Will Rogers explains difficulty of playing game after death of Mike Leach

Legendary head coach Mike Leach passed away on Dec. 12 — a huge loss for the college football world. Just 19 days prior, he was on the sideline for Mississippi State, guiding them to another Egg Bowl win against Ole Miss. Flash forward over 20 days after his death and the Bulldogs were back on the field, facing Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

Will Rogers was right in the center of it all, being the starting quarterback. He described the process of dealing with Leach’s death and then having to play in a game so quickly as “difficult.” Especially since his bad health came out of nowhere.

“It was extremely difficult,” Rogers said. “The main thing was it happened out of nowhere. One day, he’s coaching you, and the next, he’s in the hospital. Just kind of out of nowhere.”

To some extent, Rogers is thankful Mississippi State had their bowl game to play. Otherwise, the team would have dispersed around the country, returning home. Instead, everyone was able to be together and go grieve their head coach’s death together.

“I think the biggest thing for myself and the team at the time was just having each other,” Rogers said. “We didn’t go on a big break and we didn’t have any time off. We were preparing for the bowl game. We were in Starkville, practicing for the bowl game at the time.

“To be with your teammates and to have your brothers there to kind of lean on, go through that tough time together — that’s what kept all together and helped us win that bowl game.”

Leach would have wanted to do more than just play in the game. Getting a win would have been important too, even if the “outside world” would understand why Mississippi State lost. Taking down Illinois is something Rogers really wanted to do to honor Leach.

“It’s something we wanted to do,” Rogers said. “It wouldn’t be a big deal and I’m sure the outside world would understand if we went in there, lose the game. I’m sure the outside world would feel sorry for us for what happened to Coach Leach and our program.

“But that’s not what we wanted to do. We wanted to go in there and win the game, play for Coach Leach. Wound up winning the game.”

Mississippi State will continue to honor Leach throughout the 2023 season with Zach Arnett running the program. Winning the ReliaQuest Bowl was a great start, even with how difficult it was for those in Starkville.