Leach at OU? Why not?
Writing about Mike Leach this weekend, I called my old pal Brent Clark, an OU football historian and author. We talked a lot about Leach, then Clark said something that is clearly obvious but for some reason I never had thought about it.
“We don’t know what the final chapter will be with Mike Leach,” Clark said. “But I really think Mike Leach has earned himself the opportunity to be the head coach at the University of Oklahoma, if that opportunity arises.”
Well, duh. Not to be kicking Bob Stoops out the door or anything. But if Stoops ever were to leave, why wouldn’t Leach be OU’s No. 1 choice to take over?
When I’ve thought about that question, I always focus on the staff in place. OU has had superb fortune hiring assistant coaches to take over the program. Bud Wilkinson was on the OU staff in 1946 then took over in 1947. Barry Switzer was on the OU staff from 1966-72 then took over in 1973. Stoops was an assistant for Bill Snyder at Kansas State and Steve Spurrier at Florida before OU hired him as head coach in December 1998.
So I’ve always first thought of a Stoops assistant to succeed Stoops, should he move on to the NFL or a different road in life.
Mike Stoops, Chuck Long, Kevin Wilson, Brent Venables. Stoops had and has a lot of solid candidates who could succeed him.
But Leach has to be at the top of the list, doesn’t he? The job he’s done at Texas Tech has been solid for almost a decade, and now this year his program has exploded. The Red Raiders are 11-0 and ranked No. 2.
Leach is wildly popular with the Oklahoma fan base and media. I have no idea what kind of relationship he would have with the OU administration, but nothing out of Lubbock indicates Leach is harder to get along with than any other football coach.
Would Leach make a great OU coach? I don’t see why not. I still think there are issues about his style of play and how it isn’t conducive to building a defensive mentality. But that theory has taken severe hits in this season of Tech dominance.
Again, I’m in no way suggesting it’s time for Leach to replace Stoops. The longer it goes, the more I think Stoops is a long-timer for Norman. And the program never has been in better shape.
But every athletic director has a list of possible candidates for the primary jobs, in case they come open. I promise you Joe Castiglione has a football list, just in case.
I don’t see why Mike Leach shouldn’t be at the top of that list.
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Comments
Leach is going to win a National Championship at TT this year and be tied with Stoops. Why would he want to start all over at OU? Evidently, he can get the players he needs at Tech to win it all, which is the problem you guys always point out that he has in Lubbock.
Face it, after he wins it all once, Norman will not be as good a place to coach as Lubbock…do what you want, nobody messes with you, go back to the wishbone. Plus, for Pete’s sake, it’s in Texas, not Oklahoma!
You guys have been over rating the prestige of the OU job for several years now, even as the recruiting classes get lower and lower every year.
Maybe Stoops can get the TT job when Leach goes to the pros.
Typical of TT wannabies. Leach would jump at the opportunity to be OUs head coach, a school where he could compete for championships every year rather than one in ten…as in Lubbock!!
I’m pretty sure Tech has only played 10 games this year. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I really want to see them reach 11-0, but I’m pretty sure saying they are is a little bit premature at this point.
Freudian slip??
If, the Head Coach job was open at OU, Leach would be my very first prospect.