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Texas A&M Football

Jackie Sherrill discusses Mississippi State bringing Mike Leach to the SEC

January 10, 2020
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Key notes from Jackie Sherrill interview

  • Mississippi State hit a home run with the hire. Usually, when you have problems with winning, you lose your fanbase. You have to hire somebody who will re-energize and get your fanbase back. That's what they did. Leach was the one guy that could get the fanbase, other than Joe Judge. Leach was not really on the radar. It's an excellent hire both for Mississippi State and for Mike Leach. He's in the SEC. He has the ability, the same skill that some coaches at State have had to come into Texas and get some players from here.
     
  • When you understand where you are, the right coach has to be the right fit. That's the same at Texas A&M and everywhere. The AD has to hire the right guy who fits that University. Mike fits that University.
     
  • Leach has been at schools like Texas Tech and Washington State that are not the top schools in their conferences or their state. It's the same at Mississippi State. He won't have the biggest stick. I remember some games at Kyle Field, where he didn't have the biggest stick, and Leach won.
     
  • Offensively, things will change. When you run a high powered offense, you better also have a great defense. In this league, the teams with the best defense win. That's true in conferences around the country. The national title game will prove that on Monday night.
     
  • If you go back to Tech, when they were really good, they were also excellent at running the ball. Leach would produce one of the best running backs each year. It doesn't matter if you throw the ball 100 times, but if you can't run consistently, you're not going to win anything.
     
  • There's a lot of circumstances around Moorhead's firing. A lot of it was not in his control. A lot of it revolved around the ten players who were suspended for eight games for not qualifying academically. He had an impossible task of winning games this year. Moorhead probably should have won a couple of the games they lost this year - one of them being the Kansas State game where they ran a kick off back. Did it unravel? Did things go the other direction? What happened more than anything else was that they lost the fanbase. When you lose the fanbase, you don't have a choice. You have to make a change. That was the AD's number one objective: he had to hire someone to get the fanbase back.
     
  • The reason I'm leaning towards LSU winning on Monday night is that they've played the tougher schedule and have the better defensive backs. I may be prejudice towards the SEC, but I think LSU will win.
Discussion from...

Jackie Sherrill discusses Mississippi State bringing Mike Leach to the SEC

7,902 Views | 3 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by MaroonGoons2020
halfastros81
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AG
There's probably no one out there with a better feel for State than Jackie. If he says Leach is a fit then he's very likely a fit.
TAMU74
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AG
Interesting insight.
MaroonGoons2020
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AG
Brock
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