LOOK: BYU pays tribute to Mike Leach in New Mexico Bowl by wearing pirate flag on helmets

Former Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach tragically passed away earlier this week due to a massive heart attack. He was well known for having a wide variety of interests outside of football, especially pirates. His book is titled “Swing your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and Life.” Tributes across the country have poured in for the legendary college football head coach this week. On Saturday evening, Leach’s alma mater, the BYU Cougars, decided to honor him with a pirate flag on the back of their helmets. The Cougars are playing the SMU Mustangs in the New Mexico Bowl in Alburquerque, New Mexico and they decided to break out the new helmets for their bowl game.

Check out the tribute below.

We'll do our best to 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 in your honor, Coach Leach 💙 pic.twitter.com/RW6xXBdI4E

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) December 17, 2022

Leach noted a few years ago in an interview with Ethan Bauer of The Deseret News just how much he learned from former BYU head coach LaVell Edwards.

The helmets are just a small example of the many fitting tributes for Leach that we’ve seen throughout the week. Simply put, it’s tough to measure the incredible impact he had on the game of football and college football fans around the country.

College football loses a legendary head coach

Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach died after a medical situation that unfolded on Dec. 11 and was later identified as a massive heart attack. He was 61 years old.

According to the release from Mississippi State, Leach passed away from complications due to a heart condition on Monday night, December 12.

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.”  

Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum also released a statement on the passing of the Leach: “Coach Mike Leach cast a tremendous shadow not just over Mississippi State University, but over the entire college football landscape. His innovative ‘Air Raid’ offense changed the game. Mike’s keen intellect and unvarnished candor made him one of the nation’s true coaching legends. His passing brings great sadness to our university, to the Southeastern Conference, and to all who loved college football. I will miss Mike’s profound curiosity, his honesty, and his wide-open approach to pursuing excellence in all things. 
 
“Mike’s death also underscores the fragility and uncertainty of our lives. Three weeks ago, Mike and I were together in the locker room celebrating a hard-fought victory in Oxford. Mike Leach truly embraced life and lived in such a manner as to leave no regrets. That’s a worthy legacy. May God bless the Leach family during these days and hours. The prayers of the Bulldog family go with them.”

Leach suffered a massive heart attack which led to the him taking an ambulance to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson on Sunday, according to the Clarion Ledger. Upon arrival to the home, EMTs used a defibrillator machine and delivered multiple shocks to restore normal heart rhythm, per the report. Leach was transported by helicopter to UMMC after being stabilized, per the report. He was listed in critical condition on Monday following his heart attack, according to a release from the school.

A legendary career for Leach

Leach was the head coach of Mississippi State for just three seasons. He went a combined 19-17 in those three years and led the Bulldogs to a bowl game every season. The 2022 season, his final one in Starkville, he went 8-4, his best record with the Bulldogs. Mississippi State earned a berth in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois.

Leach started his coaching career in 1987 as an offensive line coach for Cal Poly. Leach would coach at some smaller schools until 1997 when he got his first Power Five job as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kentucky. He would then leave for Oklahoma two years later for the same position.

After one season with the Sooners, Leach was hired as Texas Tech’s head coach. Leach put the Red Raiders on the map, winning nine games in just his third season. Leach would remain the head coach at Texas Tech for 10 years, going 84-43 and 5-4 in bowl games. He took Texas Tech to a 10^th bowl game in his final season but did not coach in it.

Following a few seasons out of coaching, Leach was hired by Washington State in 2012. Leach found strong success once again as a head coach, going 55-47 and making it to six bowl games in eight seasons with the Cougars. After that time, he was hired by Mississippi State.

On3’s Riley Gates also contributed to this article.