Look: Tennessee football honoring Mike Leach in Orange Bowl against Clemson
Tennessee football will honor the late Mike Leach in the Capital One Orange Bowl Friday night with a helmet decal and a patch on the sleeves of the coaching staff when the Vols face Clemson at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
The sixth-ranked Vols (10-2) kickoff against Clemson (11-2) at 8 p.m. Eastern Time Friday on ESPN.
Leach died at the age of 61 on December 12. He was Josh Heupel’s offensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 1999, recruiting him to the Sooners out of Snow College, a junior college in Utah in 1998.
Honoring a legend 🏴☠️ pic.twitter.com/gEpjAEnNqQ
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) December 30, 2022
Heupel was a junior college All-American, throwing for 2,308 yards and 28 touchdowns, before transferring to Oklahoma for the 199 season, where he would play under Leach, then Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
A “heartbroken” Heupel released a statement on December 13 on the passing of Leach, the Mississippi State head coach who died of complications from heart disease, according to a statement from the Leach family.
“I am heartbroken on the passing of Coach Leach,” Heupel said. “In 1999, he gave a kid out of Snow College in Utah a shot at major college football. He saw something in me when no one else did.
“Like so many across our sport, I am grateful for Coach Leach’s impact on my life both personally and professionally. His offensive philosophy and vision were ahead of his time, and they continue to shape the game today.”
At Oklahoma in 1999, after the stops at Weber State in 1997 and Snow College in 1998, Heupel would throw for 3,460 yards and 30 touchdowns in Leach’s offense. He threw for 3,606 yards and 20 touchdowns a year later, leading the Sooners to the BCS National Championship, a Big 12 Championship and, for Heupel, a second-place finish in the Heisman Trophy voting.
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Heupel is considered part of the extensive Leach coaching tree. Leach’s 2000 Texas Tech staff alone included Sonny Dykes, Dana Holgorsen, Ruffin McNeill, Art Briles and Dave Aranda, with Kliff Kingsbury as the team’s starting quarterback.
Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Clemson, Orange Bowl, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
In 21 years as a head coach, Leach went 158-107 during stints at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State, leading his teams to 19 bowl games and changing the sport with his Air Raid offense.
“Off the field, he was one of a kind — an incredible storyteller, a man full of wisdom and someone who always cared about his former players and coaches,” Heupel said. “I enjoyed our friendship over the years. My deepest condolences go out to Coach Leach’s family, his wife Sharon, his kids and grandkids and the entire Mississippi State football program.”
Mississippi State went 8-4 this season, ending the regular-season schedule with a win over rival Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl and earning a berth in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois on January 2.
