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Ryan Day: 'College football is going to miss Mike Leach'

Tim-Mayby:Tim May•12/13/22•

TIM_MAYsports

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Ohio State's Ryan Day reflected on Mike Leach's legacy, following the tragic death of the late Mississippi State head coach. (Matt Parker/Lettermen Row)

COLUMBUS — The sudden passing of Mississippi State’s Mike Leach struck home with major college coaches everywhere, and Ohio State’s Ryan Day was no exception.

“I met coach Leach a couple of times, and I certainly have a tremendous amount of respect,  and certainly want to really send prayers and thoughts out to his family, and to all those down at Mississippi State, and all the folks he’s coached with and for, the players,” Day said Tuesday. “Just 61 years old, it really makes you take a deep breath and think about life in general.”

Leach, reportedly stricken by a massive heart attack early Sunday morning, was airlifted to a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, where he passed away early Tuesday.

Moments earlier, during the press conference at which Ohio State formally accepted the invitation from the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl to take on Georgia in a College Football Playoff semifinal in Atlanta on Dec.31, Day had gone over the frenzied schedule by which he and many other coaches are living through December.

The transfer portal opened last week, and Ohio State has seen three players step into it so far while they are keeping tabs on any they might see of interest; the early signing period starts next Wednesday, which means he and his assistants are trying to put the final touches on what’s expected to be a top-five class; he’ll be flying the next two days in that pursuit then returning to put his team through — oh, yes — practices in preparation for Georgia.

As one media member put it, it’s like the NFL staging its draft and its major free agents-signing period during the midst of the playoffs. That would be crazy, right?

Which gets back to that “life in general” quote, since this is a normal hectic December for Day and his peers. And did somebody say “Christmas”? Leach was working through the same kind of December for the umpteenth time, and how much that contributed to his health problem, no one knows, though certainly such constant demands have to take a toll.

“Life can move fast, and certainly a lot comes with this profession,” Day said. “But to lose him that young is a tragedy.”

Leach left his mark, though, and not just with his patented “Air Raid” offense that saw him and his teams have moments of glory as a head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State. One never knew exactly what was going to come out of his mouth, as he would turn a simple question into a lecture on, say, the pluses and minuses of having a big wedding, or the sacrifice of having to drink “bad tasting” coffee just to gain the caffeine, or fixation on pirates and the swashbuckling life they led.

In short, he was a character, one of a kind.

“One thing, and I didn’t know him as well as others, is it looked like he enjoyed his time,” Day said. “He did.

“He did it his way, and there’s a lot to be said for that. And college football certainly is going to miss Mike Leach.”

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