They were both part of Hal Mumme’s first staff as football coach at the University of Kentucky. Guy Morriss was the former NFL offensive lineman from Texas. Mike Leach was the quirky law school graduate from California. Both are now gone, both way too soon.
We lost Morriss first. The former Kentucky offensive line coach and later head coach at both UK and Baylor died Sept. 5 at age 71 after a six-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
We lost Leach on Monday night. The former UK wide receivers coach turned head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State passed away at age 61 following complications from a heart condition.
Leach and Morriss were together two seasons under Mumme at UK. Their personalities couldn’t have been more different. Morriss was 6-foot-4, quiet, patient, solid as a rock. Named head coach after Mumme’s firing in 2000, he went 2-10 and 7-5, leaving in 2022 for an offer he couldn’t refuse to become a head coach back in his home state.
Leach was a young man in Lexington, 36 years old when he arrived with Mumme from Division II Valdosta State. The two first worked together at Iowa Wesleyan where, the story goes, upon taking the NAIA job, Mumme was greeted by a stack of letters on his desk. At the top was a note from Leach. A phone call later he was hired.
I remember arriving at UK’s practice in Tampa for the Outback Bowl in 1998 only to find out Leach was leaving to be Bob Stoops’ offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. A year later, he was Texas Tech’s head coach. Ten years and 10 bowl games later, he was forced out by the Texas Tech administration only to land on his feet at Washington State before returning to the SEC at Starkville.
There’s no doubt Leach was an innovative offensive mind. He remained dedicated to the “Air Raid” system he helped develop with Mumme. Leach’s play sheet was a folded piece of paper. His adjustments were simple, his offenses always productive.
“Mike is probably my favorite coach that I ever played for,” former UK running back Anthony White told me back in 2020 when, as Mississippi State’s head coach, Leach was returning to Commonwealth Stadium/Kroger Field for the first time. “He was no-nonsense, matter of fact. My favorite quote from him was, ‘A good excuse will get you beat just as fast as a bad excuse. It was either do or do not. If you get open, we’ll throw you the ball. If you don’t, we won’t. It’s on you.”
Over the years, Leach earned as much attention for his “Pirate” persona as his coaching. He was a coach without the coach-speak. You might not agree with everything Mike said or did, but you were entertained.
I saw that in those early days in Lexington. I remember in one post-practice interview, Mike explained to me two reasons why he loved Waffle House — (1) every Waffle House has sweet iced tea and (2) every Waffle House has a jukebox.
One day, Leach told me he and Mumme were marketing a coaching tape explaining the intricacies of the Air Raid. Mike told me if I came by his office he’d give me a copy. I did. “That’ll be $24.99,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. I smiled. And wrote him a check.
Of the two coaches, I knew Morriss better. He was here longer, for one thing. We lived in adjoining neighborhoods. His daughter and my son were in the same class at school. He was always patient and friendly, just a good, honest man. After retirement, when he returned to Kentucky, it broke our hearts to learn Guy had developed dementia.
If you follow social media, from the time news of Leach’s condition first broke, you know hearts are broken all across college football now.
“Glad to have met Coach Leach,” tweeted Anthony White on Tuesday.
Time flies in the blink of an eye. Kentucky’s “Air Raid” seems like only yesterday. RIP Guy Morriss and Mike Leach. Gone too soon.
