Eli Drinkwitz wanted to lobby for Mike Leach.
Speaking at the Southeastern Conference media days podium last week in Dallas, Drinkwitz used a portion of his opening statement to advocate for the late coaching legend to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
鈥淐oach Leach, in my mind, and I believe in most of the people in this room, is a no-doubt Hall of Famer,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淗e impacted our game more in the last 50 years than a lot of other people, not only with his legacy but also with his football acumen.鈥
Leach, one of the sport鈥檚 most compelling characters and the genesis of the air raid offense, died in December 2022 from complications of a heart condition at age 61.
His final coaching stop was Mississippi State, a tenure he began in 2020 in sync with Drinkwitz鈥檚 time at Missouri. The two coaches faced each other at the tail end of that season, a 51-32 Bulldogs win in Starkville, Mississippi.
Drinkwitz has long admired the way Leach鈥檚 coaching and tactics have ingrained themselves across different levels of football.
鈥淗is air raid offense is the dominant offense when you look at high school football, its elements in college football and all the way translating into the NFL game,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淲e all know 鈥榊 cross.鈥 We all know that 鈥榮ix鈥 is four verticals. We all understand that 鈥榬ocket鈥 (and) 鈥榣aser鈥 were tailback screens 鈥 鈥榬ocket鈥 to the right, 鈥榣aser鈥 to the left.鈥
After Leach鈥檚 death, Mizzou honored him with 鈥淢IKE鈥 stickers on its helmets, replacing the I with a pirate-emblazoned cowbell 鈥 a nod to Leach鈥檚 nickname and a Mississippi State tradition. During warmups for the 2022 Gasparilla Bowl, Drinkwitz wore a shirt featuring Leach on the front and his 鈥渟wing your sword鈥 catchphrase on the back.
Since then, MU has hired an assistant coach with close ties to Leach. Offensive line coach Brandon Jones played for him at Texas Tech, when Leach went 1-3 against the Tigers in the Big 12. What Jones learned as a player for Leach is something he has tried to channel as a coach.
鈥淛ust keeping things simple,鈥 Jones said last summer. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the things that I don鈥檛 know if a lot of people understood. I know he鈥檚 very intriguing and he鈥檚 the world鈥檚 most interesting man. But he did keep things simple. And we were always mentally tough. That鈥檚 one thing that I ask my players to be, just how you handle adversity. Those are some things that he鈥檚 instilled in me. And I love him to death for it.鈥
Part of Drinkwitz鈥檚 push for Leach to become a Hall of Famer resonates around the SEC because the conference will hold its 2025 media days at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
鈥淚t reminded me to call on CEO Steve Hatchell to do the right thing and to nominate Mike Leach for the College Football Hall of Fame,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淲e need to put his name on the ballot.鈥
At face value, there鈥檚 one detail of Leach鈥檚 career that would hold him back from a spot in the Hall: Coaches must have a .600 career winning percentage.
Leach went 158-107 in his three head coaching stops, which came at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State. That puts him at .596. If any one of those losses had been a win, he would have hit .600.
鈥淚 understand that standards are there for people to make decisions,鈥 Drinkwitz said, 鈥渂ut I also understand that Coach Leach would be a great value to the Hall of Fame because of the legacy that he has, because of the impact that he made, because of the innovator that he was, because of the legacy of coaches that he left. And in my opinion, not only a winner but a Hall-of-Famer.
鈥淎nd I hope that Mr. Hatchell will recognize that as CEO he has the ability to utilize his discretion to make the obvious into reality, and the obvious is that the Hall of Fame is incomplete without coach Mike Leach in it.鈥