Mike Leach and football's Air Raid revolution

Before we knew Mike Leach was a first-ballot hall of fame interview, before the sideline dissertations about marriage or candy or anything in the world, really, there was Mike Leach, the football genius.

Leach, who died Monday night at 61, likely would scoff at that notion, that anyone needed to be a genius to do something like coach football. But all the off-field quirkiness aside, his introduction to major college football at Oklahoma, followed by a trailblazing tenure at Texas Tech, spawned a revolution in the sport.

When former Sooners head coach Bob Stoops arrived in Norman in 1999, he brought Leach, who had been Hal Mumme's offensive coordinator at Kentucky and had frustrated Stoops,…