The news that Mike Leach passed away last night is hitting the college football world hard. The 61-year-old Mississippi State coach suffered a heart attack at his home in Starkville on Sunday and was airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He died the next day, his family citing complications from a heart condition.
Defining Mike Leach’s legacy feels impossible, not only because his death was so sudden, but because Leach had a huge impact on college football as a coach and an individual. In 1989, Leach joined Hal Mumme’s staff at Iowa Wesleyan and followed him to Valdosta State and then Kentucky.