Mike Leach Officially Introduced as Mississippi State Head Coach
Friday afternoon, Mike Leach was officially introduced as the new head coach for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Last season, Bulldog football finished fifth in the SEC West with a (6-7, 3-5 SEC) record.
"We didn't hire Mike Leach because he is charismatic, but he is," Director of Athletics John Cohen said at Friday's press conference. "We didn't hire Mike Leach because he has a great sense of humor, but he does. We didn't hire Mike Leach because he is exceptionally bright, but he is. We didn't hire Mike Leach because of his dynamic personality, but he's got one. We didn't solely hire Mike Leach because he's a visionary and a pioneer in the modern game of college football, but indeed he is. We hired Mike Leach because he's a disciplinarian. We hired Mike Leach because he's a brilliant tactician. Most of all, we hired Mike Leach because he's a proven winner."
ESPN reports that Leach received a four-year contract worth $20 million. The average annual value of $5 million per year, places Leach in the Top 20 nationally, according to USA Today.
Leach spent the last eight seasons as head coach at Washington State and before that 10 seasons at Texas Tech. He has a career record of 139-90 (.607) and sixteen career bowl appearances.
"We've got some great players here," Leach said at Friday's press conference. "I'm really excited about this challenge. We've got plenty of hard work ahead of us, but it's going to be fulfilling work. We're going to have a lot of fun. We're going to work harder than any team in the country to be a team that everyone in here can be proud of. I really appreciate that."