Your hottest college football coaching prospect in the nation this year could very well be a guy who never played the game. He has a law degree. His third coaching job was in Finland. He has a master’s degree from something called the United States Sports Academy.
No, Mike Leach didn’t apply to that academy from the back of a match cover. He really went and learned how to do things like splice film in a classroom in Daphne, Ala.
If you think Leach, 47, is too quirky, too gimmicky, too unconventional to be on the short list of megapowers that will look for coaches this winter, you’re right. But wait until you see the buzz Leach’s name gets when his Red Raiders knock off top-ranked Texas on Saturday.
They could. It is not far-fetched.
Sure, Texas has won the last five meetings, averaging 48 points a game. But these aren’t your older brother’s Red Raiders. These guys are ranked fifth in the coaches’ and Harris polls, seventh in the BCS and are 8-0 for the first time since 1976, the last time they were ranked fifth.
Forget the easy schedule. Texas Tech proved its worth in its name-your-score 63-21 laugher at Kansas on Saturday. What’s also different is the way Texas Tech is winning. These aren’t just West Texas shootouts. Tech’s defense is third in the Big 12, and its rush defense and scoring defense are second. It rushes for 138.5 yards a game, a lot for a team that leads the nation almost every year in passing.
The Red Raiders can beat a Texas team with questions in the secondary and whose leading rusher is still the quarterback.
If Texas Tech wins, may I suggest the number 806 to Tennessee’s athletic department. That’s the area code for Lubbock. Leach would be a perfect fit for Tennessee, where Phil Fulmer is 3-5 and one dispatched moving van away from leaving.
Leach also hasn’t signed a contract for next year due to too many ex-coaches’ contracts still being paid off at Tech.
He will listen. Two years ago, he pursued the Miami job, and when university president Donna Shalala asked for a reference, Leach listed Donald Trump. When Shalala ignored Trump’s letter of recommendation and hired Randy Shannon instead, Trump called. He pretty much called her an apprentice.
Leach isn’t one. He can prove it Saturday.
