Coaching is a tough, cruel business to be in and it would be something that only the very mentally tough would want to be a part of. Coaches are hired to be fired in college football and every other sport on the planet. Some coaches find a place where they can spend many years at, a place where they find a bunch of success, or a place where they go and are never heard from again. Mike Leach, Head Coach of the Washington State Cougars, may be one of those coaches where they are in danger of not being heard from again.
Needless to say, Mike Leach is probably on a fairly "warm seat" up there at Wazzu. He is entering his fourth season for the Cougars and with only 12 wins in three seasons he needs to turn the corner or it may be his last for WSU fans. I believe that he is a very good coach, but his success is only as good as the talent he has to play with. However, as I stated earlier, coaching is a cruel business and fans and administration do not care what you have done in the past. It's "what have you done for me lately", not what did you do 10 years ago. Winning cures all, but winning is something that the Cougars haven't done with any consistency.
In a recent poll of coaches and their salaries, Leach was voted the most overpaid coach in college football. In the first three seasons Leach has made just over $7 million for those 12 wins. His overall record at Washington State is 12-25. That's $600,000 per win. If this was a regular business, Leach may be out of job already. So far, it's a bad return on the investment.
What can Leach do to turn this thing around at Washington State? Well, coaches can only do so much. Coaches coach, players play, and injuries become the great equalizer. Now, when he got to the Palouse it wasn't like he was taking over a good program, the program was in shambles. Talented players were few and far between. He's got a little more talent to come up and play for the Cougars, but it's been on the offensive side of the ball.
The offense has become better. In fact the offense was ranked 7th in the national and 2nd in the Pac-12, only behind Oregon. The efficiency that they have showed in the red zone and points per game have been pretty good. They averaged 31 points per game, which is good, but in the pass happy Pac-12, that could be a little bit better. The defense, well, that is a different story.
To say it's been a struggle on the defensive side of the ball would be a gross understatement. The Cougars were ranked 99th in defense last season and gave up 38 points per game. That's not going to win you many games. Especially when you are scoring 31 points per game. If the Cougs can get to being average on defense, that would be a huge improvement. To illustrate the Cougars struggles on defense last season, look here. In a game with California, Washington State had a total of 812 yards on offense and scored 59 points and lost. Usually those stats get you a win, but if you can't stop anybody it doesn't guarantee you anything. California scored 60 points. The one statistic that stands out to me in terms of their struggles on defense is that they only created 8 turnovers ALL season. For a defense to be effective they have to create turnovers and more possessions for their offense.
A solution that Leach has done is to fire the defensive coordinator from last season. Mike Breske was let go and Alex Grinch was brought in to take over and revamp the offense for Leach. He's also had three starters leave the program and that won't help, but a shake up was necessary and in the long term it's going to be a good thing. With new DC Alex Grinch, who is a first year coordinator, nobody knows what kind of style he will impose for the Cougars, so that will create some help as well going into 2015.
Recruiting wise, Leach signed 13 defensive players. Four of those players on Juco players, so their impact will be felt almost immediately. That's what Mike Leach and his staff are hoping. These JC players are 4-star recruits and with a couple of 4-star high school recruits, impact and improvement for the defense should be coming in the short future for the Cougars.
In the end, Leach has his work cut out for him and his staff. So far, it's been a disaster in the Palouse for Leach. Once again, I believe Leach is a good coach, but coaches are only as good as the talent that they have. With the influx of talent coming to Leach this upcoming year, lets hope he can turn it around for the Cougars. The fans, coaches, players, the school, and the town of Pullman deserve something that they will be proud to root for. Get the job done Coach Leach.
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