

[Todd4State]

Or Auburn 2013. 31-24 loss on the road to a team that played in the National Title game with a 6-7 Wazzu team. Auburn also scored on a 100 yard KO return which was essentially the difference in the game.

[Turfdawg67]

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

I'm an optimist by heart, especially when it comes to MSU... lord knows I defended MoHead and Mullen for way too long. But I really think Leach is gonna kill it here. I think he's drooling at the talent, especially on D, and really wants to prove people wrong. I think the worry with Leach is if/when he becomes complacent. But even then I think we'll be back to Mullen status. Occasional 8-9 win season sandwiched in between 6-7 win ones.

[ShotgunDawg]

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

I'm an optimist by heart, especially when it comes to MSU... lord knows I defended MoHead and Mullen for way too long. But I really think Leach is gonna kill it here. I think he's drooling at the talent, especially on D, and really wants to prove people wrong. I think the worry with Leach is if/when he becomes complacent. But even then I think we'll be back to Mullen status. Occasional 8-9 win season sandwiched in between 6-7 win ones.

I think he's going to kill it.

It's not just the defensive talent, he's already getting better QB & WR talent than he's ever had.

This isn't a coach trying to make a name for himself. This is a coach trying top off a career & show that he belongs in the same class as Saban, Meyer, Smart, etc.

This is a coach that likely feels like he has done more to change college football offenses than most anyone in the past 30 years yet has been seen as a joke & someone undesirable by blue bloods.

I think he's out for blood & to give the blue bloods a big 17 u that's coming about 10 years late.

I think we're going to get his best effort because his tenure at MSU will write the final chapter of his legacy.

Is he A GREAT coach or just an innovator? The MSU tenure will be that chapter & I think he's ready for it.

[Todd4State]

I think he's going to kill it.

It's not just the defensive talent, he's already getting better QB & WR talent than he's ever had.

This isn't a coach trying to make a name for himself. This is a coach trying top off a career & show that he belongs in the same class as Saban, Meyer, Smart, etc.

This is a coach that likely feels like he has done more to change college football offenses than most anyone in the past 30 years yet has been seen as a joke & someone undesirable by blue bloods.

I think he's out for blood & to give the blue bloods a big 17 u that's coming about 10 years late.

I think we're going to get his best effort because his tenure at MSU will write the final chapter of his legacy.

Is he A GREAT coach or just an innovator? The MSU tenure will be that chapter & I think he's ready for it.

I definitely feel like he appreciates what MSU has more than Mullen did. More fans should have a big problem with how he neglected his job at the end of every year looking out for himself. It's OK to look out for and better yourself- but you shouldn't neglect your current job in the process. That's for any job.

[1bigdawg]

More fans should have a big problem with how [Mullen] neglected his job at the end of every year looking out for himself. It's OK to look out for and better yourself- but you shouldn't neglect your current job in the process. That's for any job.

I will always have a negative feeling about him for mailing it in for the 2014 Egg Bowl. We were pretty much assured a playoff spot with a victory and could have played for a championship that year. Instead, he was up to his "got to get out of here" games.

[Coach34]

Or Auburn 2013. 31-24 loss on the road to a team that played in the National Title game with a 6-7 Wazzu team. Auburn also scored on a 100 yard KO return which was essentially the difference in the game.

They also had all offseason to get ready for Auburn as it was the season opener.

[confucius say]

They also had all offseason to get ready for Auburn as it was the season opener.

Meh, that works both ways. Auburn had all offseason to prepare for leach too.

And, it would have been harder for wazzu to prepare for auburn bc auburn had an entire new staff and scheme coming in at that time in 2013 with Gus as first year HC and Ellis Johnson as first year DC. I guess leach could have studied Ellis's 2012 film at usm and 2008-2011 usce film.

[Coach34]

They had years of film on Gus between Auburn and Ark State and on EJ's D's. . Not to mention that was Nick Marshall's 1st game and he was still getting adjusted to playing QB.

Auburn was coming off a 3-9 season and winless in the SEC. New QB. New DC. Hell, Auburn struggled to beat our rebuilding team in 2013 that went 7-6. Had to score with under 20 seconds left to beat us at Auburn.

Just dont look at that game vs Wash State as some tell tale sign of things to come.

[ShotgunDawg]

They had years of film on Gus between Auburn and Ark State and on EJ's D's. . Not to mention that was Nick Marshall's 1st game and he was still getting adjusted to playing QB.

Auburn was coming off a 3-9 season and winless in the SEC. New QB. New DC. Hell, Auburn struggled to beat our rebuilding team in 2013 that went 7-6. Had to score with under 20 seconds left to beat us at Auburn.

Just dont look at that game vs Wash State as some tell tale sign of things to come.

Mike Leach's all time record as a coach is 139-90 = 60% winning Percentage while his bowl record is 7-8 which equates to a 46% winning %

So we see a drop of 14% in bowl games vs the regular season.

Since bowls are a similar prep as the first games of a season, I'm not sure how you can take the stance you are taking. It seems as if the other team having time to prepare for Mike Leach is much more beneficial to them than it is for Mike Leach having more time to prepare for the other team.

Now, I realize you're going to gerrymander a way to make your point valid, but there is clearly a legitimate alternative view point.

[Coach34]

Leach is a good coach and will do a good job. He is recruiting better than expected so far. But his 1st team in Sville is not overly-suited to what he wants to do. And with our problems on D- it makes the job tougher. Thats all I'm saying.

You can get wide splits in the Big 12 or Pac-12. In D-Line Heaven that is the SEC- you cannot. Thats the one thing I will be most interested in watching this year.

[ShotgunDawg]

Leach is a good coach and will do a good job. He is recruiting better than expected so far. But his 1st team in Sville is not overly-suited to what he wants to do. And with our problems on D- it makes the job tougher. Thats all I'm saying.

You can get wide splits in the Big 12 or Pac-12. In D-Line Heaven that is the SEC- you cannot. Thats the one thing I will be most interested in watching this year.

I agree with that.

My personal hope is that this year looks similar to Mullen's 2009 season.

That season we missed a bowl game, I'm hoping that doesn't happen, but it was clear we were well coached & about to make a move.

I want to see the offense work & look organized. If we do that, we should go bowling, but that's the bigger priority to me.

[confucius say]

Leach is a good coach and will do a good job. He is recruiting better than expected so far. But his 1st team in Sville is not overly-suited to what he wants to do. And with our problems on D- it makes the job tougher. Thats all I'm saying.

You can get wide splits in the Big 12 or Pac-12. In D-Line Heaven that is the SEC- you cannot. Thats the one thing I will be most interested in watching this year.

You don't think we will try to have wide splits?
Or you think we will and won't be able to pass protect doing so?

[KOdawg1]

I agree with that.

My personal hope is that this year looks similar to Mullen's 2009 season.

That season we missed a bowl game, I'm hoping that doesn't happen, but it was clear we were well coached & about to make a move.

I want to see the offense work & look organized. If we do that, we should go bowling, but that's the bigger priority to me.
I agree. I'd rather win 5 games and look competent than win 6 like we did last year while looking like a shit show every week. In 2009, you knew we were going somewhere. I never got that sense from JoMo his entire tenure here.

[ShotgunDawg]

I agree. I'd rather win 5 games and look competent than win 6 like we did last year while looking like a shit show every week. In 2009, you knew we were going somewhere. I never got that sense from JoMo his entire tenure here.

Yeah, I can point out certain games in coaches' first years that you knew the team was well coached.

2009 LSU - We lost, but made offensive plays that day that let you know we were really improving.

2012 Ole Miss vs Texas - Yes Ole Miss got blown out that night but the offense scored 31 points with a number of big plays. If you watched that night, you had to know that Freeze knew what he was doing offensively.

Which game will Leach show us that this year?

[dawgday166]

They had years of film on Gus between Auburn and Ark State and on EJ's D's. . Not to mention that was Nick Marshall's 1st game and he was still getting adjusted to playing QB.

Auburn was coming off a 3-9 season and winless in the SEC. New QB. New DC. Hell, Auburn struggled to beat our rebuilding team in 2013 that went 7-6. Had to score with under 20 seconds left to beat us at Auburn.

Just dont look at that game vs Wash State as some tell tale sign of things to come.

What I liked about that game was how physical Wash St was in it ... especially on D. They really lost by giving up explosive plays ... otherwise their D played pretty well. And that was only Leach's 2nd year too. That was a pretty darn physical game for a 1st game of year OOC game.

I'm interested to see how the wide splits work too.

[dawgday166]

Yeah, I can point out certain games in coaches' first years that you knew the team was well coached.

2009 LSU - We lost, but made offensive plays that day that let you know we were really improving.

2012 Ole Miss vs Texas - Yes Ole Miss got blown out that night but the offense scored 31 points with a number of big plays. If you watched that night, you had to know that Freeze knew what he was doing offensively.

Which game will Leach show us that this year?

You know, I kinda feel like we might show up and smack Bama around a little before they pull away in the 2nd half. We play them earlier than normal and have a week off before we play them too.

[Coach34]

You don't think we will try to have wide splits?
Or you think we will and won't be able to pass protect doing so?

I think he will try.

I think he will learn that he better close it down a little. I'm not saying get foot to foot- but we cant handle Bama, LSU, Fla, Georgia, A&M, or Auburn most years at 3 feet. 2 feet will most likely be what he has to adjust to. They have people that can make OL guys whiff. SEC D's also arent scared to blitz those gaps and play press coverage when they do it.

[Jarius]

I think he will try.

I think he will learn that he better close it down a little. I'm not saying get foot to foot- but we cant handle Bama, LSU, Fla, Georgia, A&M, or Auburn most years at 3 feet. 2 feet will most likely be what he has to adjust to. They have people that can make OL guys whiff. SEC D's also arent scared to blitz those gaps and play press coverage when they do it.

They didn’ do a very good job of making his olinemen Whif in 1998. They simply put up the most yards ever in a single season in the SEC. He also has a winning record against Ole Miss and beat A&M’s ass every year in the big 12. Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, and USC all had way better athletes on defense than he had on offense and he handled those teams Just fine. His offense Will work just fine as is....

[RiverCityDawg]

I think he will try.

I think he will learn that he better close it down a little. I'm not saying get foot to foot- but we cant handle Bama, LSU, Fla, Georgia, A&M, or Auburn most years at 3 feet. 2 feet will most likely be what he has to adjust to. They have people that can make OL guys whiff. SEC D's also arent scared to blitz those gaps and play press coverage when they do it.

Can you expound on this a little?

If they make a guy wiff in one on one wouldn't they get through anyway? Yeah with 2ft splits a guy would be a little closer to help, but if the DT was that good wouldn't he get through a lunging attempt at help anyway. Is it mainly just a badass nose straight up on a center that you're worried about?

Do you not think it's helpful to have the ends much further away from the QB because of the splits? Or even the 3 tech further away? That seems like a huge benefit to me.

Wouldn't blitzing linebackers through the gaps set up well for mesh, shallow cross and y stick? I can see how that would be more difficult against press coverage, but generally only Alabama, LSU and maybe Auburn play that way and have the guys to do it. We aren't doing anything offensively against those defenses anyway, so I like the idea of trying something different. Something that's been proven to work against caliber of defenses we'll play most of the time, and something that will at least hopefully keep those elite defenses off balanced.

[confucius say]

Can you expound on this a little?

If they make a guy wiff in one on one wouldn't they get through anyway? Yeah with 2ft splits a guy would be a little closer to help, but if the DT was that good wouldn't he get through a lunging attempt at help anyway. Is it mainly just a badass nose straight up on a center that you're worried about?

Do you not think it's helpful to have the ends much further away from the QB because of the splits? Or even the 3 tech further away? That seems like a huge benefit to me.

Wouldn't blitzing linebackers through the gaps set up well for mesh, shallow cross and y stick? I can see how that would be more difficult against press coverage, but generally only Alabama, LSU and maybe Auburn play that way and have the guys to do it. We aren't doing anything offensively against those defenses anyway, so I like the idea of trying something different. Something that's been proven to work against caliber of defenses we'll play most of the time, and something that will at least hopefully keep those elite defenses off balanced.

I was thinking the same thing with widening the edge rushers. I'll also add that I think spacing everybody out makes it less congested and easier to identify assignments for OL.

To 34s point, i guess having tighter splits would close down interior rush lanes though should an interior OL whiff on his guy.

[ShotgunDawg]

I was thinking the same thing with widening the edge rushers. I'll also add that I think spacing everybody out makes it less congested and easier to identify assignments for OL.

To 34s point, i guess having tighter splits would close down interior rush lanes though should an interior OL whiff on his guy.

I think it just gives the DTs more room to work & that's the issue.

Either way, I'm not really worried about it because Leach has been at so many different schools & conferences doing this that I'm sure he's seen every defense they can throw at it.

Does the SEC have more talent? Yes, but he's coached against individual players throughout his career that has needed to adjust for on the OL. So I'm sure he has a plan on how to handle things.

Again, 18 years of head coaching experience in different conferences, including the SEC.

I'm sure there will be adjustments, but there will be adjustments for the SEC DCs as well.

Are SEC teams going to put in new alignments & adjustments for the 1 week they play Leach? Well, if they do, that increases the chances that they screw up as well.

I'm sure every SEC DC will just watch the game against U Dub & implement that scheme. Shouldn't make it too difficult to prepare in the first half of the season

[Coach34]

These are some examples of what happens when great DL players get one on ones:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z4GgjkQKDI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBS0KZHbbk4

[confucius say]

Is the implication that these types of great DL will get more one vs ones against wider splits? It seems like the of one vs ones opportunities will be the same regardless of one foot splits or three four splits.
Or is it that interior DL will have more room to maneuver against wider splits? That I can understand, but the end zone camera view of the game shotgun linked the other day doesn't seem to suggest that. There was a lot of passing off by OL and the sets looked narrower than the splits pre snap.

[Coach34]

Is the implication that these types of great DL will get more one vs ones against wider splits? It seems like the of one vs ones opportunities will be the same regardless of one foot splits or three four splits.
Or is it that interior DL will have more room to maneuver against wider splits? That I can understand, but the end zone camera view of the game shotgun linked the other day doesn't seem to suggest that. There was a lot of passing off by OL and the sets looked narrower than the splits pre snap.

Yes. When you zone block- your OL combos inside and then one moves on to the LB. With wider splits like that- you cant combo- and the OL guys have to 1 on 1. More 1 on 1's with the animals of the SEC that play DL is a losing proposition.
In pass pro- it gives the DL more room to maneuver a path to the QB. DE's have more room to make their pass rush without getting caught up in the garbage inside when they make inside moves. It make our OT's have to guess more. The inside move is a more viable option now for DE's and allows them to still be able to keep contain.

[confucius say]

Interesting in the run game. All the talk has been about wider splits with pass pro.

Any benefits of wider splits in the run game? Does leach mainly zone block in the run game? Seems like wide splits would be great for traps and power concepts.

[RiverCityDawg]

Yes. When you zone block- your OL combos inside and then one moves on to the LB. With wider splits like that- you cant combo- and the OL guys have to 1 on 1. More 1 on 1's with the animals of the SEC that play DL is a losing proposition.
In pass pro- it gives the DL more room to maneuver a path to the QB. DE's have more room to make their pass rush without getting caught up in the garbage inside when they make inside moves. It make our OT's have to guess more. The inside move is a more viable option now for DE's and allows them to still be able to keep contain.

Less garbage on the inside also helps the offensive line better identify where guys are going. Stunting doesn't create as much confusion and if they stunt they have further to go to get to the QB. Just another perspective.

Overall I can see how the middle is a bigger risk. I think the elite guys like Simmons and Brown are problems regardless, but that will be something to watch. Thankfully, those guys don't grow on trees.

Would you agree that you're in a better position on the edges since those guys are starting further away? Most ends prefer to go outside. I see a big advantage in making that move less effected than it would be otherwise.

You make a good point on the combo blocks, but I imagine we won't be combo-ing as much anyway since half our runs will be draws.

[Todd4State]

https://twitter.com/bmlanglois/status/1261697015030972417

This is a good explanation of how Leach's offense works. It's very QB centered and the QB is making the calls basically. That's VERY different than Moorhead's "check with me and in two minutes I'll come up with the perfect play, oh crap the defense just changed". I think this also may explain in part why Leach's offense is so pass heavy. If your QB is making the calls you know they're going to probably want to pass every play.

[Todd4State]

Less garbage on the inside also helps the offensive line better identify where guys are going. Stunting doesn't create as much confusion and if they stunt they have further to go to get to the QB. Just another perspective.

Overall I can see how the middle is a bigger risk. I think the elite guys like Simmons and Brown are problems regardless, but that will be something to watch. Thankfully, those guys don't grow on trees.

Would you agree that you're in a better position on the edges since those guys are starting further away? Most ends prefer to go outside. I see a big advantage in making that move less effected than it would be otherwise.

You make a good point on the combo blocks, but I imagine we won't be combo-ing as much anyway since half our runs will be draws.

Yeah. And when we do run he's probably going to call them at a time where we have obvious numbers in the box from passing every down. That and the fact that the screen game is going to essentially be an extension of our running game.

[Todd4State]

The other thing I really like a LOT about Leach's offense is the fact that he tries to get as many receivers and players involved as possible. That way you can't key in on someone. I remember Bill Walsh and the 49ers had a big emphasis on that. Jerry Rice was the star but they used Roger Craig, John Taylor, Brent Jones, and Tom Rathman a lot as well. You couldn't really key in on just Rice because if you did they would kill you with the other guys. See the game winning TD pass in Super Bowl 23 to John Taylor. And because you had to respect the other guys it opened up Rice more and made him even more dangerous. On the other side for us, I remember with Jackie our offense in the late 1990's was mostly JJ Johnson carrying the ball 25+ times a game and by Arkansas he was worn out and beaten up. And even though we got to the SEC Title game the fact that JJ was basically out of the game really hurt us and probably cost us the SEC Title. Same with Dan to a lesser degree with Dak or Fitz running the ball all the time although he spread it around a lot better. And Moorhead was insistent on using his "top five" which limited us to just those five guys for the most part and meant that guys like Javonta Payton, Malik Dear, and Dontae Jones who could have really helped the offense more mostly sat on the bench while guys like Guidry dropped passes. It also limited guys like Aeris Williams and Nick Gibson to a degree too because we used only one back a majority of the time.

[ShotgunDawg]

Yes. When you zone block- your OL combos inside and then one moves on to the LB. With wider splits like that- you cant combo- and the OL guys have to 1 on 1. More 1 on 1's with the animals of the SEC that play DL is a losing proposition.
In pass pro- it gives the DL more room to maneuver a path to the QB. DE's have more room to make their pass rush without getting caught up in the garbage inside when they make inside moves. It make our OT's have to guess more. The inside move is a more viable option now for DE's and allows them to still be able to keep contain.

Then how has he won so much?

We're talking about possibly the most innovative coach of all time here.

I'd be floored if he doesn't figure it out.

[Coach34]

Then how has he won so much.

he hasnt played SEC defenses/competition

Lost to Auburn at Wash State
His best TT team lost by 2 TD's to an 8-4 OM team led by Jevon Snead
Beat OM in 2003
Lost to Bama in 2005
His OOC schedules have been extremely weak thru the years
5-15 vs OU and Texas while in the B12
Never beat Washington while at WSt


He's a good coach- but I think the expectations some of you have are ridiculous. Hopefully he can get a team together to push for 10 wins every 4 years as Mullen did.

[ShotgunDawg]

he hasnt played SEC defenses/competition

Lost to Auburn at Wash State
His best TT team lost by 2 TD's to an 8-4 OM team led by Jevon Snead
Beat OM in 2003
Lost to Bama in 2005
His OOC schedules have been extremely weak thru the years
5-15 vs OU and Texas while in the B12
Never beat Washington while at WSt


He's a good coach- but I think the expectations some of you have are ridiculous. Hopefully he can get a team together to push for 10 wins every 4 years as Mullen did.

He's won FAR above the historical average at all these schools & he hasn't had close to SEC talent competing against these SEC teams.

I'm not predicting a natty or anything like that, but the guy is good. Damn good & it's fairly obvious with 10 min of research.

[ShotgunDawg]

Here's a good video of Wazzou's offense. It's quick & has some shots from the end zone that provide a good perspective on the blocking


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlDtFJW5vGs

[Todd4State]

he hasnt played SEC defenses/competition

Lost to Auburn at Wash State
His best TT team lost by 2 TD's to an 8-4 OM team led by Jevon Snead
Beat OM in 2003
Lost to Bama in 2005
His OOC schedules have been extremely weak thru the years
5-15 vs OU and Texas while in the B12
Never beat Washington while at WSt


He's a good coach- but I think the expectations some of you have are ridiculous. Hopefully he can get a team together to push for 10 wins every 4 years as Mullen did.

Actually he did beat Washington once at Washington State.

[Coach34]

He's won FAR above the historical average at all these schools & he hasn't had close to SEC talent competing against these SEC teams. .

So an 11-1 B12 team shouldnt be expected to beat an 8-4 OM team? Spike Dykes was 150-82 at TT before Leach got there- let's not act like they were some doorknob. Spike Dykes conference winning percentage? .587- Leach? .588. TT hadnt had a losing season for 8 years when Leach took over- so he took over a program that was very steady

Leach was .500 in conference in the Pac-12 and thats solid for them. But its not a tough conference. Their OOC schedule was weak as rainwater. Beating up Eastern Washington and Portland State every year makes it easy to pad your record.

Let's not forget that in year 8 under Leach- They had a losing record last year

[Todd4State]

So an 11-1 B12 team shouldnt be expected to beat an 8-4 OM team? Spike Dykes was 150-82 at TT before Leach got there- let's not act like they were some doorknob. Spike Dykes conference winning percentage? .587- Leach? .588. TT hadnt had a losing season for 8 years when Leach took over- so he took over a program that was very steady

Leach was .500 in conference in the Pac-12 and thats solid for them. But its not a tough conference. Their OOC schedule was weak as rainwater. Beating up Eastern Washington and Portland State every year makes it easy to pad your record.

Let's not forget that in year 8 under Leach- They had a losing record last year

How has Oklahoma done against the SEC? No question that Dykes was a good coach but they were a 6-7 win team and Leach took them to the next level. We play FCS teams too. They padded Dan's record and I'm not complaining about it either.

The difference is Leach will have SEC talent at MSU. Not Big 12 talent or PAC 12 after dark talent.

[Coach34]

The difference is Leach will have SEC talent at MSU. Not Big 12 talent or PAC 12 after dark talent.

We will never have the talent Bama, LSU, Auburn, A&m, Fla, Georgia have. It is what it is

[confucius say]

Wash state was also the worst recruiter in P5 in the most rural location in P5. I have no idea if he can average 7.1-4.9 here like Mullen did, but being an annual bowl team at wash state was damn near a miracle

[confucius say]

We will never have the talent Bama, LSU, Auburn, A&m, Fla, Georgia have. It is what it is

The nfl draft disagrees with you, no?

Regardless, we do have OM, ark, usce, Ky, vandy, mizzou, TN talent.

[Walkerhill]

The nfl draft disagrees with you, no?

Regardless, we do have OM, ark, usce, Ky, vandy, mizzou, TN talent.

Word

[Coach34]

The nfl draft disagrees with you, no?

Regardless, we do have OM, ark, usce, Ky, vandy, mizzou, TN talent.

Which one of those schools have we out-drafted the last 10 years?

[confucius say]

Which one of those schools have we out-drafted the last 10 years?

I know we are ahead of Aggie in the playoff era (2015-2020).
https://www.google.com/amp/s/thespun.com/college-football/graphic-most-nfl-draft-picks-college-football-playoff-era/amp

And at least 14 in the last 3 drafts. I know that doubles Aggie. Won't touch bama or LSU. Appears to be more than auburn though. Have not done the math on Georgia or FLA during that time period.

[ShotgunDawg]

I know we are ahead of Aggie in the playoff era (2015-2020).
https://www.google.com/amp/s/thespun.com/college-football/graphic-most-nfl-draft-picks-college-football-playoff-era/amp

And at least 14 in the last 3 drafts. Not sure how that measures up against Aggie.

I think we end up producing a quality amount of NFL guys, but NFL draft picks don't tell the entire story of how much talent you because it doesn't take into account how long it took that player to become a quality SEC player.

At Auburn & A&M, two teams who we have been right there with NFL draft picks, they get a little more polished player on campus & therefore instead of getting 1.5 quality years out of them like we do, they get 2-2.5 quality years out of them. That helps your depth & prevents you from having holes on your roster.

Think about how many years we've got to recruit a JUCO player to come in & start. That JUCO guy may end up an NFL draft pick, but we really only get 1-1.5 quality years out of him, while A&M & Auburn may have gotten 2-3 quality years out of their NFL draft. The picks on counted the same on paper but the college production is a good big different.

How many good years did we get out of Darius Slay? Willie Gay? Montez Sweat, Hunter Renfroe, Chris Stratton, Martinas Rankin, etc?

With only 3-4 years in a college career, how quickly they become a quality matters a great deal

[Todd4State]

We will never have the talent Bama, LSU, Auburn, A&m, Fla, Georgia have. It is what it is

No. But we will also have better talent than Texas Tech and Washington State when we go up against those teams.

[Todd4State]

I think we end up producing a quality amount of NFL guys, but NFL draft picks don't tell the entire story of how much talent you because it doesn't take into account how long it took that player to become a quality SEC player.

At Auburn & A&M, two teams who we have been right there with NFL draft picks, they get a little more polished player on campus & therefore instead of getting 1.5 quality years out of them like we do, they get 2-2.5 quality years out of them. That helps your depth & prevents you from having holes on your roster.

Think about how many years we've got to recruit a JUCO player to come in & start. That JUCO guy may end up an NFL draft pick, but we really only get 1-1.5 quality years out of him, while A&M & Auburn may have gotten 2-3 quality years out of their NFL draft. The picks on counted the same on paper but the college production is a good big different.

How many good years did we get out of Darius Slay? Willie Gay? Montez Sweat, Hunter Renfroe, Chris Stratton, Martinas Rankin, etc?

With only 3-4 years in a college career, how quickly they become a quality matters a great deal

That's why Dan would **** us over when he wouldn't recruit an entire position group and we would have all freshmen or sub SEC talent at a position group like wide receiver. Our formula is to get 22 juniors or seniors at every position group unless we find a Jeffrey Simmons who can come in and play right away and have an impact. That was our 2014 team if you look at the depth chart.

[Todd4State]

Here's what I don't get about the Leach skeptics.

They're like- "He's not going to win a National Title here". But no one is saying that we're going to win a National Title. Most people are expecting him to get us one more win per year on average. That really equates out to beating who we are supposed to and then upsetting someone. Dan showed that we can beat who we are supposed to consistently. Jackie showed that we could upset people consistently. I don't see why the right coach couldn't do both because both Dan and Jackie had obvious flaws that held both back.

Then some are like- "Well we won't win because his offense won't work here". If they're not outright saying it they're definitely insinuating it. WHY? Yes, Leach likes to throw it a lot but the beauty is he doesn't require elite five star talent to make it work. People all the time say "Well, what would Omarr Conner have done in the spread option"- well let's turn it around a little bit- what would Bear, Jameon, Fred Brown, and Fred Ross done in the Air Raid? What about Justin Jenkins, Larry Huntington, and Terrell Grindle? People can't say Leach's offense is too complex. It has a reputation the opposite way so the "our players don't know the offense excuse" is already out the door.

The reality is the SEC is becoming a passing league- when Alabama and LSU are passing the ball like they are it says a lot. Texas A&M beat Alabama on the road with it. Ole Miss under Freeze ran a lot of Air Raid concepts and beat Alabama and others with it. Why not Mississippi State? Because "it's not what we do"? Which for the past ten years is mostly underachieve and go to a decent bowl while having no chance to beat Alabama or upset anyone. And sure that's better than Felker, Croom, and Shira....but is that better than Jackie?

MSU CAN pass the ball. But we have to have a coach that emphasizes discipline and that's why Moorhead didn't work. Heck- Moorhead ran Fitz as much or more than Dan and ran Kylin all year and his offense still didn't work.

And sure- next year may be rough. But I bet we look better coached. And as Leach assembles the talent he needs I bet we will be really good by 2023. And when I say really good- I mean 1999, 2014 good.

[Jarius]

So an 11-1 B12 team shouldnt be expected to beat an 8-4 OM team? Spike Dykes was 150-82 at TT before Leach got there- let's not act like they were some doorknob. Spike Dykes conference winning percentage? .587- Leach? .588. TT hadnt had a losing season for 8 years when Leach took over- so he took over a program that was very steady

Leach was .500 in conference in the Pac-12 and thats solid for them. But its not a tough conference. Their OOC schedule was weak as rainwater. Beating up Eastern Washington and Portland State every year makes it easy to pad your record.

Let's not forget that in year 8 under Leach- They had a losing record last year

We had a losing record with Dan Mullen in year 8 as well. He had a .500 conference record in the pac 12 because he took over a team that had won about 4 games in the previous 4 years to his arrival and he had to build the roster talent. He won 8.5 games a year once he had his guys at Washington State. He has a winning record against Oregon, A&M, and Ole Miss and he beat USC multiple times. He upset the #1 team in the country (Texas) and also beat them when they were ranked #4 in the country. Texas Tech has fallen off the map since his departure. He was left with a solid foundation and he slightly elevated it. What has transpired since he left Tech shows that both he and his predecessor were good coaches.

Diminishing his accomplishments makes you look like you’re trying way too hard.

[BuckyIsAB****]

I'm starving for football & saw this video posted somewhere else.

It's an NFL draft guru breaking down the Wazzou QB, but to do that he really goes in depth with the Leach offense. It's strengths & deficiencies.

I'm not all the way through it, but here are a couple early thought's I've had:

1. Offense is so spread out that it creates a ton of space. I look at the WRs we're currently recruiting & the speed they possess & am salivating at what guys like Robertson, Teddy Knox, Tulu, K Johnson, Nabors, Coleman, etc could do in this offense. Sheesh it could be fun if they close on these guys. It also makes sense as to why we haven't recruited some other in-state WRs as hard. It's not that those guys aren't good players & may play in the NFL, I just think that Leach believes that if the QB makes quick decisions & gets the ball out his hand, there just isn't much of a need for big bodied guys that have average speed. With 5 WRs & a good decision maker at WR, he just wants to put a boat load of speed on the field & have the QB throw to the open guy.

2. QB has to get he ball out quickly & as much as I love Shrader, this will be his battle. Shrader has a longer release, which I'm sure Leach will want to attempt to shorten.

3. Bo Bounds interviewed Spurrier Jr recently & Jr said "We've never had a running back like this & are trying to figure out how to use him". Throw Marks right in there with Kylin in talent & the point is Mike Leach has never had running backs like this & they are trying to adapt the offense to those players. To me, the immediate thing I think of is how they run their redzone offense. It'll be fun to see how Leach adapts this offense to premier RBs he's never had.

4. I love how little pump fakes are built into the early portions of some plays. Throws off the pass rush & coverage. Actually reminds me some of Freeze's offense in that regard

5. Oregon gives a good bit of cushion to the WRs. It'll be interesting how Leach, like every other new SEC coach, handles press coverage from 1st round caliber CBs.

I can't wait to see us run this & the ceiling of Mississippi State in this offense with the type of players we have access. I mean, this game is against Oregon & Oregon doesn't have bad players. Maybe not LSU, Auburn, or Bama type players, but Oregon Certainly has mid-level SEC type talent on defense.

Enjoy & let me know what you see.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUMMzujE_f8

Leach is going to run about 5-6 plays with tags. Its not really much to breakdown. But it is repped so much it becomes muscle memory. He will have more talent here than he has had anywhere else, as its been stated. But he is going to see a lot of cover 1 from LSU, man match quarters from Bama and exotic looks from Auburn. He has shown it will work go back and watch WSU vs Auburn in 2013. WSU easily shouldve won that game but red zone killed them.

The air raid is a lot like the triple option. Its an equalizer not anything special. It is simple. 2-3 pass protections at most. 4 verticals, mesh, y cross, smash and triangle read. Post and wheel tags. Inside zone draw and wrap. Thats the offense.

[Ari Gold]

Croom and his staff recruited and developed nfl guys
Mullen and his staff recruited and developed nfl guys
Moorhead and his staff recruited and developed nfl guys
On the Defensive side of the ball ...

There is no reason to believe CML and his staff won’t have the same type of recruiting and development on the defensive side of the ball as the previous head coaches and staffs
the difference is Going to be we put more guys in the league on the offensive side of the ball with CML than With these last 3 coaches ..

Bottom line.. just sit back and enjoy.. Mike Leach is the head coach at Miss State that in itself should be enough to have everyone off the charts excited ...