Mike Leach is perfect hire for Mississippi State, and here’s why

Mississippi State has made the splashiest hire of the offseason as the Bulldogs have picked Mike Leach to be their next head coach.

After missing out on Joe Judge and Billy Napier, Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen salvaged the Bulldogs’ coaching search by making the biggest hire of the offseason. Mike Leach is headed to Starkville and will officially be the next coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The hire is a monumental move for everyone involved as Cohen had been scrutinized for how Joe Moorhead’s firing was handled, Mississippi State needed an offensive innovator leading the program, and Leach landed a job in the most competitive conference in the country.

While Leach isn’t necessarily an ideal fit with the way Mississippi State’s roster is currently assembled, that doesn’t mean MSU won’t be able to have success with him. Leach’s pass-happy offense should be able to help the Bulldogs break through in the SEC.

Dan Mullen built the program with a focus on running the ball, utilizing dual threat quarterbacks, and winning games with a stout defense. Moorhead, more or less, attempted to follow that same sort of blueprint, but didn’t succeed enough.

Mike Leach is a bit different than what MSU has had in the past. He doesn’t fit into that same mold.

His teams win by throwing the ball as often as possible with seemingly little regard for how the defense performs. But, Leach’s air raid scheme is built to compensate for a relative lack of talent on his team’s roster.

Even though MSU has a fairly talented team heading into 2020, State has not been able to recruit to the level of the rest of the SEC, and that’s especially true comparing MSU to the rest of the SEC West.

Leach’s offense, once it’s installed in Starkville, should be able to help overcome that talent disparity between MSU and teams such as Alabama or LSU. That doesn’t guarantee wins over the Crimson Tide or the Tigers, but it couldn’t hurt State’s chances at beating the better teams in its division.

Mississippi State fans will need to be patient with Leach.

He’s likely coming at a huge cost and the team may not appear all that impressive during his first season or two in Starkville. The Bulldogs didn’t have a single player with over 500 yards receiving on its roster this past season. Tommy Stevens and Garrett Shrader combined to throw for 2325 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.

So it’s fair to question who will step up in State’s new offense.

However, if given time, Leach should be able to elevate Mississippi State’s ceiling in the SEC. In his first three seasons at Washington State, the Cougars won 12 total games. In the next four years, Washington State won 37. The man is used to building teams up and overcoming talent differentials. He’s being hired to do that for arguably the least prestigious program in the toughest division in the country.

Mike Leach is a great fit for Mississippi State.

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