Remembering the legendary Mike Leach: His Best Quotes, Advices & Fantastic Moments

During his tenure as the head coach of a college football team, Mike Leach grew to be somewhat of a national treasure. Prior to his untimely death, he was the coach for Washington State and subsequently Mississippi State after starting off as a coach at Texas Tech in 2000.

His press conferences were impressive. He could always come up with a memorable soundbite or statement on the spot. Some of his sayings have been incorporated into collegiate football legend.

Remembering the legendary Mike Leach

One such quote has separated itself from the others. In 2009, he called his players’ effort levels into question with a now iconic line.

Leach said:

“As coaches, we fail to get through to them. As coaches, we fail to make our coaching points and our points more compelling than their fat little girlfriends. Their fat little girlfriends have some obvious advantages. For one thing, their fat little girlfriends are telling them what they want to hear, which is how great you are.”

He continued:

“And how easy it’s going to be. And how, you know, we had a bunch of people- everyone wanted to win the football game, but nobody wanted to play the football game. That defies every level of work ethic that exists with regard to football.”

Leach had a distinctive personality and expressed many sincere ideas and viewpoints throughout the course of his long coaching career. They also covered topics other than football. Leach would talk about everything and everything, including Bigfoot, pirates, sweet corn, and even a potential Pac-12 mascot conflict.

Over the years, Leach produced countless memorable soundbites and clips. Here are just a few of the greatest examples of what Leach contributed to college football off the field.

Following Mississippi State’s victory over Vanderbilt in 2021, Leach gave one of his most admired interviews. It had been made known to the broadcast that Leach detested candy corn, and it was eight days till Halloween.

Leach was asked about his disdain for the candy after the contest and was asked instead which candies he liked the most.

Mike On Weddings

Weddings weren’t Mike Leach’s favorite thing, and he made that clear over time. The most recent of his many rants over the marriage procedure was delivered in reaction to SEC Network reporter Alyssa Lang telling him she was getting married to Trevor Sikkema.

What did Leach advise the two to carry out? He believed they ought to get away. This is why.

“We’ll keep a close eye on it, but whatever you and Trevor decide, I would kind of keep it on the down low, which you failed to do that,” Leach said. “Trevor was probably planning to, but you didn’t, so go ahead and don’t say anything else about it, but as soon as the season’s over, or even an off week, go elope. Trust me on that. Go elope, because basically every female in the family is gonna terrorize you guys until it’s over. Once it’s over, I mean, they’ll be upset for a few days, but it’ll be over and then you can cruise along and have a happy marriage, have a happy life.”

Leach has expressed her dislike towards weddings in public several times. When he was a student at Washington State, reporter Mike Stefansson asked him if he had any advice for Stefansson’s impending nuptials.

Leach asked Stefansson to leave the wedding preparations alone rather than offering more general counsel.

“You have to stay out of the way. I wish you a very happy marriage, and I’m sure you’ll have one, but I’m just telling ya, when it comes to marriages, women lose their minds. Your fiancee’s going to lose her mind; your mother-in-law is gonna lose her mind; your mom is gonna lose her mind; several of your sisters and female relatives are gonna lose their mind; and they’re gonna barrage you with constant questions.”

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Mike’s pet raccoon, Bilbo Baggins

Leach, who grew up in Wyoming, had a pet raccoon, one of the most unusual pets imaginable. He explained in a piece for The Players’ Tribune how his family had adopted and raised the raccoon.

The name of the raccoon was Bilbo Baggins, after the protagonist of J.R.R. Tolkein’s “The Hobbit.”

Leach was awash with tales about Bilbo’s penchant for tinkering with the kitchen’s sparkling pans. He would climb up on shelves and knock them against each other and pull them down.

Leach did, however, go on to describe the night when the family had to let Bilbo go in a way that only he could.

“One night, Bilbo got particularly feisty, so my dad and I drove him out to woods,” Leach wrote. “Once we found a good spot, we stopped and I put him on the ground and took his collar off. He kind of ambled about, taking in the new surroundings. I preface this next part by saying I do think humans and animals share an unspoken understanding, to some extent. That’s why it’s so easy to bond with pets.

“So this is how I remember saying goodbye to Bilbo: He wandered 10 yards away or so from the truck, and then he turned and looked at us and kind of had this expression like, It was nice knowing ya. It was this moment where like, both I knew and he knew that we’d had some good times, but this was it. It was onward and upward for both of us.”

Leach spoke about this story in 2017 and revealed that he would like a pet raccoon again, despite their teenage years being difficult.

Mike Leach’s Pirates vs. Vikings debate

Leach was renowned for his ability to reason through issues with oneself. He also argued whether Vikings or pirates would prevail in a confrontation.

Leach was a well-known pirate enthusiast, and one ESPN article from 2009 referred to his Texas Tech office as a museum of pirate memorabilia. Therefore, it was only logical that he had many ideas on how a hypothetical conflict between a group of pirates and a group of vikings would develop.

He gave the on-site reporters a brief history lesson about each group of raiders and appeared to believe that they would opt to cooperate. However, he admitted that it was “a tricky question.”

Mike Leach was just 61 years old and in his third season at Mississippi State. His passing has been met wth great sadness across the league and the world of football is offering tributes to him.

The end result was one of the most influential careers in football history. And by the way, he made sure the show was worth the price of admission too, which Leach always felt was the point of sports.

“Mike has made football more fun for people than they deserved,” Mumme said. “If you watched Mike Leach, you had fun watching.”

 

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