Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach - What a funny MF'er

[DeToxRox]

I love this guy.

LUBBOCK, Texas - After Texas Tech's practice on Wednesday, coach Mike Leach, whose enthusiasm for pirates has become part of his identity, was asked about the growing number of piracy acts off of the coast of Somalia.

As usual, Leach did not disappoint with his answers.


Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is keeping up with the pirate situation in Somalia.
"I get texts once and a while [about the incidents]," Leach said. "I've got to believe that even their Somali pirate friends are going to kill some of those folks that messed with American ships. Because, up to this point, they hadn't really done that.

"It can't be much tougher than Grenada to straighten that situation out, I wouldn't think. We'll see what happens."

Leach was then asked, jokingly, if he would be willing to act as an intermediary during negotiations.

"I don't think they need an intermediary," he said. "They need somebody to go clean that deal out. Whoever that leader of the SEALs is, I think he's got it right. I think you ought to get the Navy SEALs out, have a long weekend, and go have their fun."

Though it may have just entered the public consciousness recently, with the capture and subsequent rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, pirates have been active off of the coast of Somalia since the early 1990s.

"I'm surprised it's gone on to this point," Leach said. "You just pay them off and the rest. But if you stabilize the government, and they're able to feed their people, that stuff is less likely to happen. At some point, then you put criminals in jail. I don't know, we'll see.

"Americans do have the ability to ruthlessly get behind their causes for a short term. I think these pirates are a short-term problem. I don't think that it's going to turn out well for them."

[flere-imsaho]

Although, while I'm glad he remembers Grenada, it's clear he doesn't remember Mogadishu.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

FWIW......any solution that comes from a Texas-based football coach in regards to an international issue is likely going to involve two things: military and death. Not that I disagree with that tactic, but I think we'd get similar answers across the board.

[DeToxRox]

Mike Leach might be the funniest coach in America:

Leach shocked by Aggie outrage over draft comments

April 29, 2009 · Print This Article

BY DON WILLIAMS l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Mike Leach signed his new contract two months ago and ended spring practice a week ago, yet the Texas Tech coach wandered into the headlines again this week in what’s supposed to be down time.

Leach said Wednesday he’s shocked that a comment he made about Texas A&M’s Stephen McGee stirred up a hornet’s nest in College Station.

“The remarkable thing is, all my life I’ve never been upset with the Aggies one time,” Leach said. “They get upset with me anywhere from every four to six months. However, of all the times they’ve gotten upset with me, our fans or anything I’ve ever said, it takes a heck of a detective to find something offensive in what I had to say about the draft.”

Sunday, after the Dallas Cowboys took the former A&M quarterback with the first pick in the fourth round, Leach told a reporter from The Dallas Morning News, “I’m happy for Stephen McGee. The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did.”

That perturbed A&M coach Mike Sherman, who addressed the issue each of the next two days.

On Wednesday, Leach said he can’t see what the big deal is.

“I never questioned the handling of the (A&M) players in any way and have always expressed the utmost respect for their coaching staff,” Leach told The Avalanche-Journal.

“I’ve always said that it is truly exciting to play Texas A&M - the quality of coaches they have, the great team and great tradition and, above all, the quality of players they have,” Leach continued. “I’ve always known A&M had great players. The fact that they have the luxury to put a third- or fourth-round draft pick on the bench, to me, identifies what a truly great team they are.

“It’s an honor for us at Texas Tech to have the opportunity to play them. There are numerous players on our team that will never get a look or play a down in the NFL, so you can imagine how exciting it is for me and them to go play a team the magnitude of Texas A&M and look over there on the bench and see third- and fourth-round draft picks.”

Leach has been a burr under Aggie saddles. His teams have beaten A&M seven times in the last eight years, extending Tech’s recent dominance to 11-3 in the series since 1995. Leach has mixed praise for A&M and its traditions with his wry humor.

After a narrow victory in College Station in 2006, he said, “Glad we got out of here with a win. This is a tough place to do it. Once in a while, a pirate can beat a soldier, you know?”

That was a reference to his self-styled team of pirates and A&M’s Corps of Cadets.

On Monday, in the Austin American-Statesman, Sherman responded that McGee was the Aggies’ starter until he got injured last year. McGee, who started three games as a senior, said he was hurt, not benched, as some believed. Sherman went on to say that Leach had no place commenting on Sherman’s relationship with McGee.

On Tuesday, Leach said he was sorry if Aggies were offended, but didn’t apologize. He then wondered aloud where Sherman thought McGee should have been drafted, given Sherman’s background as an NFL head coach.

Apparently, that prompted Sherman to release a statement sent out late Tuesday through A&M’s sports information office.

In it, Sherman said: “There is nothing Mike Leach could ever say that would offend me. I do find it unfortunate, however, that a college coach feels the need to question the handling of a player by a staff particularly without any knowledge of the facts or the extent of a player’s injury. It is equally bothersome that a football coach would question the draft status of a player. This doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Sherman added that, numerous times before the draft, he said McGee figured to be a late third- or early fourth-round pick - right where the Cowboys took him.

Leach said he was surprised the tempest had drawn as much attention as it had over several days.

“How can anyone not be shocked that they’re offended by this?” Leach told The A-J. “How is that possible? I mean, they’re the ones that keep issuing these official statements. I haven’t issued any official statement. I just answer questions when somebody asks me one.”

This guy deserves his own reality show.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Mike Leach might be the funniest coach in America:

This guy deserves his own reality show.

Funny stuff. Someone needs to tell Sherman to shut the hell up. He's only giving Leach incentive to continue to make him look foolish.

[Swaggs]

“I’ve always said that it is truly exciting to play Texas A&M - the quality of coaches they have, the great team and great tradition and, above all, the quality of players they have,” Leach continued. “I’ve always known A&M had great players. The fact that they have the luxury to put a third- or fourth-round draft pick on the bench, to me, identifies what a truly great team they are.

“It’s an honor for us at Texas Tech to have the opportunity to play them. There are numerous players on our team that will never get a look or play a down in the NFL, so you can imagine how exciting it is for me and them to go play a team the magnitude of Texas A&M and look over there on the bench and see third- and fourth-round draft picks.”

Those are some great quotes.