Horns247 Board

I'd disagree, Edsall is a very good coach but he doesn't have the skins of Leach. He hasn't taken a desert wasteland and with limited resources had them top 10 in the country and a lot of consecutive winning seasons going against a conference that features many schools with superior resources and talent.

Tech under Leach never finished in the top 10 in the AP or Coaches polls. Best was #12 in 2008. Leach was 2-8 vs. UT and 3-7 vs. OU.

If the Big East had Texas, OU, or even the likes of Nebraska then Edsell wouldn't have won jack. I think he did a great job there but he never had to go up against the big boys in conference, and when he did see one in OU he got curb stomped.

Leach never finished Top 10 but he had several top 10 teams during the season that met a more powerful opponent. His 2005 team was undefeated and #7 in the nation when he met the greatest CFB dual threat QB and team of destiny/future NC winner. But I digress, we'll agree to disagree as you wish.

I highly recommend listening to Leach from today's Finebaum show. He was tremendous in his undressing of ESPN and Craig James.

http://podcasting.fia.net/6960/4809128.mp3

Mike Leach's Big 12 records were marginally better than Spike Dykes's SWC records (by about one more win per year?), I'll give you that, but look at who Leach scheduled as his non-conference games. Absolutely disgraceful. Also, while Leach had to deal with powerhouses like OU and UT in the Big 12, A&M back in the SWC days was quite the juggernaut.

My distaste for Leach has nothing to do with this James episode. In fact, I believe he's in the right. Nor am I holding some childish grudge over 2008. They won the game fair and square, and we have nobody to blame but ourselves. I even believe he's a gifted offensive coach. That said, I think he gets more notoriety than he deserves simply because of his slightly off center and highly quotable personality. I also think he coaches his team needlessly recklessly, which is a function of his arrogance, that he thinks he's smarter than everyone else on the field. This is evidenced by his refusal to punt the ball even deep in his own territory, or to go for a chip shot field goal. This has time and again cost Tech wins. I already mentioned his negligence on defense and special teams, so I digress.

He's a good offensive coach for a regional player like Tech, but I don't expect him to be successful on the big stage as a head coach.

Great post. One nit to pick: They didn't get rid of him because they didn't like his personality; they got rid of him because they didn't want to pay him what he negotiated. I don't think they gave a crap about his personality. Craig James getting uppity just gave them the reason to do what they needed to do.

He has Bob Knight's personality with a bit more of a positive attitude and good press.