Ad Disclosure
Kirby Smart discusses Mike Leach’s impact and how he affected high school football, too
Published:
The outpouring of emotions from the passing of Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach continues to flow, and so do the impressions from the people Leach competed against.
Like Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, for example.
The fans who followed Leach’s career for decades know all about his Air Raid offense and how it affected the college game at his different stops and also had influences at the NFL level.
But how about high school football, too?
Smart shared this analysis of Leach’s deeply influential impact on the high school players he recruited to play at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart on Mike Leach's influence: "His impact is wide and broad, you know? … His impact is really felt more in the high school level I think because we see the vision he had … It changed the game from years ago it was wishbone and triple option"
— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) December 14, 2022
“His impact is wide and broad, you know?” Smart said. “… His impact is really felt more in the high school level, I think, because we see the vision he had. … It changed the game from years ago (when it was) wishbone and triple option.”
Leach will forever be known for how he opened the game up, using multiple formations, pace and repetition, and how it turned 3 yards and a cloud of dust into eye-popping passing statistics and final scores, starting with his time as the head coach with the Red Raiders in the now wide-open Big 12, continuing through his time at Washington State and Mississippi State.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
