Mississippi State hired Washington State’s Mike Leach as its new head coach Thursday, bringing one of the nation’s quirkiest and most successful coaches to the Southeastern Conference.
The post-bowl game firing was unusual, but the Bulldogs landed a coach with a long track record of winning at programs that have historically struggled. In 18 years was Texas Tech and Washington State, Leach is 139-90, using his Air Raid offense to set records and consistently reach the postseason.
At Washington State, Leach took over a program that had been mired in the Pac-12 basement and went to five straight bowl games, including an 11-2 season in 2018.