- ABC News
- January 2, 2023
Mississippi State set aside its traditional school logos in order to honor former coach Mike Leach during the ReliaQuest Bowl on Monday against Illinois. The Bulldogs unveiled a special helmet design, which features a pirate flag on the side, on Monday morning. Leach, who was nicknamed "The Pirate," died Dec. 12 from a heart condition. He was 61. Leach coached three seasons at Mississippi State. He had two previous stops as a head coach, at Texas Tech (2000-09) and Washington State (2012-19). He was the American Football Coaches Association national coach of the year in 2018. His 158 career wins were the fifth most among active FBS coaches this season. But his legacy went far beyond wins and losses. His coaching tree spread far and wide, including Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, TCU coach Sonny Dykes, USC coach Lincoln Riley, Baylor coach Dave Aranda, Houston coach Dana Holgorsen, North Texas coach Seth Littrell and Nevada coach Ken Wilson. Many schools...