Mississippi State University Head Coach and former University of Kentucky Coach Mike Leach passed away Monday night due to complications from a heart condition, according to a press release from Mississippi State Athletics. Leach was 61.
In a statement, the Leach family said: "Mike was a giving and attentive husband, father and grandfather. He was able to participate in organ donation at UMMC as a final act of charity. We are supported and uplifted by the outpouring of love and prayers from family, friends, Mississippi State University, the hospital staff, and football fans around the world. Thank you for sharing in the joy of our beloved husband and father's life."
Leach spent two seasons at Kentucky. As Kentucky's offensive coordinator, Leach coached the Wildcat offense to six NCAA records, 41 Southeastern Conference records, and 116 school records in 22 games.
Leach coached alongside former head coach Hal Mumme during his time at UK.
"As a coach, he's the best I've ever been around," Mumme said. "He was very innovative. Always coming up with ways to solve problems and he was great at handling players. I learned a lot from him."
As a friend, Mumme said Leach was more like a brother.
"The banter back and forth was always constant and always pretty well-meaning and pretty fun to do and I'm really going to miss that about him," Mumme said.
He'll also miss the side of him that was eclectic and spellbinding.
"He was kinda notorious to be long-winded on the telephone but it didn't matter because he cast such a spell on you, it wasn't like you would want to get off the call," Mumme recalled. "You would start off talking about football and end up talking about pirates, politics, history, and science, and do you think there are space aliens or sasquatches."
Former Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch also feels the impact of this loss.
"Most coaches are very intense," Couch said. "They're into the x's and o's and that's kind of what they talk about and Mike kinda wanted to talk about everything but football when you would talk to him. He could go down any path you wanted: movies, weddings, food, anything, travel. He was just full of stories. He was a great guy to have around and to talk to and I certainly really appreciated my time with him."
Couch refers to Leach's sense of humor and unique style of coaching as some of his most endearing characteristics.
"He had a unique ability to not only get on guys and push guys and be strict with them and expect the best out of them, but he also had a great ability to relate to the players and use his humor," Couch said. "He was hilarious in meeting rooms and on the field he always had something funny to say. Mike was certainly a player's coach and one we all really enjoyed playing for and certainly going to miss him and his personality."
Leach was finishing his third season in Starkville.
