Leach Mike - Swing your sword : leading the charge in football and life

SWING YOUR SWORD

Diversion Books

A Division of Diversion Publishing Corp.

80 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1101

New York, New York 10011

www.diversionbooks.com

Copyright 2011 by Mike Leach

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For more information, email info@diversionbooks.com.

First Diversion Books edition July 2011

Edited by Bruce Feldman and Sean Mahoney

Copyedited by Lisa Grzan

Cover design by David Ardito

Cover image 2007 L. Scott Mann/Picture Mann

ISBN: 978-0-9833371-8-8 (eBook)

Foreword

The Importance of Peeing on the Dog

A few years ago, on a hunch, I ew to Lubbock Texas to write a long article about the Texas Tech football coach, Mike Leach. At the time Texas Tech was beating teams with whom it had no business being on the same field. Its players, as a rule, were kids who hadnt been offered scholarships to the regions big time football schools: Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska. Even Texas A&M had more ability to attract high school recruits than Texas Tech. And yet, under Leach, when Texas Tech went up against Texas A&M, or even Nebraska, they were not only often the favorite, but a threat to run up the score.

From a distance it was hard to see how Leach was doing what he was doing, but it was clear that he and his players were ignoring a lot of footballs conventional wisdom. Leach spread his linemen across the field instead of bunching them all up in the middle, for instance, and didnt fully distinguish between the running game and the passing game. Fourth down deep in ones own territory wasnt a problem but an opportunity to go for it. Being ahead by forty points wasnt an excuse to mail it in but a chance for the second team to score a lot of points. On the sidelines during the game Leach didnt hide behind one of those giant laminated play charts so favored by coaches these days. All he had was a scrap of paper with some plays scrawled on it. It turned out that the scrap of paper was the closest thing Leach had to a playbook.

And yet somehow every quarterback he touched turned to gold. The kid who hadnt been recruited by Texas A&M, once inserted into Mike Leachs offense, became the guy who broke NCAA passing records. How did that happen?

In the financial markets there is always and everywhere a desire to be seen as a little different from the next guy. Professional investors love to present themselves as contrarians, people who think originally about the world. No one ever says invest your money with me because Im an ordinary guy who knows how to follow the herd, even though that is a fair description of most professional investors. Sports has a different value system; in sports there is a bias against being different, or breaking with convention. To do anything differently is taken as a kind of insult to all the great men who came before you, and did things the same old way. When a person does something different in sports they expose themselves to ridicule and ostracism. Innovation in sports requires a special bravery.

This bravery turned out to be something like Mike Leachs central character trait. When I went to Lubbock to write about him I thought I was writing a piece mainly about football. Pretty quickly it became clear that I was writing a piece mainly about an endlessly innovative and original character, who happened to coach football. There were so many stories that confirmed this that I was spoiled for choice. For instance, the Texas Tech strength coach, Bennie Wylie, told me the story of his first encounter with Leach off the field. One night not long after Leachs arrival in Lubbock he, Wylie, was driving fast down Lubbocks busiest two lane road. Cars whizzed past at speed; up ahead Wylie spotted, rollerblading down the middle of the highway, what he took to be a lunatic. He drew closer and thought, that looks like Coach. Then that is Coach! Leach, it turned out, was perfectly sober. Hed thought it all through. He was learning to rollerblade, he explained, and the middle of this highway was the attest, truest surface in all of Lubbock.

If you want to think originally, it helps to actually be original, and Leach was. At some level he knew it, too, and knew that it was a tactical advantage. So did his playerswho adored him. They adored him because he helped them to win, but they adored him also because they knew at bottom he was acting in their best interestsand making their lives more interesting in the bargain.

It borders on a sin that Mike Leach is writing books instead of coaching football right now. But hell be back, and hell be as successfully interesting, and as interestingly successful, as ever. In the meantime we have this book to remind us that he simply isnt like other football coaches, or other people. Few other coaches in big time college football, or anyone else, would respond to an aggressive dog that insists on peeing on his possessions by peeing on the dog. No other big time football coach would ever see the lesson in it. But if you want to address your problems, and live your life the way it needs to be lived, peeing on the dog is sometimes just what you have to do. The trick is to think of it.

Michael Lewis

Acknowledgments

The first person I want to thank for not only supporting me in my career, but in everything I do, is my wife Sharon. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am also grateful for our four children, Janeen, Kimberly, Cody, and Kiersten, as well as my parents and siblings. They have all been great influences on me as have many of my teachers, professors, and friends over the years.

In addition, I have relished the opportunity to coach so many great and dedicated players over my near 25-year coaching career. The experiences we have shared and the things we were able to accomplish together, I will never forget. I also want to thank my fellow coaches. This includes those whom I have worked for and with, as well as those I have participated in clinics with or visited. Its always been a pleasure to be in the company of individuals who are so passionate about the great sport of football. You have all had a significant impact on me and Ive enjoyed my time around you. I take great pride in the profession I am in, and in the relationships that I have built.

Mike Leach

June 3, 2011

Key West, Florida

CONTENTS

SWING YOUR SWORD

The Early Years

I probably dont go two days without somebody asking me about how my mind works. My answer is that everyone is a product of their environment.

I was born in Susanville, California, near Reno. We moved around a lot because my dad was a forester. When I was three we left for Fall River Mills, California. Then we moved on to Alexandria, Virginia, then to Saratoga, Wyoming, then to Ft. Collins, Colorado, on to Golden, Colorado, over to Sheridan, Wyoming, and finally to Cody, Wyoming. That was all before I turned 12.

All of that moving teaches you to become pretty adaptable to whatever comes your way. No kid realizes that while its happening, because it seems like youre just constantly fighting to get out of your shell. I always hated to move because just as soon as Id feel like I had things figured out, I had to start all over again. There were definitely times when it was painful growing up, though looking back, those uncomfortable moments have proven immensely beneficial to the man Ive become.