Bob Stoops, others supportive of Mike Leach to the College Football Hall of Fame

Mike Leach may not meet the criteria for consideration into the College Football Hall of Fame, but Bob Stoops believes he’s more than deserving.

Few coaches have had as much influence on the game of football as former Oklahoma Sooners offensive coordinator and long-time college football head coach [autotag]Mike Leach[/autotag]. His deployment of the Air-Raid first with OU as the coordinator and then as the head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State, and Mississippi State revolutionized offense at every level of the sport.

His passing in December of 2022 was felt by coaches, players, and fans around the sporting world. He was beloved for his personality and for the way he supported his players over the years.

After the most recent group of nominees for the College Football Hall of Fame was released, support for Leach has come from all corners of college football. Fans of teams he coached and those of rival programs took to social media to critique the Hall of Fame’s criteria for induction.

According to the College Football Hall of Fame’s website

A coach becomes eligible three full seasons after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years old. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age. He must have been a head football coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage.

Leach’s career-winning percentage is just shy of the .600 threshold. But that didn’t stop Hall of Fame coach and former colleague [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag] from throwing his support behind Leach for the Hall of Fame. Oklahoma’s former head coach argued his winning percentage of .596 rounds up to .600.

Stoops said on X, “Mike is deserving of the College HOF! His influence in football is as strong as any Coach I can think of. RIP Mike.”

Josh Pate of the Late Kick Show also lobbied for Leach to receive consideration because of his influence on the sport back in 2022, but reiterated that support this week.

Social media account Blinkin Riley had an idea for both Texas and Oklahoma to vacate a win over Leach’s Red Raiders to help get him into the hall.

Leach is one of the sport’s legends, and his influence extends beyond his coaching record. At some point, that influence needs to be recognized and enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Or, as College Sports Wire Regional Editor Patrick Conn put it:

Despite the fact that he has under a 60% winning percentage, despite the fact that he hasn’t won a national championship, I would say that Mike Leach is definitely one of those cases I would make to either change the criteria or have a way to say this guy deserves it… the fact that he changed the game of college football is why I would say he deserves to be in the College Football Hall of Fame.

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