Mike Leach looks like he’s going to be the next head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers, but let’s not forget earlier in 2017 when he dogged the SEC.
The head coaching search for the Tennessee Volunteers after they fired Butch Davis has been anything but normal. That’s the case with any SEC job, really, but it’s been turned up so high in this case that the knob has broken off the amplifier. After all of the Greg Schiano drama, though, it seems the Vols may finally have their man: current Washington State Cougars head coach Mike Leach.
Leach, formerly of Texas Tech, has been wildly successful in the collegiate ranks. He’s known for his tremendous offensive mind, which is pretty undeniable at this point and also has roots in the SEC as he once helmed the offense from the sidelines at Kentucky. Whether with the Red Raiders previously or now with the Cougars, he’s always in charge of a pass-heavy style attack that can put big numbers on the scoreboard.
If you’ll remember, he’s also not the biggest fan of SEC offenses that differ tremendously from his own stylings.
When talking to the The Clarion-Ledger about Phil Longo bringing Leach’s offensive ideals to Ole Miss as an offensive coordinator, Leach didn’t hesitate to take some major shots at the state of offenses in the SEC, saying:
"“First, it becomes it won’t work,” Leach said. “Second, they basically say, ‘oh it’s a system,’ suggesting that people who don’t do it that way — who just run it up the middle, stick all your asses together so one hand grenade can kill everybody — that’s the right way to do it. Since they do it the right way, they’re OK with the fact they lost.“This is a great time to be in the SEC; everybody’s got the same offense: run right, run left, play action. And they tease themselves and say we threw it four more times a game this year than we did last year.”"
And now he’s going to be facing the same things in the SEC if he does indeed take the Tennessee job. I’m sure that none of the vaunted defenses in the conference will have any of those comments on their bulletin boards — right…right?
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Of course, Leach has never really been one to mince words — even if they don’t make a great deal of sense some times. Still, he’s not going to be coming into the SEC to make friends. Like he did at Texas Tech and like he’s done at Wazzu, Leach will be coming to Knoxville to win. And if he has to throw it all over the SEC to do it, by god he’s going to air it out.