Mike Leach changed football forever. Even though he is no longer living on this earth, his legacy will live forever and the landscape of this year’s National Football League is a testament to his profound impact on the sport.
25 percent of the expected starting quarterbacks in the NFL for 2024 are descendants of the late coaching legend, whether direct or indirect.
This principle could also apply to Hal Mumme, Leach’s right-hand man and one of the two founding fathers of the Air Raid offense. Together, they revolutionized football with a high-tempo, pass-heavy approach during an era where a large emphasis was placed on the run game through bruising backs.
Leach’s system discarded the run-first strategy. He and Mumme created mismatches through a relentless aerial attack that exploited space and prioritized efficiency. It empowered teams with lesser talent to compete with traditional powerhouses through strategic innovation and it worked.
Mike Leach is still with us in spirit!
The Air Raid was born on the college level. However, the daring approach to offense challenged conventional norms to the point that its influence eventually reached the pros and forever altered the sport’s tactical landscape. The NFL today looks like it does because of Leach and Mumme.
As a result, signal-callers who played in Air Raid or Air Raid-adjacent systems are finding great success on all levels of football. From high school, to college and into the National Football League.
One quarter of the starting quarterbacks in the NFL fell from Mike Leach’s tree.
- Patrick Mahomes
- Jalen Hurts
- Jared Goff
- Kyler Murray
- Baker Mayfield
- Caleb Williams
- Geno Smith
- Gardner Minshew
Minshew is the only one who was actually coached by the man himself. Everyone else trickles down.
Mayfield, Murray, Williams and Hurts played for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma/USC. Riley credits Leach for igniting his coaching career as a student assistant at Texas Tech in 2003. He stayed on the staff in Lubbock through 2009 and spent seven years learning the ways of the Air Raid system.
Jared Goff played for Sonny Dykes at Cal. Dykes joined Leach’s staff at Texas Tech in 2000 and stayed there through 2006. He even spent two years as the co-offensive coordinator.
Patrick Mahomes played for the Red Raiders while Leach was at Washington State. Kliff Kingsbury was his head coach. Kingsbury was Leach’s starting quarterback at Texas Tech in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
And then there’s Smith, who played four years at West Virginia. Dana Holgerson was hired as head coach of the Mountaineers in 2010, which was Smith’s first season as the starter. Holgerson was also on Leach’s staff in Lubbock as the wide receivers coach from 2000 through 2004 and as the offensive coordinator (with Dykes at first) in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
All of this goes to say that very few people in history left an impact on football like Mike Leach. Eight of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL fell from his tree. That’s pretty cool. Rest in peace, coach!