College Football Hall of Fame INSERTS The Pirate

[TAF]

GOOD for THEM with this Decision!!!

 

[stolitonic]

For once-well done.

Impossible to really talk much about CFB history since the 90s and not mention Leach at least a few times.

The guy simply had a huge impact on the way the game is played these days.

Add in that he was inherently likeable bloody hilarious to boot.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Glad they got this right . Good for the pirate. Should’ve been inducted on this gem alone

 

[PreacherVol2]

His response to the question of which mascot was the most to be feared when he coached in the PAC 12 would also be a good-enough gem to get him inducted as well.

 

[05_never_again]

Unpopular take...I love Leach, but his record isn't that of a HOFer.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Unpopular take...I love Leach, but his record isn't that of a HOFer.

Agreed

College football fans didn't deserve him either. His rant about his players and their fat girlfriends was epic.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

 

[05_never_again]

Agreed

College football fans didn't deserve him either. His rant about his players and their fat girlfriends was epic.

If he had a more ordinary personality, his name would never even come up for discussion. Don't get me wrong - I loved the guy and he was great for college football. The sport is less without him.

He did undeniably have a big impact on how the current offensive game is played and influenced a bunch of other coaches, but 158-106 with no outright conference titles, no national titles, and 7 top 25 finishes in 21 seasons just isn't HOF-level.

 

[cbrown]

I’m in agreement with the decision. There are coaches in the HOF that wouldn’t have gone .595 had they coached at Texas Tech, Washington State, and Mississippi State. My memory may be hazy, but I believe he had 11-win seasons at both TT and Wazzu. You don’t do that unless you’re a great coach.

 

[Freak]

Good choice. I miss seeing the random and hilrious things that would come out of Leach's mouth.

 

[sami]

Glad they got this right . Good for the pirate. Should’ve been inducted on this gem alone

Nothing short of brilliant.

Yeah, his record falls short, but his impact on how the game is played today and his personality make it a no-brainer.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Nothing short of brilliant.

Yeah, his record falls short, but his impact on how the game is played today and his personality make it a no-brainer.

A whole lot of truth in that 3 minutes. At least in my experience

 

[05_never_again]

A whole lot of truth in that 3 minutes. At least in my experience

He couldn't have been more accurate.

 

[Freak]

A whole lot of truth in that 3 minutes. At least in my experience

He nailed it. "Stay out of the way" always seems like good advice for men when dealing with weddings. lol.

 

[sami]

A whole lot of truth in that 3 minutes. At least in my experience

Amen, brother.

 

[05_never_again]

He nailed it. "Stay out of the way" always seems like good advice for men when dealing with weddings. lol.

It's good advice for a whole lot of different things.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

He nailed it. "Stay out of the way" always seems like good advice for men when dealing with weddings. lol.

Very true. But like he said , they try to rope you in with your opinion and then tell you why your opinion is incorrect.

 

[TAF]

Unpopular take...I love Leach, but his record isn't his Generational impact on College Football = that of a HOFer.

fyp

 

[05_never_again]

fyp

It has to be combined with elite performance on the field. Leach is an interesting case because had an impact on the game (both in offensive style and personality) despite not being an elite coach.

Honestly, if he wasn't quirky, hilarious, and always providing a great sound bite, I don't think he'd receive a second of consideration. Even though varieties of his style of offense have been widely adopted. His record is just not that of a great coach, despite lots of other coaches copying his offense.

 

[lastlapuncle]

Perfect to have Mike for Hall of Fame,he deserves it for innovative coaching and forward thinking style.Plus his personality and comments are top-of-the-world class.A good man to all except for James'son of the colege runnling backs of James and Dickerson.As to winning percentage,he coached terrible to lousy teams when he arrived at those schools and made them competitive.Not like the now coach at LSU who cannot coach his team to a championship with great talent(note UT LSU score of a couple years ago.

 

[SpookyAction]

I did the math.
He was hired at BS programs and made them competitive and winners.

Texas Tech was 6-5 in 1999 when Spike Dykes retired. He had solid teams there. Leach took over and went 76-39, and was 11-2 his final season. He had that team ready to cause trouble in the BigXII.

WaST was 4-8 the year before Leach was hired. Went 55-36 . He won 8 or more games his last 4 seasons there. That program won 8 or more 4 other times since 2000. 3 of those were Mike Price.

He went 19-19 at MSSt. They were 6-7 the season before Leach was hired.

He was a good HC who won in places it is never easy. His legacy is all over CFB.

 

[mercuryvol]

59.5 %rounds off to 60% anyway.

 

[stolitonic]

If he had a more ordinary personality, his name would never even come up for discussion. Don't get me wrong - I loved the guy and he was great for college football. The sport is less without him.

He did undeniably have a big impact on how the current offensive game is played and influenced a bunch of other coaches, but 158-106 with no outright conference titles, no national titles, and 7 top 25 finishes in 21 seasons just isn't HOF-level.

Think you have to kind of factor in exactly WHERE he coached into the equation just a bit don't you?

I mean, yeah-he coached at Bama, Ohio State, or even Knoxville and winning "only" 70% of your games would guarantee a short tenure.

Leach was never going to win a NC as a HC, but he was very good at taking horrible teams and making them at a minimum dangerous.

At least in my book-something like that makes you a better "coach" than winning with 5 stars at every position. One is honest work. The other is usually a case of bending rules to the point that they scream ha ha.

 

[05_never_again]

Think you have to kind of factor in exactly WHERE he coached into the equation just a bit don't you?

I mean, yeah-he coached at Bama, Ohio State, or even Knoxville and winning "only" 70% of your games would guarantee a short tenure.

Leach was never going to win a NC as a HC, but he was very good at taking horrible teams and making them at a minimum dangerous.

At least in my book-something like that makes you a better "coach" than winning with 5 stars at every position. One is honest work. The other is usually a case of bending rules to the point that they scream ha ha.

Why did he never have a big job, then? I guess it is possible he never wanted one, but I kind of doubt that because he was going to come to Knoxville until they pulled the plug on Currie. I think university admins were scared (and perhaps wrongly) by the offense he ran and the fact that he never was a 100-hour-a-week recruiting warrior. His personality, while endearing to fans (at least when he was winning), I could see as being off-putting to well-heeled boosters or if the team started struggling. If he coached us, can you imagine if after a tough loss to Kentucky he showed up at a press conference talking about pirates or what his favorite Halloween candy was?

Leach was a good coach, but taking bad programs and making them decent or pretty good isn't HOF material. The HOF is the HOF...it should be reserved for the greatest coaches of all time, and I don't think Leach is one despite unquestionably having an impact on how offensive football is played and generally being hilarious.

 

[OneVolNation]

Good move.