{"id":1774849,"date":"2022-12-14T06:30:29","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T11:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1774849"},"modified":"2022-12-14T10:18:22","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T15:18:22","slug":"mississippi-state-football-coach-mike-leach-dead-at-61","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mississippi-state-football-coach-mike-leach-dead-at-61\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi State Football Coach Mike Leach Dead at 61"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmississippi-state-football-coach-mike-leach-dead-at-61%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1774849&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">(AP) \u2013 Mike Leach, the gruff, pioneering and unfiltered college football coach who helped revolutionize the passing game with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nfl-college-football-sports-mike-leach-texas-dc84b9b6c1f92acb64d1c5f37f82dd59\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Air Raid offense,<\/a>\u00a0has died following complications from a heart condition, Mississippi State said Tuesday. He was 61.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Leach, who was in his third season as head coach at Mississippi State, fell ill Sunday at his home in Starkville, Mississippi. He was treated at a local hospital before being airlifted to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) away.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/1000.webp\" alt=\"Mississippi State coach Mike Leach confers with quarterback Will Rogers (2) during the first half of the team&#039;s NCAA college football game against Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. (AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis)\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Mississippi State coach Mike Leach confers with quarterback Will Rogers (2) during the first half of the team\u2019s NCAA college football game against Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. (AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cMike 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,\u201d the family said in a statement issued by Mississippi State. \u201cWe are supported and uplifted by the outpouring of love and prayers from family, friends, Mississippi State University, the hospital staff, and football fans around the world. Thank you for sharing in the joy of our beloved husband and father\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Leach fought through a bout with pneumonia late in this season, coughing uncontrollably at times during news conferences, but seemed to be improving, according to those who worked with him.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">News of him falling gravely ill swept through college football the past few days and left many who knew him stunned,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Holgorsendana\/status\/1602140964742696961\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hoping and praying<\/a>\u00a0for Leach\u2019s recovery under grim circumstances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">His impact on college football over the last two decades runs deep and will continue for years to come.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Leach was known for his pass-happy offenses, wide-ranging interests \u2014 he wrote a book about Native American leader Geronimo, had a passion for pirates, a taught a class about insurgent warfare \u2014 and rambling, off-the-cuff news conferences.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.gettyimages.com\/id\/1432374009\/photo\/head-coach-mike-leach-of-the-mississippi-state-bulldogs-before-the-game-against-the-arkansas.jpg?s=612x612&#038;w=0&#038;k=20&#038;c=Oj_ZDlkhP2O3AZPNt2ukM7EddYmTRmObou8__t6xtKs=\" alt=\"Head coach Mike Leach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs before the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Davis Wade Stadium on October 08, 2022 in...\" width=\"612\" height=\"408\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Mike Leach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs before the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Davis Wade Stadium on October 08, 2022, in Starkville, Mississippi. (Justin Ford\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Leach\u2019s teams were consistent winners at programs where success did not come easy. In 21 seasons as a head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State, Leach went 158-107. And his quarterbacks put up massive passing statistics, running a relatively simple offense called the Air Raid that he did not invent but certainly mastered.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">An interview with Leach was as likely to veer off into politics, wedding planning or hypothetical mascot fights as it was to stick to football. He considered Donald Trump a friend before the billionaire businessman ran for president and then campaigned for him in 2016.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">He traveled all over the world and his curiosity knew no bounds. He most appreciated those who stepped outside of their expertise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cOne of the biggest things I admire about Michael Jordan, he got condemned a lot for playing baseball. I completely admired that,\u201d Leach told The Associated Press last spring. \u201cI mean, you\u2019re gonna be dead in 100 years anyway. You\u2019ve mastered basketball and you\u2019re gonna go try to master something else, and stick your neck out and you\u2019re not afraid to do it, and know that a lot of people are gonna be watching you while you do it. I thought it was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">As much as Leach enjoyed digging into topics other than football, he was excellent at the Xs and Os.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Six of the 20 best passing seasons in major college football history were by quarterbacks who played for Leach, including four of the top six.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Calling plays from a folded piece of paper smaller than an index card, 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cYou have to make choices and limit what you\u2019re going to teach and what you\u2019re going to do. That\u2019s the hard part,\u201d Leach told the AP about the Air Raid\u2019s economical playbook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(AP) \u2013 Mike Leach, the gruff, pioneering and unfiltered college football coach who helped revolutionize the passing game with\u00a0the Air Raid offense,\u00a0has died following complications from a heart condition, Mississippi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1774852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[5458,4024,3642,5541,7912,4301,6632,3819],"class_list":["post-1774849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-bongino","tag-coach","tag-dead","tag-football","tag-leach","tag-mike","tag-mississippi","tag-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1774849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1774849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1774849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1774852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1774849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1774849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1774849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}