OT: Mike Leach passed away (edit)

[kupuna133]

Awful news! Loved everything about this guy. Straight shooter who did things his way.

Had the pleasure of meeting his mentor Hal Mumme. Hal said he owes much of his personal success to Leach. Hal created the offense Leach perfected it.

 

[AntiG]

RIP

One of the reasons why the B12 plays such a fun brand of football nowadays. How sad to lose one of the great personalities in sports.

 

[Barnaby&Neill]

Sad news, but evidently expected based on what happened. Rest in peace Coach Leach, and my thoughts and sympathy to his loved ones and friends. Elite coach and entertaining guy. I'm really curious about his pre-existing cardiac and health conditions, although we might never know that. Regardless, 61 years is too young. Very sad.

Have no idea what his health background is, but it’s a tough profession, and coaches don’t share a lot about their health...maybe for pride reasons. Bo Schembechler famously had two heart attacks while coaching Michigan, but I can’t think of many others going public about their issues (Randy Walker died of a heart attack, so it was public). I think Mark Dantonio had a heart attack too. Given the demographic of older men (sometimes with big bellies)…it has to be more common. You do see a lot of coaches step away for some time or permanently in the middle of productive careers. We dismiss “focus on my health and family” as an excuse, but maybe a lot of these guys get frank talks from their doctors about the coaching lifestyle.

RIP to Mike Leach, great character and innovator in the sport

 

[rutgersguy1_rivals]

 

[DJ Spanky]

What horrible news, my heart goes out to his family and friends. 61 is way too young.

 

[Letitrip]

Best quote ever! RIP Coach Leach.

 

[ecojew]

It all happened so quickly. And so young - just 61.

I can't even imagine the shock being felt by his family, friends, and team.

Was he coaching Wazzou when they visited Rutgers Stadium?

 

[RUPete]

I thought this was an excellent story about his career and legacy: RIP Mike Leach

 

[RU-AGK]

"Fat Little Girlfriends" rant is the best ever. Rest easy Pirate.

 

[krup]

Really sucks to hear.

People have done a good job posting links showing how much influence he had on football and what a crazy career arc he had.

The world doesn’t have too many people who thought and lived the way he did, and were willing to put themselves out there as an example of not following the herd. It’s a big loss.

 

[Caliknight]

So what happened?

 

[Mikemarc]

So what happened?

Massive heart attack

 

[DJ Spanky]

So what happened?

Massive heart attack

Followed by cardiac arrest. Supposedly was deprived of oxygen for up to 15 minutes.

 

[dconifer0]

Big loss. I did love that guy, with his combination of wit/candor. also, I agree with the Tweet above that he belongs in any HOF that might exist for college coaches...

RIP

 

[dconifer0]

Really sucks to hear.

People have done a good posting links showing how much influence he had on football and what a crazy career arc he had.

The world doesn’t have too many people who thought and lived the way he did, and were willing to put themselves out there as an example of not following the herd. It’s a big loss.

That is a perfect tribute, Krup...

 

[dconifer0]

He had the Maryland job in 2010 until he did his final interview, and apparently the AD was overwhelmed with the candor, I suppose. So they hired Edsall instead. Poor Edsall, the fans (yeah, both of them, ha ha) never got past the disgust of losing Leach and gaining him...

 

[Caliknight]

That's a big 180.

Schools like Maryland and Rutgers can't make the safe hire if they want to truly be more than mediocre.

 

[RUPete]

He had the Maryland job in 2010 until he did his final interview, and apparently the AD was overwhelmed with the candor, I suppose. So they hired Edsall instead. Poor Edsall, the fans (yeah, both of them, ha ha) never got past the disgust of losing Leach and gaining him...

Yikes, didn't know that. I bet Leach's offense would have sold some tickets.

 

[dconifer0]

That's a big 180.

Schools like Maryland and Rutgers can't make the safe hire if they want to truly be more than mediocre.

Yeah, huge mistake, that's for sure. How can a middling football program pass that up?

 

[dconifer0]

Yikes, didn't know that. I bet Leach's offense would have sold some tickets.

Complete disaster, really. First, they had to let coach-in-waiting James Franklin leave for Vanderbilt a few weeks earlier, because they couldn't make up their mind about Ralph Friedgen (who won 2 games in 2009, but then 9 or 10 in 2010). Then, they have Leach all but signed and let him go, too...

I've never thought Randy Edsall was as horrible as most of the message board world does, but they passed on three coaches who were better than him in about three weeks (Friedgen, Franklin, Leach)...

 

[rutgersguy1_rivals]

https://sports.yahoo.com/mike-leach-helped-nfl-reinvent-155652521.html

Nice tweet (8 tweets) thread from a reporter in Pullman and now at ESPN.

 

[rutgersguy1_rivals]

Frank Sinatra’s My Way would be appropriate for him.

 

[czxqa]

RIP. Mike was a national treasure. The world is a little worse off today without his light in it.

 

[Rokodesh]

What a major loss for college football. The stories written about him show what an impact he had on those around him. RIP Coach Leach.

 

[Caliknight]

It's the problem with all the money in sports now. It weeds out characters or makes them become much less interesting.

 

[Knight Shift]

Yeah, huge mistake, that's for sure. How can a middling football program pass that up?

At least you had Leach in the running.

Rutgers BOG and influential donors would have blocked any consideration of a candid person and free-thinker as a head coach. Nothing ventured, nothing gained should be the hiring motto of Rutgers Athletics.

 

[Knight Shift]

https://sports.yahoo.com/mike-leach-helped-nfl-reinvent-155652521.html

Nice tweet (8 tweets) thread from a reporter in Pullman and now at ESPN.

That Chantel Jennings 8 tweet thread is lovely. Her story is more lovely. He did lots of things like this.

https://www.espn.com/college-footba...ing-football-pullman-washington-state-cougars

 

[Caliknight]

At least you had Leach in the running.

Rutgers BOG and influential donors would have blocked any consideration of a candid person and free-thinker as a head coach. Nothing ventured, nothing gained should be the hiring motto of Rutgers Athletics.

Sadly this is the type of hire a school like Rutgers needs to make to compete. Or at least have a chance.

 

[rutgersguy1_rivals]

That Chantel Jennings 8 tweet thread is lovely. Her story is more lovely. He did lots of things like this.

https://www.espn.com/college-footba...ing-football-pullman-washington-state-cougars

This is a long one but same kind of story.

https://www.si.com/college/mississi...ach-impacted-several-lives-before-his-passing

Last few paragraphs of the story:

Tuesday, Dec. 13 marks Day 1 of the rest of my life ahead of me while knowing that I will no longer be able to call Mike Leach any time. No one else will have the ability to either.

But this is not about me.

The silver lining is that there are thousands of stories just like this one that have been published to social media and the internet since the moment it was announced Sunday that Mike Leach had been transported to UMCC and was in critical condition. You don't have to do much looking to find those.

The takeaway from all of this is that Leach affected countless lives of people he both did and did not cross paths with and that no one was ever too small for him. Even when things got busy, he would make the time for just about anyone and was probably more intrigued about getting to know things about other people he met than they were just to get the time of day from him.

When we think about college football coaches, especially someone of this magnitude who revolutionized the sport in a historical manner, it's easy to imagine they would be very prideful or only talk to a certain group of people. That couldn't be more opposite of him.

There will never be another Mike Leach and that's what is hurting so many of us today.

But I hope that we all come away from this celebrating not only his immense impact, but how truly rare and special it is to have someone to call any time.

 

[MADHAT1]

Sad news, my condolences go ot to his family and all who cared for the man.
A great coach who left his mark on the college game in a good way

 

[rutgersguy1_rivals]

 

[Knight Shift]

Sadly this is the type of hire a school like Rutgers needs to make to compete. Or at least have a chance.

Thinking more about Deion Sanders, I agree. We see what Mike Leach did for WSU. It remains to be seen if Sanders will do something similar for Colorado. I would not bet against Sanders. No doubt, he will shake things up and get University of Colorado some national attention and excellent recruits.

 

[Caliknight]

For sure. I am not Sanders fan but he is already creating a buzz and tons of publicity for that school. We need an outside of the box hire. Not a boring retread that brings very little excitement to the field. Not sure Rutgers as a whole has the stomach for someone like that though.

 

[RU4Real]

As someone who is intimately familiar with his own inner pirate, I always felt a strong affinity for Mike Leach.

I wanted him at RU, but had zero hope that the AD and school were bold enough to be interested.

He'll be missed, probably more than we can yet comprehend.

 

[Knight Shift]

Sadly this is the type of hire a school like Rutgers needs to make to compete. Or at least have a chance.

One other thought. You may think that we are on opposite sides of some issues, but we are closer than you think.

There is a saying in the fire service that may as well apply to coach hires: Risk a little to save a little. Risk a lot to save a lot. Translated, this means that when lives are at stake, firefighters take maximum risks, but generally, less risk is undertaken to save property.

Translated to coaching hires, floundering and middling programs need to risk a lot, IMO. A real lot. The difference is nobody will die, but if you hire a coach who might me a non-conformist or a little loud, feathers many get ruffled and feelings may be hurt.

 

[MADHAT1]

Sadly this is the type of hire a school like Rutgers needs to make to compete. Or at least have a chance.

True , someone like Leach might have been a great hire for Rutgers.
But in the negative media area it seems RU is in, the press would make the most of
why he was out of coaching from late 2009 to late 2011 , making for that type of coverage a reason why candidates like him might give Rutgers a wide berth when RU is looking for a HC.

 

[Caliknight]

True m someone like Leach might have been a great hire for Rutgers.
But in the negative media area it seems RU is in, the press would make the most of
why he was out of coaching from late 2009 to late 2011 , making for a possibility candidates like him might give Rutgers a wide berth when RU is looking for a HC.

Who cares? It doesn't matter who the coach is. The NJ media is toxic and negative. They will go after whoever is coach. It's only a matter of time before Schiano's neck is on the line.

 

[RU4Real]

For sure. I am not Sanders fan but he is already creating a buzz and tons of publicity for that school. We need an outside of the box hire. Not a boring retread that brings very little excitement to the field. Not sure Rutgers as a whole has the stomach for someone like that though.

Sanders called me once, back when I was working for the League. He had lost his "beeper" and the Cowboys didn't have much of an IT dept. back then. I shipped him one of our SkyTel devices, even though it a) wasn't anywhere near my job and b) Tags would have killed me if he'd found out that I'd given something to one of Jerry's guys for free.

Deion Fedex'd me some swag as a thank you, which frankly made an impression. A lot of those guys (players) think way too much of themselves.

 

[MADHAT1]

Who cares? It doesn't matter who the coach is. The NJ media is toxic and negative. They will go after whoever is coach. It's only a matter of time before Schiano's neck is on the line.

You're right about we shouldn't care, but a HCing candidate might look at the way the media covers Rutgers as a reason the job might be one to shie away from if other programs in need of a HC have a more positive media following them.
Is it low-balling HC candidates that make it look like the best of the best aren't interested, or the type of support they can expect from the media that keeps them from being interested .
I feel it's a combination of both that makes Rutgers not as desirable of a job as it should be and why quality candidates seem to go everywhere but RU

That said, Mike Leach was the type of coach that could make any program better and his loss is college footballs loss as well.

 

[AZBlues]

Does anyone know if he received CPR while waiting for the paramedics to arrive at the home 10 to 15 minutes after he collapsed? I guess it depends in part on who was home with him at the time. (CPR chest compressions done correctly and started right after cardiac arrest, and continuing until paramedics arrive, can double or triple the chances of survival.)