Pirates, and mormons, and points oh my!

Today I decided to do some actual research and a little bit of real writing.  I wanted to introduce every one not from west texas to Mike Leach.  He is the coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders and considered an offense genius.  But there is alot you might not know about ol Coach Leach so I am going to fill you in.  

Leach is aproduct of his college football enviroment although he didnt play a down of college football.  Mike Leach, a practicing memeber of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was delighted at the oppurtunity to attend Brigham Young university.  In the early eightys while at BYU he was fascinated with the pass orientred Norm Chow offense of the Cougars in those days.  It is then that he started to develop his own version of the spread.  After graduation Leach went on to get a law degree at Pepperdine University but his love of high powered offenses never died.

He started his coaching career as an offensive coordinator at Iowa Wesleyan.  He also coached at Division 2 powerhouse Valdosta State before breaking into the ranks of division one coaching at Kentucky. While at Kentucky he turned tim Couch into an NFL draft pick almost single handedly.  His greatest oppurtunity came shortly afterward when he got the Offensive Coordinator job at OKlahoma.  While calling the plays under Bob Stoops he turned mediocre Josh Heupl into an All-American quaterback.  The Oklahoma offense under Leach was one consisitantly of the best in the country.  

Mike Leach got the Texas Tech job in 2000.  He implemented his pass happy offense immediately.  His quaterback Kliff Kingsbury racked up stats and his team racked up wins, going 6-4 and never looking back.  Leach has now had 9 consecutive winning seasons.  His teams have set more than 15o NCAA and Big 12 records.  Three of his quaterbacks have won the Sammy Baugh awards yet still no Heisman.  Graham Harrell however is the only quaterback that is not considered a system quaterback.  This system is viewed by outsiders as a complex pass heavy version of the spread.  The offense has only 8 basic plays.  Most of the plays have various read options for both the quaterback and the recievers.  It is about the excutions of these plays.  Mike Leach doesnt change his offense for the team he plays against, just the reads.

Mike Leach may be a genius and he may not be but he is definately a character.  His laid back demaeanor and goofy anecdotes make him one of the funnest interviews. His inclination for pirates is strangely intriguing. He is friends with Donald Trump which is crazy in and of itself.  He also thinks that their should be a 64 team college football playoff.   He is arguably one of the craziest and smartest coaches in the NCAA. So in my opinion Mike Leach is not an offensive genius, he is a pirate loving goofball with thick skin and a thin playbook.

Live like no one is watching and GUNS UP bandwagon fans!