I'm guessing he makes it in, but the current rules present an issue.

https://www.si.com/college/2022/12/13/mike-leach-college-football-hall-of-fame

Quote:

---

The NFF's policy for coaches, outlined on its website, is that "a coach becomes eligible three years after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years of age. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age."

More germane to Leach, who died at the age of 61, is a rule that stipulates one "must have been a head coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage."

Leach's career record was 158-107a .596 winning percentage.

---

He deserves it.

is he really a hall of famer?

I mean, he was fun to listen to, but not a top coach.

DimebagsGhost said:

---

is he really a hall of famer?

I mean, he was fun to listen to, but not a top coach.

---

Changed the style of college football, plus 21 years as a HC, with 19 bowl teams.

Leach was revolutionary in bringing the spread pass offense to the masses.

DimebagsGhost said:

---

is he really a hall of famer?

I mean, he was fun to listen to, but not a top coach.

---

A coach who wins 60% of his games at Tech, WSU, and Miss St, is better than a coach who wins 60% of his games at say Bama, USC, Michigan, or even Texas A&M. The 60% rule is kind of dumb.

Bill Snyder won less than 65% of his games for his career, but the fact that he did it at K State makes him a much better coach than a lot of guys who had higher winning percentages than him.

Whether or not Leach is a hall of famer is debatable, but the arbitrary 60% rule should be done away with so at least there is a debate.

mustang1234 said:

---

DimebagsGhost said:

---

is he really a hall of famer?

I mean, he was fun to listen to, but not a top coach.

---

Changed the style of college football, plus 21 years as a HC, with 19 bowl teams.

---

No conference champions though. And there were a few years he should have won one, but lost a game or two he shouldn't have. Never to us, though.

Quote:

---

but lost a game or two he shouldn't have. Never to us, though.

---

One of biggest upsets in school history was against Leach in Lubbock in 2009.

If he gets put in, it'll be because of his impact on modern offensive philosophy, not trophy hardware. He didn't win enough to be a hall of famer on clout alone, but he and Hal Mumme rewrote the book on modern spread offenses.

Panama Red said:

---

Quote:

---

but lost a game or two he shouldn't have. Never to us, though.

---

One of biggest upsets in school history was against Leach in Lubbock in 2009.

---

Those fat little girlfriends man. They'll get you every time.

what coach in the last 30 years has had a greater impact on the college game? everyone runs some version of the air raid for the most part. if that type of influence is not HOF material i don't know what is.

DimebagsGhost said:

---

is he really a hall of famer?

I mean, he was fun to listen to, but not a top coach.

---

There are "average" players in the pro Halls of Fame. They are no longer Halls of Fame.

I was there. It was glorious.

His coaching tree should be factored as well.

Like to see Leach and Snyder's winning percentages when they had talent equal or better to their opponents. I'm guessing it would be .950 or better.

Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:

---

what coach in the last 30 years has had a greater impact on the college game? everyone runs some version of the air raid for the most part. if that type of influence is not HOF material i don't know what is.

---

None. I actually think it all turned October 23, 1999 in Norman. Stoops' first year at OU and Leach is OC, and we're a top 15 team. I was there, not one OU fan thought it'd even be a game, turns out, it wasn't. That was the night Leach broke out the ninjas, Ags had no idea what was happening, and it showed.

Stoops and Leach were unconventional from the start, they were doing things you just didn't do. It's been a while, but I think we had them buried inside the 10 and forced a punt, they direct snapped to Rocky Calmus and he went for 50+ if I recall. Nobody did something like that, nobody. Stoops did, and he had the perfect OC for that mindset.

1872walker said:

---

I'm guessing he makes it in, but the current rules present an issue.

https://www.si.com/college/2022/12/13/mike-leach-college-football-hall-of-fame

Quote:

---

The NFF's policy for coaches, outlined on its website, is that "a coach becomes eligible three years after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years of age. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age."

More germane to Leach, who died at the age of 61, is a rule that stipulates one "must have been a head coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage."

Leach's career record was 158-107a .596 winning percentage.

---

He deserves it.

---

You can pick out 100 games that give him a winning percentage of .600.
You could even just use his time at Tech (84-43) for "coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage."

Poorly drafted rule.

94chem said:

---

Like to see Leach and Snyder's winning percentages when they had talent equal or better to their opponents. I'm guessing it would be .950 or better.

---

Snyder took over at KSU the same year RC took over at A&M. Imagine if they switched?

KSU would still be irrelevant and A&M would have had at least one MNC in the 90's.

SinKiller said:

---

Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:

---

what coach in the last 30 years has had a greater impact on the college game? everyone runs some version of the air raid for the most part. if that type of influence is not HOF material i don't know what is.

---

None. I actually think it all turned October 23, 1999 in Norman. Stoops' first year at OU and Leach is OC, and we're a top 15 team. I was there, not one OU fan thought it'd even be a game, turns out, it wasn't. That was the night Leach broke out the ninjas, Ags had no idea what was happening, and it showed.

Stoops and Leach were unconventional from the start, they were doing things you just didn't do. It's been a while, but I think we had them buried inside the 10 and forced a punt, they direct snapped to Rocky Calmus and he went for 50+ if I recall. Nobody did something like that, nobody. Stoops did, and he had the perfect OC for that mindset.

---

i remember that as well. in a side note grew up with rocky and his older brother richie calmus. great family.

Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:

---

what coach in the last 30 years has had a greater impact on the college game? everyone runs some version of the air raid for the most part. if that type of influence is not HOF material i don't know what is.

---

Yep, you can't tell the story of football (period) over the last 20 years without Leach and the rise of the air raid. It changed the way football is practiced, conceptualized, and played.

Add in his legacy from a coaching tree perspective and from squeezing everything one could ask for from the likes of Texas Tech and Washington St… not to mention his general personality as one of the all-time characters of the sport and what's the debate here? As far as the winning percentage, he was 3 games short… given how suddenly he passed I think we view that in some context- it's completely reasonable that he would've cranked out a couple more winning seasons.

If a guy like Leach isn't in, then the HoF is just a Wikipedia spreadsheet of W-L percentages, and do we really need that anyway?

Not to sound callous but if he was still alive people wouldn't be talking about him as a HOFer. Also, if he was "normal" and not the quirky coach full of amusing soundbites he wouldn't be talked about as a HOFer.

Yes, he ran the air raid pretty successfully and put up big numbers, especially at tech, with less talented players than the elite teams. But his system also had its deficiencies that prevented him from ever being a championship caliber coach.

Who knows? Maybe it could have been different had he had the chance to coach at a blue blood school.

Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:

---

SinKiller said:

---

Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:

---

what coach in the last 30 years has had a greater impact on the college game? everyone runs some version of the air raid for the most part. if that type of influence is not HOF material i don't know what is.

---

None. I actually think it all turned October 23, 1999 in Norman. Stoops' first year at OU and Leach is OC, and we're a top 15 team. I was there, not one OU fan thought it'd even be a game, turns out, it wasn't. That was the night Leach broke out the ninjas, Ags had no idea what was happening, and it showed.

Stoops and Leach were unconventional from the start, they were doing things you just didn't do. It's been a while, but I think we had them buried inside the 10 and forced a punt, they direct snapped to Rocky Calmus and he went for 50+ if I recall. Nobody did something like that, nobody. Stoops did, and he had the perfect OC for that mindset.

---

i remember that as well. in a side note grew up with rocky and his older brother richie calmus. great family.

---

I didn't like ol' Rocky that night. Miserable night, freezing cold and a 51-6 trouncing.

I looked at the list of guys who made it, and he really should get in. It isn't like the Baseball Hall of Fame where only the best of the best get in. Also, I don't know if this is a new rule, but there are a few guys with sub-600 records in, the most similar argument probably being Hayden Fry of Iowa, who had a sub-600 record overall thanks to his time at SMU (pre-Pony Excess years). People talk about the Fry coaching tree which is enormous. Leach's coaching tree isn't at that level, but at the same time Air Raid has had a bigger impact on the game in general than anything they were doing scheme-wise at Iowa.

THE_CHOSEN_ONE said:

---

DimebagsGhost said:

---

is he really a hall of famer?

I mean, he was fun to listen to, but not a top coach.

---

A coach who wins 60% of his games at Tech, WSU, and Miss St, is better than a coach who wins 60% of his games at say Bama, USC, Michigan, or even Texas A&M. The 60% rule is kind of dumb.

Bill Snyder won less than 65% of his games for his career, but the fact that he did it at K State makes him a much better coach than a lot of guys who had higher winning percentages than him.

Whether or not Leach is a hall of famer is debatable, but the arbitrary 60% rule should be done away with so at least there is a debate.

---

The 60% rule may be arbitrary, but it is in place so someone isn't placed in for non-coaching related issues -- like being a great or funny guy (sound familiar?). In other words, it is trying to keep things objective and put a floor on the criteria. Do you have a better suggestion?

Bill Snyder, your example, may not have the greatest percentage, but he won 215 games at one school. The only other coaches that won 200+ games at one school (with a better winning %) were Tom Osborne, Woody Hayes, Joe Paterno, LaVelle Edwards, and Frank Beamer. He was in a rare class that doesn't really fit Leach.

Leach isn't a HOF coach. In 21 years, he won 10+ games twice. 9+ another 5x. Essentially, only a third of the time he was producing anywhere near championship type numbers. That's not HOF worthy. If Leach is HOF, what about Fisher Deberry? Coached 23 years at Air Force (only). 4 10+ winning seasons (including 2 12-1). Better winning percentage than Leach. Kirk Ferentz at Iowa is another with way better numbers than Leach. I don't think Iowa fans think he is a HOF coach.

Give me an example of a coach who's been out of football 5 years or more (to take the emotion out of it), who didn't win 60+%, and isn't in the HOF but belongs there.

We certainly did our part to get him to .600

DimebagsGhost said:

---

is he really a hall of famer?

I mean, he was fun to listen to, but not a top coach.

---

Three of the 5 2022 Heisman finalists were coached by Leach proteges.

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.

Lincoln Riley, Dave Aranda, Sonny Cumbie, Dana Holgorsen, Seth Littrell, Art Briles, Ken Wilson, Neal Brown, Josh Heupel, Eric Morris, Sonny Dykes, Kliff Kingsbury, Ruffin McNeill and assistant coaches Wes Welker, Bill Bedenbaugh, Robert Anae, Alex Grinch, Brandon Jones, and more all coached under Leach. Dykes in the 2022 coach of the year.

Hell, I'm a Tech grad, and no one is more aware of our consistent mediocrity than I am. But he never had a losing season and took Tech to a record 10 bowl games.

He coached 21 years and went to bowl games for 19 of them, with the majority of them being for middle-of-the-pack schools Tech and Washington State (the Texas Tech of the PAC-12).

His offenses had the top passing ranking in the NCAA for 10 of his 21 years. Just one coach. Per the NCAA, "Of the 50 most productive passing yardage seasons in FBS history, 10 came from quarterbacks coached by Leach since his hiring as head coach at Texas Tech in 2000." That's 20%. From a single coach.

This man changed the game of college football. It's okay not to like him, and I'd even understand why if you didn't, but Kent Hance and the idiots at Tech who listened to Craig James made a huge mistake in ever letting him go. How football is played is different now than it was before he started coaching, and he had a TON to do with all that. A TON.

I for one am profoundly sad at his passing and hope he gets in the HOF.

Leach is the sole member of the club he was willing to be a member of.

Skubalon said:

---

DimebagsGhost said:

---

is he really a hall of famer?

I mean, he was fun to listen to, but not a top coach.

---

Three of the 5 2022 Heisman finalists were coached by Leach proteges.

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.

Lincoln Riley, Dave Aranda, Sonny Cumbie, Dana Holgorsen, Seth Littrell, Art Briles, Ken Wilson, Neal Brown, Josh Heupel, Eric Morris, Sonny Dykes, Kliff Kingsbury, Ruffin McNeill and assistant coaches Wes Welker, Bill Bedenbaugh, Robert Anae, Alex Grinch, Brandon Jones, and more all coached under Leach. Dykes in the 2022 coach of the year.

Hell, I'm a Tech grad, and no one is more aware of our consistent mediocrity than I am. But he never had a losing season and took Tech to a record 10 bowl games.

He coached 21 years and went to bowl games for 19 of them, with the majority of them being for middle-of-the-pack schools Tech and Washington State (the Texas Tech of the PAC-12).

His offenses had the top passing ranking in the NCAA for 10 of his 21 years. Just one coach. Per the NCAA, "Of the 50 most productive passing yardage seasons in FBS history, 10 came from quarterbacks coached by Leach since his hiring as head coach at Texas Tech in 2000." That's 20%. From a single coach.

This man changed the game of college football. It's okay not to like him, and I'd even understand why if you didn't, but Kent Hance and the idiots at Tech who listened to Craig James made a huge mistake in ever letting him go. How football is played is different now than it was before he started coaching, and he had a TON to do with all that. A TON.

I for one am profoundly sad at his passing and hope he gets in the HOF.

---

Some guys won't give credit to anyone around here, they're downers about everything. Hell, the best coach in A&M history is dragged through the mud pretty much on the daily around here. Typically, the newer generations, they have to point every little thing out.

What Leach brought to the game is Hall worthy by itself, modern football in college and pros, is a direct result of Mike Leach, all of it.

Dude took over terrible programs that aren't supported and beat better programs and teams yearly

Look at tech, wash st, and miss st and their coaching history and success

DimebagsGhost said:

---

is he really a hall of famer?

I mean, he was fun to listen to, but not a top coach.

---

9-4 v Aggies with less talent. Not a top coach? Then what does that say about the Aggies?

Leach feasted on conservative coaches.

which made his Tech teams horrible matchups for R.C. and Fran...and even Jimbo to an extent.

he loved it when the opposing coach just wanted to run the ball, play defense, and punt.

but he had trouble vs. OU and t.u. --- in part because they were more talented, but also because they threw the football --- embraced the passing game / spread offense

also...in some years Leach had more talent than A&M.

particularly the Harrell, Crabtree, Amendola teams

They can make a committee and change the rules.

Mike Leach helped fundamentally change the way the game is played. He will be in the Hall of Fame.

So if State wins their bowl game, he will be1 W away from .600?? Are they going to say "Sorry, he just wasn't quite good enough".

Leach, like Snyder, got a whole lot out of a little.

W said:

---

Leach feasted on conservative coaches.

which made his Tech teams horrible matchups for R.C. and Fran...and even Jimbo to an extent.

he loved it when the opposing coach just wanted to run the ball, play defense, and punt.

but he had trouble vs. OU and t.u. --- in part because they were more talented, but also because they threw the football --- embraced the passing game / spread offense

---

What?