Mizzou's Eliah Drinkwitz: Hall of Fame incomplete without Mike Leach

When the SEC returns to the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta for SEC Media Days in July 2025, Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz hopes he can celebrate the induction of late coach Mike Leach. Drinkwitz said on the second day of conference media days in Dallas that it's time for college football to "do the right thing" and enshrine Leach despite not meeting the established criteria. Leach, who coached at Texas Tech, Washington State and was at Mississippi State when he died unexpectedly from heart complications in 2022, is one win short of the .600 win percentage prerequisite for Hall of Fame nomination. "It reminded me to call on (National Football Foundation) CEO Steve Hatchell to do the right thing and to nominate Mike Leach for the College Football Hall of Fame. We need to put his name on the ballot," Drinkwitz said of the Atlanta destination triggering his thoughts about Leach, who helped revolutionize offense with the "Air Raid" spread system. The NFF and College Football Hall of Fame operate the Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta. Leach was 158-107 as a head coach and with one more victory, he would qualify with a .600 career winning percentage. He was 84-43 in 10 seasons at Texas Tech before they parted acrimoniously in 2009 with Leach under investigation for alleged mistreatment of a player. But the Red Raiders inducted Leach in the Texas Tech Hall of Honor posthumously in 2023. At Mississippi State, Leach was 19-17, and he was 55-47 in eight seasons at Washington State. In total, his win percentage is 59.6. Drinkwitz had much more to say on the topic. "Coach Leach, in my mind, and I believe in most of the people in this room, is a no-doubt Hall of Famer. He impacted our game more in the last 50 years than a lot of other people, not only with his legacy, but also with his football acumen. His Air Raid offense is the dominant offense when you look at high school football, its elements in college football and all the way translating into the NFL game," Drinkwitz said. "We all know Y cross. We all know that six is four verticals. We all understand that rocket laser were tailback screens, rocket to the right, laser to the left. He won 158 career games, was the 2008 Big 12 Coach of the Year, two-time PAC-12 Coach of the Year, and in 2018 was the AFCA Football Coach of the Year. Won 11 games (in one season, 2008) at Texas Tech and 11 games (in 2018) at Washington State. And I understand that his career winning percentage is .596, one win short of the 60 percent threshold, and I understand that standards are there for people to make decisions, but I also understand that Coach Leach would be a great value to the Hall of Fame, because of the legacy that he has, because of the impact that he made, because of the innovator that he was, because of the legacy of coaches that he left. And in my opinion, not only a winner, but a Hall of Famer. "And I hope that Mr. Hatchell will recognize that as CEO he has the ability to utilize his discretion to make the obvious into reality, and that obvious is that the Hall of Fame is incomplete without Coach Mike Leach in it." Leach's name came up earlier Tuesday. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel mentioned Leach as one of the reasons he'll be celebrating a 25-year anniversary since his arrival in Norman, Okla., when he visits the Sooners as an SEC opponent in September. "Coach Leach recruits me. (Oklahoma coach) Brent (Venables), I got great respect for Brent, playing while he was coaching, but also being beside him in the staff room," Heupel said. "I don't know that I ever forecasted they were coming into this league, Oklahoma. It's just -- those are two really good brands coming in. Obviously Oklahoma, my experience there, I think it's an exciting time to be in this league and really unique that I'll have an opportunity to go back to Oklahoma. It'll be a completely different viewpoint on that Saturday afternoon or evening, whenever the game is. But it'll be unique for me. Got family that still lives back there. A lot of friends, teammates, coaches that I stay in contact that coached me while I was there, and obviously administration, too. So it'll be a unique Saturday." --Field Level Media