TCU head coach Sonny Dykes says the Horned Frogs will put Pirate stickers on their Fiesta Bowl helmets to honor the late Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, referencing Leach’s well-documented love of pirates.
Leach, who died in early December, indelibly impacted college football over the last two decades and his impact will continue to run deep for years to come. The gruff, pioneering and unfiltered college football coach helped revolutionize the passing game with the Air Raid offense. His death was a result of complications from a heart condition.
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Coaching the Red Raiders from 2000-09, Leach helped Texas Tech reach previously unknown heights. TCU coach Sonny Dykes worked as an offensive assistant for Leach at Texas Tech.
Leach was in his third season as head coach at Mississippi State when he fell ill Sunday at his home in Starkville, Mississippi. He was treated at a local hospital before being airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, about 120 miles away. He fought through a bout with pneumonia late in this season, coughing uncontrollably at times during news conferences, but seemed to be improving, according to those who worked with him.
News of him falling gravely ill swept through college football the past few days and left many who knew him stunned, hoping and praying for Leach’s recovery under grim circumstances.
During his coaching journey, Leach’s teams were consistent winners at programs where success did not come easy. In 21 seasons as a head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State, Leach went 158-107. And his quarterbacks put up massive passing statistics, running a relatively simple offense called the Air Raid that he did not invent but certainly mastered.
Fittingly, both schools paid him tribute with helmet decals in the Texas Bowl on Wednesday. Texas Tech’s included a skull and crossbones.
The Rebels’ decals feature the word “MIKE,” with the “I” stylized as Mississippi State’s famous cowbell.
The 2022 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl will feature the first-ever meeting between No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 TCU on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022, at State Farm Stadium at 3 p.m. CT.
