Top 10 most hated head coaches in college football heading into 2017

There remains a rift among Texas Tech fans about the legacy of Mike Leach, years after his contentious departure from Lubbock. The details of the Adam James incident are hardly flattering. But it is also worth noting that the Texas Tech administration was actively seeking to terminate Leach’s contract before the details of that case emerged publicly. Leach cuts against the traditional image of a head coach, and it often grates on both opposing fan bases as well as his own.

Breaking the mold, Leach went to BYU and then got his law degree at Pepperdine but did not play sports. A published scholar, Leach is one of a half-dozen FBS head coaches who never played football in college. That esoteric background leads him to speak his mind freely. This desire to break the mold of a coach has served to help bolster his position as one of football’s hated coaches. It also doesn’t help in some ways that his general philosophy is all-out aerial assault with little concern for defense.

That hasn’t changed since Leach took over at Washington State in 2012. His teams have regularly topped NCAA charts for passing production, while ranking toward the bottom of the FBS in defense. In recent years that trend has changed, and the Cougars have become a thorn in the side of other Pac-12 teams. With Wazzu evolving from laughingstock to dark horse in the conference, more fans will probably begin to hate Leach.