Mike Leach (born March 9, 1961 in Susanville, California) is the current head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team. Regarded as one of the most innovative offensive minds in college football, Leach has had a winning season every year since his tenure began at Tech. Wishbone formation creator Emory Bellard has stated that Leach does the best job of any offensive coordinator in the nation.
Life
Leach studied at Brigham Young University, where he closely followed the exploits of the Brigham Young Cougars, playing a pass-happy offense coached by LaVell Edwards. Leach graduated in 1983 with a B.S. in American Studies. He is atypical among NCAA Division I head football coaches, as he did not play football at the college level. Leach is one of only five such coaches, with Mark Mangino at Kansas, Paul Johnson at Navy, Dennis Franchione at Texas A&M, and Charlie Weis at Notre Dame. In 1986 Leach earned a law degree from Pepperdine University. Leach is also one of the most prominent graduates of the United States Sports Academy, from which he earned a Master's of Sports Science/Coaching in 1988. Leach is married with four children. He was raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Coaching career
Leach is known for building some very potent offenses, directing very prolific passing-oriented teams that have broken school and NCAA records at Valdosta State, Kentucky, Oklahoma, where he was offensive coordinator under Hal Mumme and Bob Stoops, respectively, and Texas Tech, where he became head coach in 2000. The Leach-coached Red Raiders' best finishes came with their nine-win seasons in 2002 and 2005. In 2002, Tech swept its in-state conference rivals Baylor, Texas, and Texas A&M for the first time since 1997 and then defeated Clemson, 55–15, in the Tangerine Bowl. It was the Red Raiders' first postseason win since 1995 when they beat the Air Force Falcons in the Copper Bowl. In 2005, the Raiders opened their season with a 6–0 record, the best start since 1998, and defeated Oklahoma for the first time under Leach.

Leach has built a strong passing offenses at Tech. The Red Raiders have led the NCAA in passing yardage for four years in a row. Leach might be more known for plugging new quarterbacks into his spread/pass-oriented offense and having them reel off NCAA records. At Kentucky he tutored prospect Tim Couch into a No.1 NFL Draft Pick. At Oklahoma, Josh Heupel became an NFL draft pick following a year under Leach's tutelege. At Tech, he inserted Kliff Kingsbury for three years. Kingsbury broke the NCAA records for completions in a career. Following Kingsburry, B. J. Symons stepped in, producing the most passing yards in a season in NCAA history. Sonny Cumbie jumped up leading the Red Raiders to an upset of the then-4th ranked California in the Holiday Bowl. Cody Hodges got called to duty, leading the NCAA in passing. Graham Harrell, the first non-senior starting QB since Kingsbury, struggled early in the 2006 season. However, he showed steady improvement beginning with the game against Iowa State and ended the season with a record-setting victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Under Mike Leach, Texas Tech has been known for its high-scoring offense and come-from-behind victories. A 70–35 win over heavily favored TCU in 2004 began with TCU leading 21–0 with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter. Before Tech's scoring drives started, a TCU defensive back was caught mouthing into a TV camera, "They aren't going to score." Later in the season, Texas Tech beat Nebraska, 70–10, forcing the Cornhuskers to give up more points in a single game than they had before in their 114-year history. In 2005, the Red Raiders were losing to Kansas State, 13–10, late in the second quarter but won the game 59–20. Also in 2005, Tech had a halftime lead of 14–10 over Texas A&M. By the end of the game, they increased the margin to 56–17. It was the Aggies' worst loss to the Red Raiders in the 64-year-old series. The 2006 season ended with the Insight Bowl where Tech overcame a 31-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat Minnesota 44–41 in overtime. The victory made history as the largest comeback in Division I-A bowl history.

During the 2005 game against Texas A&M, Fox Sports Net featured a segment that focused on Leach's affinity for pirates.

Mike Leach was chosen to coach the South team during the 2007 inaugural Inta Juice North-South All-Star Classic game.

At the end of the 2006 season, Leach was 56–33 with the Red Raiders, including 6–8 against the Texas Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies. With a 4–3 record, he is the all-time winningest coach in postseason play in Tech football history. Leach is one of only sixteen active college football coaches who have never had a losing season. Of those, he is among nine who have been a head coach for at least five seasons