Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin pays heartfelt tribute to his friend Mike Leach

On Tuesday’s SportsCenter, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was asked about Mike Leach, his friend and Mississippi State head coach who passed away Monday following complications over the weekend from a heart condition.

Kiffin was somber and poignant when offering his thoughts and memories of Leach and what their friendship has meant to him.

Kiffin on what football has lost with the passing of Mike Leach 

“[It lost] someone really unique, somebody very different. He was completely outside the box of normal coaches and a wonderful person. I’ve known him for a long time. This morning, I remember the first time ever that he called my office. He had met my dad somewhere and just wanted to talk about offense. It was like 11 pm, and we talked for an hour in-season. I was just amazed by how brilliant he was and his stories every time.

“I was just hugging him a couple of weeks ago, and I knew something was off in pregame. I’m glad that he won his last game and had that last hug with him. I will really miss his stories. You go out pregame, and a lot of coaches don’t really want to go talk to you; everyone just says, ‘Good luck.’ I looked forward to his every year. He would never stop talking. I would finally have to say, ‘Hey, coach, you know, we gotta like go and play the game.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, are we going to meet in Key West, right? Whoever wins the game has to buy the flight down.’ That was what he would say every year. I will miss him. He was wonderful person. For those of you that didn’t get to know him, he was really unique, had a big heart and was a wonderful person. He will really be missed.”

Kiffin on how he will remember Mike Leach

“There aren’t many people that you look forward to seeing every single time, especially on a game day or at conference meetings. You go into SEC head coaches meetings, where everyone’s supposed to not get along, and here’s this guy that’s just getting along with everybody. No matter where you’re from or how long you’ve coached — he was so wonderful with everybody and just a true joy to be around. I said this yesterday to our staff that didn’t know him,’ He is maybe the smartest person I have ever met.'”

Kiffin on going up against Mike Leach on the gridiron

“There’s no one that has survived change like he did. He ran his system, different conferences, different levels, different players for years and years, and it is still working. Everybody said in the coaching world, ‘Well, if he gets to the SEC, the defensive coordinators will figure him out. That won’t work. He’ll have to change.’ And you just continued to see him do it. Everyone else around coaching, when they haven’t changed on offense, it’s caught up with them, and they’ve got fired.

“For him to continue to do it… I mean, we knew his plays and what they were running. They scored a touchdown when our defensive players were signaling the route at the end of the first half, and it still worked. That’s how amazing the timing and coaching of his passing game was. There’s not a better example of it than right before the half when they went down and scored. Our players are looking at each other and signaling the spear route and know it’s coming, and they still scored a touchdown on it. We’ve researched him, and one of our coaches was his quarterback (Seth Doege). He was so amazing at teaching it and the timing of it. It didn’t matter if you knew where it was going.”

Coach Kiffin on the feelings he and Coach Leach had about the rivalry

“I was in the state recruiting yesterday and actually tried to go by Jackson, but obviously not good timing. You just feel it everywhere. Coach Leach and I brought here that there doesn’t have to be hatred amongst the programs and the people. You can have great rivalries and passion and still love each other. I loved him. We’d always just hug after every event and say, ‘See you next time, buddy.’ I just can’t believe that’s not going to happen again.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin on the Egg Bowl rivalry under Kiffin and Leach

Kiffin’s official statement on the death of Mike Leach

Coach Kiffin tweeted an official statement this morning, explaining what the loss of Mike Leach means to him.

pic.twitter.com/JpV2heCg0k

— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) December 13, 2022

Evelyn Van Pelt

Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.