Mike Leach
Mike Leach went 158–107 as a head coach, 2000–2022, at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State. Share
- Record
- 158–107 career
- Seasons
- 21
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Mar 9, 1961
- Alma mater
- BYU
- Best season
- 2008 11–2, No. 12
Season by season
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
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Cody O’ConnellConsensus All‑American, 2016 and 2017
Brandon CarterConsensus All‑American, 2008- Hercules Mata’afaConsensus All‑American, 2017
- Deone BucannonNo. 27 pick, 2014
- Luke Falk2017 Burlsworth Trophy
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 87 | 27–60 | 31% |
| Against top-10 teams | 32 | 7–25 | 22% |
| Against rivals | 52 | 21–31 | 40% |
| Conference games | 178 | 94–84 | 53% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 17 | 8–9 | 47% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 89 | 50–39 | 56% |
| At home | 134 | 97–37 | 72% |
| On the road | 110 | 49–61 | 45% |
| At neutral sites | 21 | 12–9 | 57% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 145 | 117–28 | 81% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 120 | 41–79 | 34% |
His own 265 games on file, 2000–2022, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Stoops 2000–2009 | 3–7 | Oklahoma | 10 | |
| Mack Brown 2000–2009 | 2–8 | Texas | 10 | |
| David Shaw 2012–2019 | 4–4 | Stanford | 8 | |
| Kyle Whittingham 2012–2019 | 4–2 | Utah | 6 | |
| Chris Petersen 2014–2019 | 0–6 | Washington | 6 | |
| Phil Bennett 2002–2007 | 5–0 | SMU | 5 | |
| Guy Morriss 2003–2007 | 5–0 | Baylor | 5 | |
| Bill Snyder 2000–2009 | 4–1 | Kansas State | 5 | |
| Rocky Long 2000–2004 | 4–1 | New Mexico | 5 | |
| Dennis Franchione 2003–2007 | 4–1 | Texas A&M | 5 |
Mike Leach’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Texas A&Mseries | 13 | 9–4 |
| Baylorseries | 10 | 10–0 |
| Oklahoma Stateseries | 10 | 6–4 |
| Coloradoseries | 10 | 5–5 |
| Oklahomaseries | 10 | 3–7 |
| Texasseries | 10 | 2–8 |
| Californiaseries | 9 | 4–5 |
| Oregon Stateseries | 8 | 6–2 |
How he was hired
- Hired by Mississippi State for the 2020 season from Washington State, where he was head coach.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Cal Poly | Offensive line coach | |
| 1988 | Desert | Linebackers coach | |
| 1989 | Pori Bears | Head coach | |
| 1989–91 | Iowa Wesleyan | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 1992–93 | Valdosta State | Offensive coordinator and wide receivers and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1994–96 | Valdosta State | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 1997–98 | Kentucky | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1999 | Oklahoma | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2000–09 | Texas Tech | Head coach | |
| 2012–19 | Washington State | Head coach | |
| 2020–22 | Mississippi State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Lyle SetencichCal Poly
- Hal MummeIowa Wesleyan, Valdosta State, Kentucky
- Bob StoopsOklahoma
Assistants who became head coaches
- Art BrilesHouston, Baylor, Eastern New Mexico
- Dana HolgorsenWest Virginia, Houston
- Dave ArandaBaylor
- Greg McMackinHawai’i, Oregon Tech
- Manny MatsakisEmporia State, Texas State, Bethany (KS), Defiance College
- Ruffin McNeillTexas Tech, East Carolina
- Sonny DykesLouisiana Tech, California, SMU, TCU
- Charlie SadlerNorthern Illinois
- Lincoln RileyOklahoma, USC
- Lyle SetencichBoise State, Cal Poly
- Seth LittrellNorth Texas
- Sonny CumbieTexas Tech, Louisiana Tech
- and 7 more
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyle Setencich | Cal Poly | 1987 | Offensive line coach | |
| Hal Mumme | Iowa Wesleyan | 1989–91 | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Hal Mumme | Valdosta State | 1992–96 | 1992–93: offensive coordinator and wide receivers and quarterbacks coach; 1994–96: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Hal Mumme | Kentucky | 1997–98 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Bob Stoops | Oklahoma | 1999 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (19)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art Briles | Texas Tech, 2000–02: running backs coach | Houston, Baylor, Eastern New Mexico | |
| Dana Holgorsen | Texas Tech, 2000–04: inside receivers coach; 2005–06: co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach; 2007: offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach | West Virginia, Houston | |
| Dave Aranda | Texas Tech, 2000–02: graduate assistant | Baylor | |
| Greg McMackin | Texas Tech, 2000–02: defensive coordinator | Hawai’i, Oregon Tech | |
| Manny Matsakis | Texas Tech, 2000–02: special teams coach | Emporia State, Texas State, Bethany (KS), Defiance College | |
| Ruffin McNeill | Texas Tech, 2000–02: linebackers coach; 2003–06: assistant head coach and special teams coach; 2007: assistant head coach and defensive line coach; 2008–09: assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | Texas Tech, East Carolina | |
| Sonny Dykes | Texas Tech, 2000–04: wide receivers coach; 2005–06: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | Louisiana Tech, California, SMU, TCU | |
| Charlie Sadler | Texas Tech, 2003–09: defensive ends coach | Northern Illinois | |
| Lincoln Riley | Texas Tech, 2003–05: student assistant; 2006: graduate assistant; 2007: wide receivers coach; 2008–09: inside receivers coach | Oklahoma, USC | |
| Lyle Setencich | Texas Tech, 2003–07: defensive coordinator | Boise State, Cal Poly | |
| Seth Littrell | Texas Tech, 2005–08: running backs coach | North Texas | |
| Sonny Cumbie | Texas Tech, 2009: graduate assistant | Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech | |
| Eric Morris | Washington State, 2012: inside receivers coach | North Texas, Oklahoma State, Incarnate Word | |
| Jeff Choate | Washington State, 2012: linebackers coach | Nevada, Montana State | |
| Ken Wilson | Washington State, 2013–19: linebackers coach | Nevada | |
| JaMarcus Shephard | Washington State, 2016: inside receivers coach | Oregon State | |
| Tracy Claeys | Washington State, 2018–19: defensive coordinator | Minnesota | |
| Zach Arnett | Mississippi State, 2020: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 2021–22: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Mississippi State | |
| Jay Hopson | Mississippi State, 2021–22: defensive assistant and DHSR | Southern Miss, Alcorn State |
Other assistants under him (21)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Bedenbaugh | Texas Tech, 2000–02: graduate assistant; 2003–04: running backs coach; 2005–06: offensive line coach | |
| Brian Norwood | Texas Tech, 2000: defensive backs coach | |
| Glenn Thomas | Texas Tech, 2000: student assistant | |
| Robert Anae | Texas Tech, 2000–04: offensive line coach | |
| Brian Mitchell | Texas Tech, 2006–09: cornerbacks coach | |
| Abe Elimimian | Washington State, 2012: graduate assistant | |
| Joe Salave’a | Washington State, 2012–16: assistant head coach and defensive line coach | |
| Mike Breske | Washington State, 2012–14: defensive coordinator | |
| David Yost | Washington State, 2013–15: wide receivers coach | |
| Graham Harrell | Washington State, 2014–15: outside wide receivers coach | |
| Alex Grinch | Washington State, 2015–17: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Brian Odom | Washington State, 2015–16: defensive quality control coach | |
| Joel Filani | Washington State, 2015: offensive quality control coach | |
| Darcel McBath | Washington State, 2017: defensive quality control coach; 2018–19: cornerbacks coach; 2019: interim co-defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach; Mississippi State, 2020–22: cornerbacks coach | |
| Derek Sage | Washington State, 2017: wide receivers coach | |
| Joe Bolden | Washington State, 2017–18: graduate assistant | |
| Matt Brock | Washington State, 2018–19: special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach; Mississippi State, 2020–21: special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach; 2022: linebackers coach | |
| Steve Spurrier Jr. | Washington State, 2018–19: wide receivers coach; Mississippi State, 2020–22: outside wide receivers | |
| Roc Bellantoni | Washington State, 2019: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Jason Washington | Mississippi State, 2020–21: safeties coach; 2022: running backs coach | |
| Ryan Lindley | Mississippi State, 2021–22: defensive analyst |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Washington State | head coachbonuses up to $725,000; $75,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $4,900,000 | $3,075,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Washington State | head coachbonuses up to $725,000; $100,000 in bonuses paid | $2,950,000 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Washington State | head coachbonuses up to $625,000 | $2,750,000 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Washington State | head coachbonuses up to $625,000 | $2,750,000 USA Today | |
| 2013 | Washington State | head coachbonuses up to $625,000 | $2,250,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2012 | Washington State | head coachbonuses up to $640,000 | $2,250,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2009 | Texas Tech | head coachbonuses up to $650,000 | $2,700,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2008 | Texas Tech | head coach | $1,750,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2007 | Texas Tech | head coachbonuses up to $325,000 | $1,661,500 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2006 | Texas Tech | head coachbonuses up to $375,000 | $1,600,000 USA Today via Leeds |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Leach’s teams went for it on 30% of fourth downs and on 52% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 74% of plays and took 23.3 seconds a play, 2004–2022.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 12 g | Texas Tech | 28 of 81 35% | 66% | 70% | 20.6 | +0.08 | |
| 2005 12 g | Texas Tech | 18 of 85 21% | 58% | 70% | 22.6 | +0.12 | |
| 2006 13 g | Texas Tech | 24 of 86 28% | 59% | 76% | 23.5 | +0.11 | |
| 2007 12 g | Texas Tech | 29 of 75 39% | 59% | 77% | 21.3 | +0.11 | |
| 2008 13 g | Texas Tech | 26 of 64 41% | 61% | 68% | 23.5 | +0.18 | |
| 2009 13 g | Texas Tech | 34 of 90 38% | 68% | 71% | 22.0 | +0.05 | |
| 2012 12 g | Washington State | 28 of 106 26% | 36% | 78% | 21.0 | −0.13 | |
| 2013 13 g | Washington State | 27 of 112 24% | 40% | 78% | 20.9 | −0.01 | |
| 2014 12 g | Washington State | 40 of 102 39% | 61% | 80% | 21.8 | +0.07 | |
| 2015 13 g | Washington State | 39 of 110 35% | 64% | 76% | 22.5 | +0.07 | |
| 2016 13 g | Washington State | 32 of 93 34% | 59% | 68% | 24.0 | +0.14 | |
| 2017 13 g | Washington State | 17 of 104 16% | 30% | 75% | 24.7 | −0.01 | |
| 2018 13 g | Washington State | 25 of 83 30% | 49% | 72% | 25.8 | +0.18 | |
| 2019 13 g | Washington State | 24 of 74 32% | 58% | 80% | 24.1 | +0.19 | |
| 2020 11 g | Mississippi State | 21 of 92 23% | 43% | 78% | 26.4 | −0.13 | |
| 2021 13 g | Mississippi State | 16 of 84 19% | 41% | 76% | 25.9 | +0.14 | |
| 2022 13 g | Mississippi State | 28 of 97 29% | 46% | 71% | 24.7 | +0.02 | |
| All 214 g | 456 of 1538 30% | 52% | 74% | 23.3 | +0.07 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.