In case you were wondering, yeah, Mike Leach is interested in the Ole Miss opening:
“I haven’t heard from anybody, but I’m not too hard to find,” Leach said. “It’s a great job. I’m sure the (Ole Miss) administration has a certain individual it is looking for, and I’m sure they’ll find the right guy.”
Not that it’ll happen. I expect that Mississippi winds up doing something just as bold and provocative as Maryland did. Ask the Terps’ fan base if that’s worked out well so far.
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UPDATE: Nutt thinks Leach is an option worth considering.
https://twitter.com/#!/PatrickOchs/status/133949261095239680
Get The Picture 
Leach could really shake things up in the SEC West, that’s for sure. The Rebs don’t play D anyway. Might as well try to get someone in there who can outscore the opposition.
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Still don’t understand the Edsall hire. Especially since, at the time, I remember hearing that one of the things Maryland was looking for in particular was a coach with the sort of personality that could really fire up the fanbase. Edsall seems like a nice enough guy, but … fiery personality? Not so much.
Mike Leach, on the other hand …
I, for one, would love to see that guy at Ole Miss.
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Maryland nearly hired Jerry Sandusky in 1997 for whatever that’s worth. Quite a lot to Paterno about now. They settled for Ron Vanderlinden and sunk beneath the waves for four years.
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What’s really mystifying about the UMD situation is that they had James Franklin in hand and picked Edsall instead. Right now Franklin is doing better at Vanderbilt than Edsall is at Maryland.
Ole Miss (and Tulane) could do worse than picking up the Fridge, but I suspect he’s too old to want to start from scratch like he would be doing at either of those two programs.
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I think Franklin had already taken the Vandy job when they fired fridge.
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Ole Miss’s best bet to get out of mediocrity is a guy like Steve Spurrier at Duke in the late 80’s. Leach could be that guy, but they’ll never go for it.
And anybody who says Maryland is his dream job is a Kiffin class bullshi**er. Maryland! It’s like saying Nancy Grace is your dream girl.
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Wuh – I just got shivers.
I need a drink to clean my brain out after that thought.
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Now that right there is funny boys.
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And you Bluto. I saw enough of you in that movie to know you aren’t exactly my “dream guy” either. (Sobbing softly) Why am I so misunderstood? (Sobbing louder) Why? Why? Why?
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Take a drink and work on your tango Nancy.
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Humph!!! Some guy named “Hogbody’ saying insulting things about me!!! I’ll show you!!! I’ll slap an injunction on you so fast you won’t have time to say Bar-Be Que much less eat any!!! Plus I’ll sue you for damages, mental cruelty , pain and suffering and any other thing I can think of!!! I’ll bet you can’t even dance!!! Hog-Body!!!!
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Wait…ya’ll would rather dance with those other, much sexier women on that show?? Pigs…
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Whaaat?!!!! You think that those other women are sexier than ME?!!! (Shouting to someone in the next room) MYRTLE!! GET GLORIA ALLRED ON THE PHONE!!! NOW!!!!!
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By God Senator…there is a “Nancy Grace” lexicon entry here somewhere.
“The Terps were kissed by Nancy Grace when coach mentioned it was his dream job.”
“Mike Leach would just love to Nancy Grace Ole Miss”
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If you like Mike Leach, you’ve got to be hoping he’ll land somewhere better than Ole Miss. No disrespect to the Bears, but that place is a dumpster fire, and it’s not exactly in the most football talent-rich state in the union. His first two teams there would be awful no matter what, and it’s not like Rebel fans are going to be patient. They fired Cutcliffe because they thought they deserved to be Alabama or something, and he’s the best thing that happened to that school since Archie Manning. Throw in the fact that the proper southern folks who populate Oxford might have trouble adapting to someone as “eccentric” as Leach, you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Hold out for something better, coach.
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I disagree GD. I think Leach charms everybody in Oxford. Plus, he has a track record of winning with guys who are not 5 star athletes. His offense is so wild that nobody would see it for the rest of the year and it would be hard to prepare for it just once a year. The other alternative, IMHO, would be to get an option coach like the guy at Air Force. It is the same idea–you don’t need 5 star players to make it work and the other teams don’t see it often enough to be prepared for it in just one week of practice.
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Sure and he can recruit in Texas and Missouri.
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“he’s the best thing that happened to that school since Archie Manning”
Which says all you need to say about Ole Miss.
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Nancy! Your so hot!
http://www.holytaco.com/25-pics-of-what-we-figure-nancy-grace-looks-like-on-the-toilet/
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You know, some images can’t be gotten out of your head once they are there. Look at your own risk. I’m not.
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What is her “so hot” you’re referring to?
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I heard her favorite song is, “What’s this thing called, Love?”.
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I’d love to see the Pirate back in coaching, but I’m not sure the SEC is where I want to see him. For this week at least, I think Gus Malzhan is the perfect choice for Ole Miss. In fact, I saw on Flighttracker.com that a plane registered to a prominent Mississippi trustee was on the ground in Auburn. I read it on the internet (right here, in fact), so it must be true.
Why MD didn’t hire Leach is beyond me.
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Maryland’s thought process may have been something like this: Pirate Raider (b) sues school that fired him, (b) sues ESPN, (c) sues ESPN esteemed talking blockhead. That little trifecta puts him in #1 position on blacklist of ESPN and blacklist of those schools/NFL feeder programs that do not particularly care for being named as a defendant. Any school which hires him automatically qualifies for #2 spot on ESPN blacklist, the conference of any school which hires him is automatically slotted in #3 spot on ESPN blacklist.
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You are probably right DIF but the SEC is bigger than ESPN no matter what those assholes in Cromwell think. As part of the SEC Ole Miss is too big for ESPN to screw with IMHO.
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ESPN may not dick around with the glamor schools in The SEC but they could give shit programming to the lessers such as Ole Miss. My guess is that the main reason Mike is on the shitlist of some schools is that he sued a school. I’d like to see him back in coaching as soon as possible but guess that may not occur until after settlement or trial. His coaching, press conferences and player placement is innovative and at the forefront of the college game. In fact, I hope Tulane has balls enough to go after him or Rich Rodriguez who wanted the job when Clemson hired Tommy Bowden away from Tulane. After all, the Green Wave certainly has nothing left to lose.
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RichRod wouldn’t be a bad option for Ole Miss.
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“Option.” Yeah, I get it–finally.
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Being on espn’s blacklist might actually bring some attention to an otherwise listless program. It may have put them on the national radar. Then again, they’re in the acc and the acc logo is next to ‘listless’ in the dictionary.
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I agree about Gus, I hope they make a big push for him. He was seriously considering the Vandy job, and Ole Miss has to better than that.
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Somehow I doubt the people at Ole Miss will want to follow the word of the coach they just fired. The kiss of death for Leach was getting Nutt’s recomendation. My guess is that they will have to take a coach from a small college and hope they catch lightning in a bottle.
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Paul Johnson?
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Zing!
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I think Leach might can do better, but UM should make a major run at The Pirate. Sandwiched between Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and splitting their state with Miss State, they will never have first pick at talent. They need someone who can take the castoffs and use a scheme that drives everyone else crazy. That is what he did at TT, what mumme did at KY, and what Navy and AirForce have been sucessful at. A conventional coach is not the answer.
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Leach the coach may deserve better, but Leach the employee is going to be a hire that requires some deep thought, politically. Not too many risk averse university presidents / trustees are willing to forget that he sued his former employer (no matter how justified) and routinely butted heads with that administration before that. The best thing for their football program may be to hire Leach, but it may not be enough for the lawyers.
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Hmmm, Saint Joe Paterno’s hire is keeping the Penn State legal team busy. Leach’s stuff is small potatoes, comparably.
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That’s it for Ole Miss! Paterno will be available soon!
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Not sure I see the risk here. TT didn’t pay his contract and Leach (a low school graduate) is pursuing his money. Who wouldn’t? Doesn’t make him a litiguous personality. He has to feel like he got mugged by the TT administration, similar to having a robber steal your cash. Hardly the type of guy to scare lawyers. I would be more worried about hiring a person who would lay down and take that without firing a shot. Then TT hides behind an immunity law. That law should be struck down by the Supreme Court. Why would anyone enter into a contract with an entity immune from being held accountable for the terms of an agreement?
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Mr. Sanchez (and the esteemed Sports and Grits blog) would cry if Leach became head coach anywhere but UGA..
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Didn’t you hear? Now that we’ve won a few games in a row they’ve decided to keep CMR. Now they are auditioning offensive coordinators on a week by week basis. Just check cfbstats.com and filter by points scored last week to see their current proposed candidate.
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If they want Leach I would suggest to the Ole Miss student body to declare “Pirate’s Day” and everyone wear an eyepatch. You could agree with that, right Blutarsky?
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What would you suggest they do if the students wanted Dick Bumpas?
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The first two names that popped into my head were Malzahn and Kevin Sumlin, the coach at Houston.
I think Sumlin’s ripe for an upgrade since Case Keenum graduates this year.
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Leach rocks. I listen to his radio show almost every day, and I’m very impressed by the man. His book is great too. Before this season, I was secretly hoping (kinda) that Richt and crew would fall on their collective faces this year and get axed, and we would hire Leach.
I really hope he does not take the ole miss job, jesus himself would have a tough time making that one work. The UNC job will most likely be open (again) with Withers (interim coach) sucking large round hairy spheres thru most of this season, and this would be a much better job than ole miss. Leach in the ACC, with the talent that UNC recruits, would be a serious win.
Would work great for me too, as I live 10 blocks from Kenan Stadium. :p
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Wow. Openly admitting to rooting for the team you support to fail. That’s brazen. And sad.
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Ahh, the Dread Pirate Leach, Rich Rod, Malzhan. An interesting ensemble.
As long as we are discussing Mumme disciples – What about the man who turned bown the UA OC job – Chris Hatcher at Murray State?
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I think Ole Miss is too conservative to pick Leach,although they should. Malzhan will hold out for a better school where he has a bigger recruiting base.
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What if Leach has options?
If I were him, I’d *really* want the Arizona job. Given that UCLA currently holds the high ground in the Pac 12 South, that seems much preferable to the only program in the SEC west to not yet appear in the SECCG. Plus, you know, Bama and LSU.
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He’d fit in well in Tucson. Not nearly the pressure of an SEC gig, and he still plays in a major conference. I’d love to see him smack around Kiffy-kins at USC.
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That’s a good thought too. The Pirate should be in demand this off season, but he doesn’t need to wait much longer or he will lose his attractiveness as a current commodity with contacts to recruit and assemble a staff.
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Wonder if he’ll call Tubbs to get the inside scoop.
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