Mike Leach was college football, but The Spirit of The Pirate lives on forever

Nobody encapsulated the spirit of college football better and quite like The Pirate, Mike Leach.

As the college football world is in mourning and flying Jolly Rogers at half-mast on flag poles all around the world, we must remember that The Spirit of The Pirate, Mike Leach, will live on forever.

The last few days have been so hard. 61 years old is way too young. If there is any silver lining, at least Coach Leach went out on top as an Egg Bowl champion. In a weird way, it was the perfect capstone to a one-of-a-kind career that will never be recreated, duplicated or forgotten, only imitated, as in Wes Blankenship’s impression of Leach discussing the importance of the Egg Bowl.

The Spirit of The Pirate will always live on because Coach Leach was truly a man of the people.

Over the last few days, I’ve kept coming back to this one point. Mike Leach was college football.

We must keep The Spirit of The Pirate alive inside us to best honor Mike Leach

It is impossible to put into words a life lived to the fullest. Leach was a national treasure. With football acumen, he was Don Coryell. At the podium, he was John McKay. In terms of embodying the spirit of what makes college football the best sport on Planet Earth, he was one of us. He was our representative, the one who had a seat at the table. It is why his tragic passing hurts so much.

Like many people who love this sport, Coach Leach did not play in college. It never mattered. He fell in love with the game while at BYU. He saw Steve Young and others spin it for LaVell Edwards in Provo. After graduating from law school at Pepperdine, Leach somehow got into coaching in 1987. Like college football itself, his pathway to becoming a legend never had to make any sense.

Besides the thousands of young men’s lives he helped mold over the last 35 years, his greatest contribution to the game was the invention of the Air Raid offense. Initially conceived in 1989 at Iowa Wesleyan alongside Hal Mumme, the Air Raid was designed to use all areas of the field as a way to attack space, giving teams with lesser athletes a chance to compete at their highest levels.

The ultimate underdog passing offense evolved everywhere Leach went on his Pirate’s life tour. It became more refined at Valdosta State before allowing Tim Couch to be the No. 1 overall pick by the expansion Cleveland Browns in 1999 NFL Draft out of Kentucky. After a brief pit stop as Bob Stoops’ first offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, Leach was leading Texas Tech in the year 2000.

It was in Lubbock were Leach started to become a legend. While every quarterback who ever played for him threw for all the yards in the world, we will never forget the 2008 Texas Tech team, you know, the one that beat Texas on the final second. Graham Harrell’s pass to Michael Crabtree is arguably the greatest play in Texas Tech football history. It was when the Air Raid finally arrived.

Although Coach Leach’s exodus from Texas Tech a little over a year later was the black spot on his career, The Pirate resurfaced at another major conference’s most remote outpost, hoping to raid some air again. Leach arrived in Pullman in 2012, helping Washington State have its best eight-year run since Mike Price. It was in 2018 when we saw the birth of another star, Gardner Minshew.

Of all the players who ever played for Coach Leach, Minshew’s one season at Washington State perhaps best illustrates all the difference one year can make. Minshew’s college career was hanging in the balances. The former East Carolina quarterback transferred to Wazzu, raided some air and was part of an 11-win team. It should never happen, but it did. This is what it is all about.

Although him leaving for Mississippi State in 2020 was a tad controversial, once again, Leach left one remote Power Five outpost for another to go raid some air. His Bulldogs teams got better every year. After winning his first Egg Bowl, Mississippi State finished the regular season at 8-4, potentially destined for a top 25 finish. Even in Starkville, Mississippi, Leach found a way to relate.

Yes, Coach Leach won everywhere he went. In 21 seasons, he amassed 158 victories, won eight bowl games and finished the season ranked inside of the top 25 at places like Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State. His contributions to the game are innumerable, but it is the man that we all lost that is absolutely destroying us inside on this overcast Tuesday morning.

We can all learn more about ourselves by the way Mike Leach lived his Pirate life

Truthfully, the reason we loved Coach Leach so much was never about what he did on the field, but what he did off it. His coaching run coincided with the explosion of the internet and social media. Never afraid to be himself, Leach was a lifelong learner, one to answer the tougher questions in life, whether it be thoughts on Sasquatch’s existence, Halloween candy or if coffee is any good?

We never did find any Sasquatch bones, now did we?

Dollar-store Sprees in a box and Haribo gummy bears forever, but candy corn was always trash.

Coffee may taste terrible (to some), but like life, you just gotta put it down, one bitter sip at a time.

Whether it came to other ramblings about shovel passes, if sugar can really cure hiccups or players’ “fat, little girlfriends”, Coach Leach always kept us on the straight and narrow, but was never afraid to take a conversation off the rails and crash it into a ditch. For those who knew him well, they never knew were any and all conversations were going, but thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Of all the things surrounding Coach Leach’s passing, this is what hurts the most. Nobody was more comfortable in their own skin than him. He didn’t care if he came across as quirky, weird or at times, improper. Coach Leach was always himself. It is why people gravitated to him so easily. You learned more than just about Geronimo when speaking with him; you learned about yourself.

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban probably said this the best when it came to Leach.

"“I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Mike over the last several years. I never knew quite where our conversations were going but they always made me smile.” – Nick Saban on Mike Leach’s passing."

https://twitter.com/AlabamaFTBL/status/1602668356737302528

In a very cutthroat business of college athletics, Coach Leach was The Pirate, but always in a good way. He was never going to make it about himself. It was always about doing something bigger than yourself and thoroughly enjoying the life experience, together. His roundabout answers took some time, but he made time for others. He raided air, if you let him. He change the game forever.

In the days, weeks, months and years to follow, I hope college football finds the right way to honor his legacy. I don’t know if we can rename the Golden Egg after him, but Kentucky and Mississippi State should play for a trophy in his honor every season for the rest of time. If Mississippi State sports a Jolly Roger helmet decal, or a special Pirate-themed uniform, that would be appropriate.

To put the sword back into the holster just a bit, when Leach was asked by ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap years ago about what he wanted his obituary to say and how he wanted to be remembered, his response was perfect: “Well, that’s their problem … what do I care? I’m dead.” It was quintessential Leach at its very core. People always say be where your feet are, and Leach lived his life that way.

Ultimately, I think the connective tissue we all had with Coach Leach was his relatability. Surely, you have a favorite soundbite of his. No matter how many times you hear it or watch the video clip, you will laugh and your mood will improve instantaneously. In a world that is always trying to bring you down, look for the good in life whenever you can. Be yourself, just like Coach Leach was.

Forever swing your sword, unapologetically and proudly.

RIP Mike Leach (1961-2022)