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LOOK: Mississippi State posts tribute to late head coach Mike Leach on stadium video board

On3 imageby:Andrew Graham•12/13/22•

AndrewEdGraham

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STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI - APRIL 17: head coach Mike Leach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs talks with his players during the Maroon and White spring at Davis Wade Stadium on April 17, 2021 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

Mississippi State football is mourning the loss of head coach Mike Leach on Tuesday after the colorful figure died following several days in the hospital. He was 61.

Through his time in college football — as an assistant at Kentucky and Oklahoma to head coaching stints at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State — he cultivated a reputation as an oft-abrasive outsider. He earned the moniker “The Pirate.”

To honor Leach, Mississippi State tweeted a picture of the simple video board tribute — just a picture of him, his name, and the years bookending his life — with a pirate flag emoji.

It’s one of the countless tributes and memorials for an influential and ubiquitous figure in college football.

Texas Tech also offered a tribute to Leach

In the wake of Leach’s death, there has been an outpouring of support and condolences for the head coach. That includes Texas Tech, which gave Leach his first job as a head coach in college football.

Texas Tech released a statement on the death of Leach on Tuesday. The statement praised Leach for his success at Texas Tech, the impact he had on the sport as a whole, as well as his success at Washington State and Mississippi State.

“Texas Tech Athletics joins the countless others across the game of football who mourn the passing of Mike Leach. Coach Leach will be forever remembered as one of the most innovative minds in college football history. His impact on Texas Tech Football alone will live on in history as one of the greatest tenures in the history of our program,” the statement reads.

Leach coached Texas Tech from 2000-2009. During that time, he went 84-43, going to a bowl game every season that he was there. That includes multiple Cotton Bowl appearances and five top-25 finishes. During that time, he and the Red Raiders were known for their record-setting offenses.