Predictions of Leach's failure at MSU for posterity...

[VolMax]

As one who wanted Leach to lead the Vol Navy every time we had a coaching search, I look forward to seeing what Leach will do in Starkville (and think he'll do well - similar to Mullen - not predicting NC's - it is Starkville after all). I thought it would be interesting to have some of the more extreme predictions of failure in one place. Again, as a Leach fan, I think these are pretty low IQ posts (sorry, just my opinion).

Enjoy or flame away...

hahah great now we will get to see how overrated he really is

From the sound of it Leach was interviewing with Ole Miss, Ark and MSU so I guess his leaving was bound to happen. Can't believe he was at Pullman for 8 yrs. He had quite the wide open passing game at WSU but he had little running game and the defense was downright putrid. Makes Oklahoma's look stellar

He has a .600 winning pct all while coaching in 2 of the weakest defensive conferences and he's a very mediocre recruiter. His teams are soft physically and his liberal style will not fit well down in MS. I just don't see this as a very good hire and I believe Kiffin will dominate him in recruiting the state. I expect them to finish dead last in the West next season.

He will get destroyed.

Mike Price had a better run at Washington St, and this record is mediocre at best

he had 1 miracle year at Texas Tech when a hail mary beat Texas and he STILL didn't win any titles, and he had one decent year at Washington St where he played a soft schedule and STILL couldnt win the division because he was 1-6 alltime vs his rival...

2000 - 7-6
2001 - 7-5
2002 - 9-5
2003 - 8-5
2004 - 8-4
2005 - 9-3
2006 - 8-5
2007 - 9-4
2008 - 11-2
2009 - 8-4
then fired

2012 - 3-9
2013 - 6-7
2014 - 3-9
2015 - 9-4
2016 - 8-5
2017 - 9-4
2018 - 11-2
2019 - 6-7
donors pulled donations because of him, on hot seat left for Mississippi State

Leach lovers you are about to be proven wrong.

PS This post will age well.

I bet he fails miserably

And was 5-3 vs FCS schools while there. A true coaching legend. Washington St had accomplished more the previous decade than he did. He is a coach who
- can’t recruit
- can’t get a major program to sniff him
- has pissed off donors and AD and fans everywhere he has went
- makes excuses
- never has won a division title
- never has won a major bowl
- consistently loses 4-9 games a season even though he plays some of the weakest schedules in the country

 

[alaVOL]

Pirate will entertain and be a joy for reporters, but I don't see anything above 7 wins max in the west at State. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's a tough spot to coach at and be successful.

 

[CornDontGrow]

His stats show him as a solid hire, but by no means a homerun. MSST is known for being middle of the SECW and as long as they can snag 8-9 wins with a trip to a bowl I can see ML there for years to come. There’s quite the assortment of coaches in the SEC right now, it would make good reality TV

 

[Sea Ray]

As one who wanted Leach to lead the Vol Navy every time we had a coaching search, I look forward to seeing what Leach will do in Starkville (and think he'll do well - similar to Mullen - not predicting NC's - it is Starkville after all). I thought it would be interesting to have some of the more extreme predictions of failure in one place. Again, as a Leach fan, I think these are pretty low IQ posts (sorry, just my opinion).

Enjoy or flame away...

I said this:

"From the sound of it Leach was interviewing with Ole Miss, Ark and MSU so I guess his leaving was bound to happen. Can't believe he was at Pullman for 8 yrs. He had quite the wide open passing game at WSU but he had little running game and the defense was downright putrid. Makes Oklahoma's look stellar "

How is that making a prediction? That was all looking back. As for looking forward, I didn't go there. If you have an issue with how I assessed his time in Pullman, let's hear it but my post did not predict anything in Starkville.

 

[BowlBrother85]

I see his tenure being a lot like Hal Mumme's at Kentucky. His teams will score a lot of points and make a lot of noise, while never winning more than 7 games in a season. At both Texas Tech and Washington State, he had a hard time recruiting to the defensive side of the ball. He should be able to reel in the backs and receivers though.

 

[Nerwen Aldarion]

I think he’ll do well enough at Miss St where NC and even SEC championships aren’t necessarily expected. I’m not convinced he could have success at places like Tennessee, Florida or Georgia where expectations are much higher

 

[JOEY'S ALL VOL !!!]

He'll be a .500 coach. 6 or 7 wins a year with maybe an occasional 8 or 9 win season. Highly doubtful he ever attains a double digit win season at MSU.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

He'll do well for Miss State, but I don't think he should've taken the job. Leach has taken P5 cellar dwellers and turned them into bowl teams his entire career. Why leave Wash State just to do that again at Miss State? Also, it's typically taken Leach a few years to find his type of players, and Miss State is obviously short on patience after firing Moorhead after a mere 2 seasons.

So I think he'll have some 6-, 7-, and 8-win type seasons; if Miss State gives him time.

Would have loved to seen him at a school with actual resources, though. Would've been a bit more interesting if he had ended up at a place like Ole Miss, Colorado, Arizona, or at least some middle of the pack team in a P5 conference. Or how 'bout Miami? Leach in Miami would be a fun experiment. But there's a ceiling in Starkville just like there is in Pullman and Lubbock. So this will yield some fun Egg Bowls, but I don't see Leach beating out Alabama and LSU in the SEC West.

 

[tnutater]

Gone in 4 years.

Never has a winning season.

Bonus : Lane Train derails first. Vol fans who wanted either are nuts.

 

[GoDucks349]

I'm not a Leach fan. What I will say is he seems to do well in "small market" college towns. So he may be successful at msu. I agree he doesn't get a lot of top recruits, yet he manages to put a competitive football team on the field. Plus, his offense is different than most and takes more prep to play against... advantage Leach.

I hated it when he played my Ducks and he beat us a few times. So I have to give him some respect. Grudgingly, given.

 

[allvol123]

Fired after 2 years.

 

[SpookyAction]

8 or 9 wins is definitely doable down there, if he can play a little defense.
I keep checking, but have read no stories about staff. I think it would be smart to retain the defensive staff down there.

 

[05_never_again]

8 or 9 wins is definitely doable down there, if he can play a little defense.
I keep checking, but have read no stories about staff. I think it would be smart to retain the defensive staff down there.

Outside of that 2018 season at Washington St (that defense was pretty good, but not great), Leach has never really been able to do that.

I think he'll do pretty well at Miss St, certainly will score points and be entertaining, but I can see their fans getting frustrated once they figure out his teams rarely play defense, and they routinely have 7-5 seasons instead of 10-2 seasons because of this. He's in the SEC now, where fans expect you to be able to stop someone.

 

[volinbham]

For reference Dan Mullen (the great Dan Mullen) was .600 at Miss St. with an average 7.67 wins/season.

Leach can match that but the haters will say that it proves he sucks while most of the world considers Mullens to be a very good coach.

 

[volinbham]

Gone in 4 years.

Never has a winning season.

Bonus : Lane Train derails first. Vol fans who wanted either are nuts.

LOL

 

[Tennesseefan2019]

As one who wanted Leach to lead the Vol Navy every time we had a coaching search, I look forward to seeing what Leach will do in Starkville (and think he'll do well - similar to Mullen - not predicting NC's - it is Starkville after all). I thought it would be interesting to have some of the more extreme predictions of failure in one place. Again, as a Leach fan, I think these are pretty low IQ posts (sorry, just my opinion).

Enjoy or flame away...

I think Mike Leach quides MSU to an 8-4 record in 2020

 

[volinbham]

He'll be a .500 coach. 6 or 7 wins a year with maybe an occasional 8 or 9 win season. Highly doubtful he ever attains a double digit win season at MSU.

For reference Dan Mullen did it 1 time in 9 years.

 

[volinbham]

I think Mike Leach quides MSU to an 8-4 record in 2020

Doable with this schedule - catch Mizzou and UK out of the East; get Arky and A&M at home. 6-6 to 8-4.

• Saturday Sept. 5: at home vs. New Mexico
• Saturday Sept. 12: on the road against North Carolina State
• Saturday Sept. 19: at home versus Arkansas
• Saturday Sept. 26: at home versus Tulane
• Saturday Oct. 3: at home versus Texas A&M
• Saturday Oct. 10: OPEN WEEK
• Saturday Oct. 17: on the road against Alabama
• Saturday Oct. 24 on the road against LSU
• Saturday Oct. 31: at home versus Auburn
• Saturday Nov. 7: at home versus Missouri
• Saturday Nov. 14: on the road against Kentucky
• Saturday Nov. 21: at home versus Alabama A&M
• Thursday Nov. 26: on the road against Ole Miss

 

[hog88]

Leach will do well (by MSU standards) he'll average 7-8 wins per season with the occasional big win over Bama/LSU.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Outside of that 2018 season at Washington St (that defense was pretty good, but not great), Leach has never really been able to do that.

I think he'll do pretty well at Miss St, certainly will score points and be entertaining, but I can see their fans getting frustrated once they figure out his teams rarely play defense, and they routinely have 7-5 seasons instead of 10-2 seasons because of this. He's in the SEC now, where fans expect you to be able to stop someone.

To be fair, he could hire a defensive specialist while keeping his focus on the offense.

 

[05_never_again]

To be fair, he could hire a defensive specialist while keeping his focus on the offense.

Outside of Alex Grinch (during the aforementioned 2018 season), he hasn't really demonstrated an ability to do that either. I'm sure he's tried to hire DCs over the years that he could entrust the defense to, but his teams have always been lacking something there.

 

[vol66]

It’s set up pretty nice, the 2020 signing class he inherits, is around Top 25, the QB in that class is someone he offered at WSU, by far in a way will be the biggest, most athletic OL he’s ever had.

He can tout the number of QBs he has currently in the NFL as well as the numbers his QB’s put up, to entice a 4/5 star on down the road, the right QB, is everything. I think the 2020 class had 21 sign, only 4 were out of state. And of course, that state is like juco heaven.

As many have mentioned, he needs to figure out D, hire the right guy, he’ll have the biggest salary pool he’s ever had on par with Pruett’s 2018 pool for assistants.

He will find out you score 60 and still lose...won’t fly down here, but he knows it. As far as getting players, getting assistants, this will be the best job he’s ever had.

 

[LouderVol]

Outside of Alex Grinch (during the aforementioned 2018 season), he hasn't really demonstrated an ability to do that either. I'm sure he's tried to hire DCs over the years that he could entrust the defense to, but his teams have always been lacking something there.

has shoop been hired somewhere?

 

[VolMax]

I said this:

"From the sound of it Leach was interviewing with Ole Miss, Ark and MSU so I guess his leaving was bound to happen. Can't believe he was at Pullman for 8 yrs. He had quite the wide open passing game at WSU but he had little running game and the defense was downright putrid. Makes Oklahoma's look stellar "

How is that making a prediction? That was all looking back. As for looking forward, I didn't go there. If you have an issue with how I assessed his time in Pullman, let's hear it but my post did not predict anything in Starkville.

WSU D stats from 2017 (stats I pulled during our search):

#8 (tie) in 1st Down D
#12 in Passing Yards Allowed
#26 Rushing D
#5 Team Passing Efficiency D
#10 in Sacks
#4 (tie) in TFL
#12 Total D
#4 in Takeaways

In a Tecmo Bowl conference...

Calling that a “putrid” D is low IQ. We’d have killed for those numbers in the last 10 years.

 

[VolMax]

He'll be a .500 coach. 6 or 7 wins a year with maybe an occasional 8 or 9 win season. Highly doubtful he ever attains a double digit win season at MSU.

So Mullen-esque...