Leach moves to the front of the pack
by John Berkowitz on Dec 3, 2008 11:03 PM PST
23 comments
It is looking more and more like Texas Tech's Mike Leach will be the next coach at the University of Washington. Many sources including Dan Patrick and Molly Yanity are reporting that Leach is heading back to Seattle in the morning for a second interview. If that is true, and we are pretty sure it is, expect him to be named head coach after negotiations are finished. No way does he come up here a second time without an offer in hand.
Leach has been looking to get out of Lubbock for a couple of years now and sources in Texas are reporting that he will take the job if offered. We all know he has interest because he appleid for the job four years ago and was ignored by the AD at the time Todd Turner who wasn't exactly into pirates.
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At first I was a little put off, but now I'm starting to get excited
With all the history Washington has as a smash-mouth defensive team that scared the living hell out of their opponents, Washington’s more important legacy has been the perennial contenders for Rose Bowls. Mike Leach teams, if nothing else, have been winners. Not only that, but he’s won at a school at a school comparable to Oregon State in the Pac-10. USC, UW, UCLA and Oregon are tough to recruit against the same way Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska have the history in the Big 12. With the current offense, Leach would have tons of tools to work with, namely the slew of young talent at WR (and Kevario at TE) and a couple of RB’s with a reputation for good hands (Polk and Yakaboski). That could lead to a quicker turn-around than most would deem appropriate from a team that will likely WIN ZERO GAMES this season. To continue the capitalization… DUDE HAS NEVER HAD A LOSING SEASON AS A HEAD COACH. I’m developing the theory that Emmert and Woodward realized the interview was a little weird, then glanced back at his resume and called him with a job offer of around 2.7 mil. That second interview? In reality a press conference announcing his hiring.
Hey, maybe he can even convince Pinkards HS buddy Brant to reconsider OK for UW.
Our leather lungs together...
I can live with Leach as the new HC
It sounds like we could be in a bidding war with Auburn if he is at the top of their list as rumored.
I think he would generate excitement about Husky FB. We desperately need some excitement in and for Husky football. Tailgating is the only fun part of a Husky game and the last one was more like a wake.
I’m not even going to watch the Cal game, why bother? We already know the play calls and the result. We know Ty will take any risks…play not to lose and we know how well that’s worked this year.
Jack
Wellllll
It may happen, but there are also some voices in LBK who may disagree with his motivations on leaving…
This is a blurb from today’s Lubbock Avalanche Journal (hell of a name for a newspaper, eh?)
"…But ask someone who knows Tech’s coach – really knows him, interacts with him on a regular basis: Will Mike be coaching elsewhere next year? Are we seeing the end of an era? The answer I get lately, from multiple people, is always the same: Not if he can help it. He likes it here too much. His family, too.
Oh, about that trip this week to Washington and Leach’s visit with UW officials: Knowing Mike, he thought it’d be cool to have someone else pick up the tab while he checked out the Space Needle. And maybe have his picture made next to the original Starbucks, holding his favorite, the big cup of China green tips tea.
Wise fellow, Leach. In all seriousness, with the trip to Washington, he’s exploring his options to be sure. But people around him say Mike doesn’t really have his heart set on finding a new port in which to dock the pirate ship."
So, we’re all sort of left wondering what the heck will happen with this guy.
Maybe...
but his actions speak louder than words. He applied for the UW job four years ago without being solicited & he went so hard after the UCLA job last year he scared them off. Who knows what’s going threw Mike’s mind but he seems to be intrigued with the west coast.
i’d buy that if he also didn’t show interest in just about every opening every year. That’s his thing…it’s annoying as heck, but it is what it is. If he goes to UW, he’d probably do the same thing. Especially if it turns out he can’t get the recruits out of California to come up there and help him rebuild.
Tech was built almost exclusively through Texas high school kids. We have maybe 10 guys from out of state and not many impact players from that group. National recruiting is not his gig at all, so he’d need to hire assistants who are really good at it. While it’s hard to get the 5-stars in Texas to come to Lubbock, the three and four stars are available in very large numbers and that’s how he built the program. That’s probably one factor, among about 2,364, that he’s likely to consider.
There most likely will be no bidding war...
Leach has wanted to get on the west coast for years. I think Auburn has no chance at Leach as Auburn is said to be like Texas Tech = in the middle of nowhere. I also believe Leach grew up a UW fan so this would be one of his top college choices anyway. There are numerous reasons Leach wants this job and has gone after it the last two times it has opened up.
You may be right
But don’t underestimate his affection for Lubbock and Tech. Lubbock takes some getting used to, for sure. But once you do, there is something about the place that keeps people there. It’s gone from 180,000 people in 1990 to about 220,000 today – including the small towns within 5 min of the city.
I've never been there...
but my uncle graduated from TT about 30 years ago so most of what i know comes from him.
I graduated in 1992 and trust me when I say this…the city and campus area are NOTHING like when I was there. It’s a totally different set up and environment. The city and private investors have spent hundreds of millions in rebuilding the area around campus and the city in general. He should go back and take a look at the place. He probably won’t recognize it. i know every time I go back, it looks more and more different.
Lubbock Texas!!!!!
Where the heck is Lubbock, Texas anyway?!?!
I am sure that is a very nice town but an increase in population from 190,000-220,000 is only 30,000 ppl in 18 years (1990-2008). I am pretty sure that there are plenty of nice things about Lubbock but to compare Lubbock to Seattle won’t get you very far. The only reason I could see him staying there is because he has built a very strong team and could probably retire there, if he wants to. But I read (Bob’s Blog) that his daughter is going to Medical School and where better to send her than UW…….for free!!!!!
his daughter
is a sophomore at Tech…just finishing her rush semester for her sorority. She may be going to med school some day, though…
I've been to Lubbock
my wife’s best friend graduated from the OT program at TT in 2001. Good school … but all I can say is that Tech92 is a rose-colored glasses guy.
"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.
nah
I’ve been to Seattle many times (lived in NoCal for several years in the late 90s). It’s a great, great city. With gawd awful weather and little or no real summer. For someone like me who likes outdoorsy stuff and the sun, Seattle would suck. For others, not so much.
That being said, I’m not comparing the two cities…just saying that Lubbock isn’t the pit everyone seems to think. Outside of Austin, it’s the largest of the Big XII cities. That’s all.
no summer?
Are you sure you’ve been here in the summer? That’s the best time of year here – between July 5th and the middle of September, it’s pretty consistently sunny, temps in the 80’s.
I was there in August one year and did enjoy it. I guess, as a Texan, I don’t consider 80s to be summer. I like it about 95 in the summer. Anything more than that and it’s too hot. We get 80s starting in mid April or early May. And it rarely rains from May to September. But that’s personal preference.
I don’t think I’d trade our winters, though. We get pretty cold (it was 25 here last night where I live, and that’s not unusual), but it’s usually sunny.
Again, don’t get me wrong. I think Seattle is a gem of a city in just about every respect. I do have some connections to the city and have been there dozens of times – I was engaged to a UW alum when I lived in Cali and her parents live in the U-district (??) or something like that. Loved all my visits up there. Just not the weather in the fall/winter.
I was just giving you a hard time...
I live in Philly right now and the weather is god awful!
Yikes! My dad retired to some village in central PA about a year ago. Ever heard of Holidaysburg? Me either. He hates it, but he dragged the family around the world being in the military and my step-mother insisted. Poor guy.
Holidaysburg is on the west side of the state near Pittsburgh if im not mistaken...
All of Pennsylvania sucks. God’s country my a$$!
WOW...thats right.
Middle of NOWHERE…your poor poor dad
He's coming back for a second interview
that just about blows every argument Tech92 has. Unless of course Mike loved Seattle so much the first time, he wanted someone else to pick up the tab for another quick visit, ya right.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
What argument did I make? Only thing I said was not to underestimate his feelings for Tech or Lubbock. I think if UW offers a good package, he’ll leave. I think.
But figuring out this guy has been a 9-year exercise in futility. Nobody can really pin-point what makes the guy tick. He’s not motivated by the things you and I are motivated by; and nobody has come up with the answer to what it is. It’s part of the fascination with him.
If he leaves for UW we’ll all be watching down here in Texas to see how it goes, for sure. And in a year or two, we’ll all hear his name associated with other jobs around the country…so it goes with Mr. Leach.
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