MIKE LEACH A LEGEND GONE TO SOON
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- Dec 17, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 21, 2022
LUBBOCK, Texas— The funeral service for former Texas Tech University Head Football Coach Mike Leach was announced to take place on Tuesday, December 20 inside the Humphrey Coliseum at Mississippi State University, according to social media post from MSU.
The service was also announced to be livestreamed on WatchESPN.com.
Coach Leach died on the evening of Monday, December 12 in Jackson, Mississippi from complications from a heart attack.
Coach Leach served as the head football coach for TTU from 2000 to 2009 and is the university’s winningest coach in history.
At Humphrey Coliseum on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, Mississippi State held a memorial for its departed head coach with some of college football's most recognizable figures in attendance. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and USC coach Lincoln Riley were some of those who eulogized Leach.
Many of his protégés, including TCU coach Sonny Dykes and Houston coach Dana Holgorsen, traveled to Starkville for the memorial. Some of his competitors in the SEC, including Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin and Arkansas coach Sam Pittman, came to pay their respects as well.
EDITOR'S PICKS
As the service was about to begin, Frank Sinatra's "My Way" played over the sound system. It was quickly apparent with every speaker who came on stage that Leach, who was born in California and raised in Wyoming, had carved his own path -- from college rugby player to Power 5 head coach.
Many in attendance wore cowbell-shaped pins on their suit jackets. Inside the cowbell was a skull and crossbones, a nod to Leach's nickname, Pirate
Keenum said Leach, who taught seminars and wrote a book about Geronimo, wasn't satisfied with the College Football Playoff's decision to expand from four to 12 teams. So he lobbied Keenum, the chair of the CFP board of managers.
"Mike wrote a plan for a 64-team College Football Playoff," Keenum said. "For real, an elaborate plan."
Laughter rippled through the coliseum. Keenum smiled and said they agreed to disagree.
"He was not the typical Power 5 football coach," Keenum said. "But as we all know, Mike Leach was anything but typical."
Sankey said there was no such thing as a brief, 15-minute conversation with Leach, and they never spoke about only one thing. Leach was informal, showing up to work…