Mike Leach’s legacy endures through his family as College Football Hall of Fame nod remains out of reach

Sharon Leach blames herself. College football Coaches’ wives are sanctified when they say, “yes.” Family duties that would normally be shared by a couple quickly tilt toward one side of the marital dynamic as the husband/coach spends countless hours away from home.

Sharon Leach is one of those saints, in part because she yet blames herself for the only college football game her husband Mike Leach missed as a coach.

“Why, why would I have a baby during football season?” Sharon Leach told CBS Sports. “That was really bad timing. It wasn’t smart.”

Sharon is clearly aware of the unpredictability of pregnancy. Still, Kimberly Leach was born on Football Saturday-November 4, 1989, a night her father’s Iowa Wesleyan Tigers won a football game without their offensive coordinator.

“He never took a day off, [never] a sick day. His whole life as a coach, he dragged his feet,” Sharon Leach said of her famous husband. “The only time he missed a game was when I was in labor. They ended up giving him the game ball.

“He was [to work] no matter what. He dedicated a lot of time and a lot of life to football and never really managed to reap the rewards after that.”

His voice becomes full of emotion at the end of the last sentence. This is understandable. It’s only been a year and a half since her husband died. Mike Leach’s brilliance in the college game as one of the sport’s great coaches, minds and outlaws has barely dimmed.

When Leach died suddenly in December 2022 at the age of 61, he left a loving wife, four children, and a part of his legacy that, sooner or later, must be addressed: in almost every way, Leach is a coach of the College Football Hall of Fame. . But the way things are now, he can never be in that hall of fame.

When the Voting for the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame was announced last week, Leach’s omission was notable. Nick Saban, eligible immediately at age 72, was elected five months after his retirement. Urban Meyer accomplished this at least three years after his last coaching job.

Less than two years after his untimely death, Leach still does not qualify for his profession’s highest honor. A minimum career winning percentage of .600 is required to be considered for induction. That has been the case since the hall was founded in 1951, according to National Football Foundation President and CEO Steve Hatchell.

However, this limit was not enforced during long periods of the hall’s history. The College Football Hall of Fame includes 30 coaches who fell short of .600, including Tuss McLaughry, who was inducted in 1962 despite a .490 winning percentage in a career that lasted from 1915 to 1955.

As an innovator alone, Leach deserves consideration. He helped invent the air raid, the concepts of which are used in some form by everyone NFL and FBS program, excluding service academies.

Leach falls just shy of the career winning percentage mark, finishing with a .596 winning percentage (158-107) in 21 years at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State. The technical maverick nicknamed “The Pirate” could increase the score and go off on a tangent in equal measure.

“He managed to win with less”, summarized Sharon Leach. “And while I think his legacy was, ‘He changed the way football was played,’ I can’t remember how many times they said, ‘That will never work in the NFL or it will never work here or there.’ Soon, everyone was doing it.”

Leach’s coaching tree includes at least 14 current or former college coaches. All of this made him so lethal as a trainer and quirky as a person that he made a career out of basically falling outside the lines of the human race.

His former agent, Gary O’Hagan, was working on a TV project once with the trainer and sent Leach a sign from Ireland’s Killarney National Park that playfully said, “Leprechaun Crossing.”

“He calls me and says, ‘Hey, when we’re doing this show, can we look for the elves?’” O’Hagan recalled. “I said, ‘No, no, no, Mike. This sign is to attract tourists.’ He immediately responded, ‘Oh, I know. But can we at least go to the areas where, if they were real, they would live?'”

Hatchell is among the enchanted. The former Big 12 commissioner landed the role of president and CEO of the NFF in 2005, and upon taking the role was told by powerful and prominent board members that he must adhere to the .600 winning percentage threshold.

However, since 2005, two coaches have been appointed with records under 600: Doug Porter (2008) and Willie Jeffries (2010). Porter was 155-110-5 (0.583) at Mississippi Valley State, Howard and Fort Valley State from 1961-1996. Porter, the hall’s oldest living member, died this week at age 94. He was an HBCU legend for being an assistant to Eddie Robinson. Jeffries was 180-132-6 (0.587) at South Carolina State, Howard and Wichita State from 1973-2001. He was the first black coach in the FBS, joining Wichita State in 1979.

“There was no contortion of that [.600 number],” Hatchell told CBS Sports. “George Steinbrenner and a bunch of other guys who had been on the board for a long time told me, ‘Hatchell, these are the rules. You follow the rules, no matter what, whatever happens.

“Remember we love Mike Leach. I wish he was around now.”

Hatchell says Leach’s induction would now require a “waiver of the rules.” The NFF Court of Honor would have to send a recommendation to the NFF Board of Directors for such action. The council is made up of more than 75 members and includes six current or former conference commissioners, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Archie Manning is president.

“The NFF takes our responsibility to establish criteria and oversee the nomination and selection process for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame very seriously,” Manning told CBS Sports. “Our constituents understand the criteria and process that was set. They are reviewed every year. Coach Leach was an exceptional coach, a good man and a friend of the NFF.”

Hatchell said Leach would still have to wait the required three years since his last game, but that point seems moot with the .600 winning percentage on the way.

This court of honor, which annually determines the latest hall of fame members, is chaired by two-time Heisman Trophy winner and former Ohio State star Archie Griffin. An NFF source suggested that Leach’s situation could be “the ultimate test case” of the .600 requirement.

The hall of fame process can be complicated. Players like Joe Montana, Dak Prescott and Eli Manning are ineligible for consideration because they were never first-team All-Americans chosen by NFF-approved media outlets.

Hatchell said Leach could still enter through other NFF awards, such as the Distinguished American Award (outstanding contributions to amateur football), but he suspects the preference would be to enter as a coach.

Sharon Leach hopes the way her husband left Texas Tech doesn’t affect his chances. The school fired Mike Leach in 2009 after what Texas Tech called “a defiant act of insubordination.” A scandal erupted after Tech player Adam James alleged he was mistreated by Leach.

Still, the room is full of controversial members. Former Heisman winners OJ Simpson (USC) and Billy Cannon (LSU) became convicted felons after their playing days ended.

It took legendary Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer 13 years to be inaugurated. Switzer resigned in 1989 amid an NCAA scandal.

“I knew these little deficiencies could be a factor,” Sharon Leach said of her husband. “I don’t know how willing they are [NFF] must double. I’m kind of hoping he gets in.”

Mike Leach’s legacy on and off the field continues unabated. Longtime college football journalist Bruce Feldman co-wrote the best-selling “Swing Your Sword” with Leach. “The Pirate’s” famous reviews/analysis will keep YouTube going forever. Leach could break down a defense and offer marital advice in the same press conference. This answer to a question about student loans is one of his classics.

Leach was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in April. Sharon is currently analyzing her papers, considering loaning them to Mississippi State for an exhibit honoring Mike’s career. O’Hagan told CBS Sports that there is a documentary in the works about the coach’s career that will be narrated by Matthew McConaughey.

As it happens, this fall Leach will be honored at a game in Washington State. The opponent? Texas Technology. His son Cody remains an assistant at Mississippi State.

Leach was a good father who would wake up his daughter Janeen after coming home from work to practice her softball throwing skills. Daughter Kiersten was born on September 25, 1998, the day before the Florida game, when Leach was an assistant at Kentucky under Hal Mumme. This time, Leach did the birth It is the game, boarding the team plane shortly after Kiersten arrived.

“I was scheduled to be induced, but luckily I went into labor that morning,” Sharon said. “I was quick. He said, ‘Great, it’s a girl. It’s okay. OK, I gotta go.’ It’s like, ‘See you later, no hard feelings,’ because that’s football.”

Sharon left this discussion no less holy than when she became the football player’s wife.

“The only way I’m getting over [the loss of her husband], really, is trying not to think about it too much. I like talking about him. It’s a little easier now,” she said. “I kind of hope he gets into the hall of fame at some point. He definitely changed the way football is played.

“That’s what I hope…your memory will be honored.”