Lincoln Riley discusses how USC's staff has rallied together after Mike Leach's passing

For USC head coach Lincoln Riley, the late-great Mike Leach was more than another football coach. He was a mentor. A Lubbock, Texas native who played quarterback for Texas Tech before getting his start in coaching as an assistant under Leach with the Red Raiders, Riley was affected more than most coaches by Leach’s passing.

Now, Lincoln Riley has explained that the staff at USC has actually rallied together in what could have become an incredibly difficult time for the staff.

“It was a tough, emotional time for our staff. I mean, I think we took 15 different members down to Starkville for the memorial service there. You can obviously trace the roots of the majority of our staff back to Mike in one way or another,” Riley said.

“So, yeah, it’s been an emotional time getting to communicate with his family some. Certainly, getting down there to Starkville and seeing so many faces of the people that he impacted. So many of them that have become colleagues and lifelong friends, and it’s honestly a little crazy to think how much he’s impacted the game and probably more so just so many people and their families. So, yeah, it’s certainly been tough, but we’ve tried to all rally together.”

Lincoln Riley isn’t the only coach to come off Mike Leach’s coaching tree. There are tons of great offensive minds who have worked for him as Leach had an outsized impact on the sport.

“It’s been great to see the outpouring of support and then certainly pretty special to see that in this year that one of his, one of the guys off the tree with Coach [Sonny] Dykes at TCU is going to get a chance to play for the championship here in nine or ten days. So, very, very fitting there as well,” Riley concluded.

Lincoln Riley posted a tribute to Mike Leach

In the immediate aftermath of Mike Leach’s death, Lincoln Riley posted a tribute to him.

“Coach- You will certainly be missed, but your impact on so many will live on- Thankful for every moment. You changed my life and so many others. All of our prayers are with Sharon & the Leach family- Rest In Peace my friend,” Lincoln Riley wrote on Twitter.