Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Mississippi State Football: 3 reasons Mike Leach will turn program around

By Dante Pryor

EUGENE, OR - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Mike Leach of the Washington State Cougars looks up at the video screen during the third quarter of the game against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
EUGENE, OR - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Mike Leach of the Washington State Cougars looks up at the video screen during the third quarter of the game against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next

Mike Leach is in as the head coach of Mississippi State football. Is he a good fit? Here are three reasons why Leach does well in StarkVegas.

Long before Mike Leach became head coach at either Texas Tech or Washington State, he was an assistant at Kentucky under then head coach Hal Mumme working out this new offense called the “Air Raid.” Since then, Leach made Texas Tech a relevant program in the Big 12 and rebuilt Washington State post Mike Price.

He’s put his personal stamp on the Air Raid and has passed down to coaches like Graham Harrell, Kliff Kingsbury and Dana Holgorsen.

When then Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead was let go by the program, Adam Rittenberg reported Leach was one of three targets for the Bulldogs head coaching job. The other candidates were Florida defensive candidate Todd Grantham and Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. These coaches were targeted after their initial candidate, Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge, was hired by the New York Giants.

Is this really going to work?

Leach has been a Power Five head coach for almost 20 years and this is the second “high profile” Power 5 job he’s been in the running for. Tennessee was the other two years ago. You know what you are going to get with Leach. Apparently so does new Washington Huskies head coach Jimmy Lake who was promoted from defensive coordinator. He ran the defense in Seattle while the Huskies dominated the Cougars in the Apple Cup for seven consecutive years.

Can this offense work in the SEC? How will Leach react when Bulldog Nation shows its ire for losing an Egg Bowl?

Not only can the Air Raid work in the SEC, Leach is the ideal coach for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and here are three reasons why.

Home/Mississippi State Bulldogs