MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2023 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Williams, Barnett, Blackwell, Michel, McMahan, Johnson, Jackson, Harkins, Simmons (12th), Hopson, Butler (36th), Polk, Sparks, Butler (38th), Frazier, Suber, Hill, DeBar, Jordan, Thomas, Caughman, Boyd, Parker, McLendon, England, Hickman, Blount, Moran, Chassaniol, Seymour, Wiggins, McCaughn, Chism, Younger, Fillingane, Kirby, Branning, Norwood, Thompson, Simmons (13th)
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION EXTENDING THE DEEPEST SYMPATHY OF THE LEGISLATURE TO THE SURVIVING FAMILY OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL COACH MIKE LEACH AND PAYING TRIBUTE TO HIS CAREER AND LEGACY AS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL COACHES OF THIS GENERATION.
WHEREAS, Mississippi State University Football Coach Mike Leach, who helped revolutionize football from high school to the NFL with the "Air Raid" offense, passed away on December 12, 2022; and
WHEREAS, gruff, pioneering and unfiltered, Mississippi State's Mike Leach was one of the most influential football coaches of this or any generation. His boundless curiosity and fascination for people, places and things made him a unique character in sports and famous beyond the field; and
WHEREAS, "Mike was a giving and attentive husband, father and grandfather. He was able to participate in organ donation at UMMC as a final act of charity," the family said in a statement issued by Mississippi State. "We are supported and uplifted by fans around the world. Thank you for sharing in the joy of our beloved husband and father's life"; and
WHEREAS, in 21 seasons as a Head Coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State, Coach Leach went 158-107. In Starkville, under gray skies, the videoboard at Davis Wade Stadium showed an image of a smiling Leach and the message: "In loving memory." Black ribbons were tied to the stadium gates, and flowers were left there to honor the coach; and
WHEREAS, "Mike's keen intellect and unvarnished candor made him one of the nation's true coaching legends," Mississippi State President Mark Keenum said. "His passing brings great sadness to our university, to the Southeastern Conference, and to all who loved college football. I will miss Mike's profound curiosity, his honesty, and his wide-open approach to pursuing excellence in all things"; and
WHEREAS, Coach Leach was known for his pass-happy offense, and wide-ranging interests. He wrote a book about Native American leader Geronimo, had a passion for pirates and taught a class about insurgent warfare. He gave rambling, off-the-cuff news conferences. He traveled all over the world and most appreciated those who stepped outside of their expertise; and
WHEREAS, Coach Leach's teams were consistent winners at programs where success did not come easily. His quarterbacks put up massive passing statistics, running a relatively simple offense called the "Air Raid" that he certainly mastered. Six of the 20 best-passing seasons in major college football history were by quarterbacks who played for Coach Leach, including four of the top six. Calling plays from a folded piece of paper smaller than an index card, Coach Leach turned passers such as B.J. Symons (448.7 yards per game), Graham Harrell (438.8), Connor Halliday (430.3) and Anthony Gordon (429.2) into record-setters and Heisman Trophy contenders; and
WHEREAS, Coach Leach went 84-43 with the Texas Red Raiders, never having a losing season at the Big 12 school and reaching No. 2 in the country in 2008 with a team that went 11-2 and matched a school record for victories. He returned to coaching in the Pac-12 but never gave up his beloved home in the Keys. Coach Leach landed at Washington State in 2012. After three losing seasons, the "Cougars" soon looked very much like his Texas Tech teams. In 2018, Washington State went 11-2, setting a school record for victories, and was ranked as high as No. 7 in the country; and
WHEREAS, Coach Leach moved to the Southeastern Conference in 2020, taking over at Mississippi State. After years of questions about whether Coach Leach's spread offense could be successful in the nation's most talented football conference, the "Bulldogs" set an SEC record for yards passing in his very first game against defending National Champion LSU; and
WHEREAS, born March 9, 1961, in tiny Susanville, California, Leach grew up in even smaller Cody, Wyoming. Raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he attended BYU and later got a law degree from Pepperdine. Coach Leach did not play college football, but watching the innovative passing attack used by then-"Cougars," Coach LaVell Edwards, at a time when most teams were still run-heavy, his interest piqued in drawing up plays. In 1987, he broke into college coaching at Cal Poly, but it was at Iowa Wesleyan where he found his muse. Head Coach Hal Mumme had invented the "Air Raid" while coaching high school in Texas. At Iowa Wesleyan, with Leach as Offensive Coordinator, it began to take hold and fundamentally change the way football was played. Leach followed Mumme to Valdosta State and then to the SEC at Kentucky, smashing passing records along the way. He spent one season as Oklahoma's Offensive Coordinator in 1999 before getting his own program at Texas Tech. From there, the "Air Raid" spread like wild and became the predominant way offense was run in the Big 12 Conference and beyond; and
WHEREAS, this past season, Coach Leach's Mississippi State Team finished 8-4, including a 24-22 victory Thanksgiving night over the University of Mississippi in the intense rivalry known as the Egg Bowl. It was his final game; and
WHEREAS, Coach Leach is survived by his wife, Sharon, and four children, Janeen, Kimberly, Cody and Kiersten; and
WHEREAS, several teams around college football used their uniforms to pay tribute to the late Coach Mike Leach this bowl season, from UCLA to Alabama. Mississippi State honored their departed head coach during their appearance in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Florida. The "Bulldogs" wore a special helmet design featuring a pirate flag bearing Coach Leach's initials, a tribute to Leach's lifelong love for pirate culture. The helmets were kept secret from the team and not revealed until the players arrived at the stadium. The reaction to the helmets from fans and college football "Twitter" was unanimously positive; and
WHEREAS, we pay tribute and cherish fondly the memory of an influential Mississippi football coach whose passing will never diminish the profound impact he made in the lives of his players, their families, his coaches and staff, their colleagues, their communities, his profession and on the State of Mississippi:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby extend the deepest sympathy of the Legislature to the surviving family of Mississippi State University Football Coach Mike Leach and pay tribute to his career and legacy as one of the most influential coaches of this generation.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the surviving family of Coach Mike Leach, forwarded to MSU President Mark Keenum and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.