Mike Leach - RIP

tapintoamerica · Dec 16, 2022

murphyc said:
As the board's resident WAZZU alum, I'll be forever grateful for how Leach turned around the Coug program. Not just the sustained success, but the energy and enthusiasm. He put my alma mater on the map, especially the magical 2018 season. The program was in really rough shape. I mean, Pete Carroll had USC take a knee to stop scoring on us again...in the second quarter.
On the other hand, there were the times Leach was needlessly a jerk to people. When asked about losing the Apple Cup yet again to the Huskies, he ripped the reporter to pieces, and conveniently didn't have to answer for his shortcomings.
When Leach left Pullman, there were two fiercely divided camps: Those who were tired of Leach, and those mad at those tired of Leach and hung onto every word the man said.

I could see how a fan could be both tired of him and disappointed that he had left.

BTExpress · Dec 16, 2022

Sounds like some Trumpists I know.

YouppiFan · Dec 16, 2022

murphyc said:
As the board's resident WAZZU alum, I'll be forever grateful for how Leach turned around the Coug program. Not just the sustained success, but the energy and enthusiasm. He put my alma mater on the map, especially the magical 2018 season. The program was in really rough shape. I mean, Pete Carroll had USC take a knee to stop scoring on us again...in the second quarter.
On the other hand, there were the times Leach was needlessly a jerk to people. When asked about losing the Apple Cup yet again to the Huskies, he ripped the reporter to pieces, and conveniently didn't have to answer for his shortcomings.
When Leach left Pullman, there were two fiercely divided camps: Those who were tired of Leach, and those mad at those tired of Leach and hung onto every word the man said.

I'm a Coug as well, and this sums it up pretty perfectly. By the time he left, I was a bit tired of it all—but I also will be eternally grateful for the turnaround. I've had football season tickets for nearly 25 years now, and getting in the car at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning to drive to Pullman—knowing you're about to lose 66-3 or 63-14 or 69-0 (all actual scores from 2008 home games; 69-0 was the USC game referenced above)—will make you start to question your life choices. Leach made going to Pullman for games fun again. (Yes, even when the Cougs missed a 19-yard field goal at the buzzer to lose to Cal 60-59 in one of the wildest games I've ever attended.)