TRENDING: Oklahoma Football Legend Shows Unwavering Support for 2024 Offseason
The Oklahoma football program has a rich history of producing Hall of Fame head coaches. Notable figures such as Bob Stoops, Barry Switzer, Bud Wilkinson, Bennie Owen, Biff Jones, and Jim Tatum have all led the Oklahoma Sooners and earned spots in the College Football Hall of Fame. Bob Stoops, the most recent Oklahoma coach inducted into the Hall of Fame by the National Football Foundation (NFF), believes his former colleague Mike Leach deserves to be among the legendary coaches.
Leach, who has been a head coach at the FBS level for 21 years, boasts a 59.6% win record, just shy of the 60% required for Hall of Fame consideration. Unless the NFF Board of Directors grants a waiver, Leach is not eligible for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach.
Former Oklahoma Football HC Bob Stoops: Goes to Bat for Mike Leach
On Friday, former Oklahoma football head coach and national champion Bob Stoops used social media to express his support for the late Mike Leach. Responding to a tweet about Leach’s ineligibility for the College Football Hall of Fame, Stoops argued that Leach’s influence alone warrants him a place among the most esteemed coaches in the sport.
That rounds to 60%, Mike is deserving of the College HOF! His influence in football is as strong as any Coach I can think of. RIP Mike🙏 https://t.co/TPLqIWysUI
— Bob Stoops (@CoachBobStoops) June 14, 2024
“That rounds to 60%. Mike is deserving of the College HOF! His influence in football is as strong as any Coach I can think of. RIP Mike,” Stoops tweeted on Friday. Leach, who served as an assistant coach under Stoops during Oklahoma football’s 7-5 season in 1999, passed away at 61 in 2022 after 21 years as a head coach. He led the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Washington State Cougars, and the Mississippi State Bulldogs to a 158-107 record, achieving a .596 win percentage. Although a .600 win percentage is required for College Football Hall of Fame consideration, a rule since 1951, the National Football Foundation (NFF) only began strictly enforcing it in the last decade.
Despite Leach’s ineligibility, the College Football Hall of Fame includes 30 coaches who retired with less than a 60% win rate. Notably, Tuss McLaughry (49%), Doug Porter (58%), and Willie Jefferies (59%) are all members, with Porter and Jefferies inducted within the past 20 years. However, NFF president and CEO Steve Hatchell, who was in charge during Porter and Jefferies’ inductions, told CBS Sports that Leach would not be admitted without a waiver.
“There hasn’t been any wriggling of that [.600 number]. I was told by George Steinbrenner and many other guys who had been on the board for a long time, ‘Hatchell, these are the rules. You stay with the rules come hell or high water,'” Hatchell stated.
Mike Leach: Legendary Football Career
Mike Leach will not be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame without a waiver. Known as “The Pirate,” Leach was instrumental in developing and implementing the air raid offense in college football in the early 2000s. During his distinguished career, Leach won several awards, including Conference Coach of the Year three times and the Woody Hayes National Coach of the Year Award in 2008. He achieved double-digit wins twice, notably leading the Texas Tech Red Raiders to an 11-2 record and a Cotton Bowl appearance in the same year he won Coach of the Year. Under Leach’s guidance, quarterback Graham Harrell threw for 134 touchdowns over four seasons, the third-most in FBS history.
Leach also coached alongside notable figures such as Oklahoma football legend Bob Stoops, USC head coach Lincoln Riley, former Baylor head coach Art Briles, and longtime coach Sonny Dykes. While Leach may not qualify for the Hall of Fame as a coach, he could still be honored with the Hall of Fame’s Distinguished American Award for his significant contributions to the evolution of the sport.