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Former Mississippi State Bulldogs coach Mike Leach died in December 2022, but his larger-than-life presence is still being felt in college football. During the Southeastern Conference media days, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, Auburn's Hugh Freeze and Mississippi State's Jeff Lebby honored Leach by not wearing a tie as he used to.
Despite his remarkable coaching career with a win percentage of .596, Leach is ineligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame under the National Football Foundation rules since a coach requires a .600 winning percentage to be considered.
Leach had an extensive coaching tree, which includes current USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley. During the Big Ten media days on Wednesday, Riley made a plea for his former mentor whom he played under at Texas Tech to be inducted.
“I know a couple of my counterparts have said some of the same things regarding this notion,” Riley said. “But obviously Mike Leach meant a lot to my career. Instrumental in my upbringing. I know there’s been a lot of debate and talk about him belonging in the College Football Hall of Fame and (I) certainly want to voice my support for that happening here on this stage.
“That’s something that’s very important to me. He changed the game and changed a lot of people’s lives, mine included in the process of it. I know there’s technicalities and rules that have to happen, but I totally agree that the Hall of Fame is simply not complete without Mike Leach being in that. Just certainly wanted to be able to represent that here on this stage.”
Mike Leach gets extensive HoF calls
Lincoln Riley was not the only coach calling for the popular former Bulldogs coach to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Last week during the SEC media days, Missouri Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz also called for his induction.
“Next summer, we will be moving media days to Atlanta,” Drinkwitz said. “And so it reminded me to call on CEO Steve Hatchell to do the right thing and to nominate Mike Leach for the College Football Hall of Fame. We need to put his name on the ballot.
"I understand that his career winning percentage is .596, one win short of the 60% threshold. And I understand that standards are there for people to make decisions. But I also understand that Coach Leach would be a great value to the Hall of Fame because of the legacy that he has, because of the impact that he made, because of the innovator that he was, because of the legacy of coaches that he left.”
The calls to induct the popular coach into the Hall of Fame have grown and both fans, former players and coaches will wait with bated breath to see whether the the National Football Foundation rules will be waived to allow him that honor posthumously.
