Kenny Dillingham pays respects to former WSU coach Mike Leach

TEMPE, Ariz. — After practice this week on Tuesday, Arizona State football head coach Kenny Dillingham paid his respects to former Washington State head coach Mike Leach.

Leach coached the Cougars from 2012-2019. He led WSU to a bowl game in six out of his eight seasons there and led WSU to an 11-win season in 2018.

Leach is highly regarded as one of the most influential coaches in college football history. He was a two-time National Coach of the Year winner. He was also a three-time Conference Coach of the Year winner. Leach is also credited for being the mastermind behind the “Air Raid” offense.

Tragically Leach passed away in 2022, but his influence and memories live on.

Kenny Dillingham pays his respects to Mike Leach

“He’s a revolutionary,” Dillingham said. “One of my favorite quotes was ‘How is running the ball 50% of the time balanced,’ right? You’re just handing the ball off to one guy! There’s four other eligibles, that’s the most unbalanced thing you can do. So the fact that he was so open to ideas, he wasn’t stuck in one way to do things. I mean there was a time at Texas Tech that he lined up with his tackles lined up out wide, cause he didn’t feel like he had enough o-linemen to compete. So he moved them out wide, and ran his entire offense… he was revolutionary to the game of football in my opinion, and RIP.”

Leach was known for his brilliant football mind, but also his charisma off the field.

“He was a great person, hilarious in interviews, he was just a one-of-a-kind person,” Dillingham continued.

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