Leach does it his own way

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SEC Media Days Live, Day 2: Mike Leach does it his own way (FULLY UPDATED)

Phillip Marshall

9-11 minutes

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Mike Leach not shy with his opinions. (Photo: Jake Crandall, USA TODAY Sports)

ATLANTA - Day 2 of SEC Media Days is is over at the College Football Hall of Fame. Go inside for what Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea, Alabama’s Nick Saban, Mississippi State’s Mike Leach and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer had to say and more.

LEACH ON OPENING STATEMENTS, SABAN AND NIL

Here is how it usually works during SEC Media Days. Commissioner Greg Sankey introduces every coach with high praise and often with an amusing story. The coach praises Sankey for his leadership and then gives an opening statement before taking questions.

After the commissioner did his thing, here is what Leach said:

“I appreciate that. Any questions?”

He wasn’t being flippant or trying to make any kind of point. He was just being Mike Leach. Later, he was asked why he didn’t make an opening statement.

“Well, I hate opening statements,” Leach said. “I really don't see the point of it. So as opposed to me sit there and think of some flowery opening statement, which I've done before, and then at the end of the opening statement a number of people ask questions that have already been addressed in my opening statement, I decided we'd just sort of cut out the middleman. You go ahead and ask the questions, and I'll go ahead and answer 'em.”

Later, he was asked about Nick Saban’s “blueprint” for success and whether he tried to use it.

“I guess I don't fully understand the question,” Leach said. “I mean, some of it's the resources of the program -- not to take anything away from Coach Saban, because he does a tremendous job -- and then also has a big tree of coaches.

“But there are circumstances that can be beneficial, too. I mean, he's done things at Alabama that nobody thought was possible. But I would say he's a better coach at Alabama than he was at Michigan State, for example. I think there's some circumstances that can contribute to success, too, that have to be accounted for.”

And, finally, for some reason, Leach was asked about the spat between Saban and Texas A&M coach Nick Saban. He used that one to go off on what NIL is doing to college football.

“I think they both kind of illustrate the frustration of how things are right now,” Leach said. “It's not sustainable, so something's going to change. We haven't defined exactly what is an amateur, a student-athlete, as opposed to a professional. I think we need to do that. I think there is ways to do it.

“I think some football players, it may be in their best interests to remain a student-athlete, under that model, as opposed to professional and vice versa. I think that's got to be defined.”

 College athletes, Leach said, have it better in some ways than those on the professional level.

“Currently college athletes have more privileges than anybody at any other professional level. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I don't think it stays the same because there are responsibilities that go along with being a professional.

“Go up to your next favorite NFL guy, say, ‘Hey, I heard in the NFL they're going to have unmitigated free agency, 365, 24/7. And, by the way, there's not going to be any salary cap or draft, you're just going to have bidding wars. Just watch the expression on their faces. Don't look at anything else or write down any notes because the expression on their face will be well worth it. I don't think the dust has settled. We're in a big transition period on a number of things in college football. We got sharp guys actively trying to sort it out. I hope that it will be.”

There you have it. That’s Mike Leach.

It wasn’t so long ago that quarterback Spencer Rattler was being touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate at Oklahoma. And then he was benched. And then he left for South Carolina.

Rattlers arrival created plenty of excitement, and that excitement has only grown. Second-year coach Shane Beamer makes no attempt to hid his own excitement.

“People forget, Spencer Rattler was the starting quarterback at Oklahoma," Beamer said. "He had some pretty high amount of pressure replacing guy by the name of Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts. And then what does he do in his first two conference games at Oklahoma as the starting quarterback? We, not him, we lose to Kansas State at home, then we lose to Iowa State on the road. He's replacing all these guys, had a lot of pressure going into that season. Started out 0-2 in the conference. Never flinched.

"The narrative I know was he got benched last year in the Texas game. He got sat down the year before, too. Then he came back in the second half, played his butt off, beat Texas in four overtimes and he never lost a game as a starting quarterback again and still hasn't as a starting quarterback."

BEAMER WANTS MORE

South Carolina received a lot of praise for going 7-6 last season, maybe more than was deserved after a 30-0 loss to an average Clemson team in the regular-season finale. Beamer said Tuesday he was not satisfied and wants. More.

"For us, it's continuing to build on what we did last season, no one's satisfied with seven wins," Beamer said. "I didn't come here to South Carolina to be 7-6 every year. We have higher expectations than that."

CAN LEA MAKE VANDERBILT A WINNER?

Lea knew what he was getting into when he signed on as Vanderbilt’s head football coach. He was a Commodores’ fullback from 2002 through 2004. He welcomed the challenge to try his hand at winning football games at his alma mater, where doing that has been so hard for so long.

After four seasons as an assistant at Notre Dame, Lea returned to Nashville for the 2021 season. And it went like most seasons go for Vanderbilt. Lea’s first game was a 23-3 loss at home to FCS foe East Tennessee State. The Commodores went 2-10 overall and 0-8 in the SEC.

But Lea saw progress and has seen more as another season nears.

“Once we reached the season, we were forced to confront our reality, and our physical, mental, technical and tactical deficiencies were evident from the start,” Lea said. “I want to be clear that the season was challenging on many levels, but we were not victimized by that adversity.

“Last fall was a necessary experience for us. It exposed the true starting point for this early start of our build as a program. The adversity of the fall broke off all the parts of us that were fake and unbelieving. It stripped us down to our studs. From there, we started our build.”

Like every Vanderbilt coach before him, Lea expressed confidence that Vanderbilt can do great things.

“I don't take ownership of anything that happened before,” Lea said. “I certainly take ownership of last season. We fell way short of our expectations.”

SABAN: ALABAMA PLAYERS HAVE RECEIVED $3 MILLION

Saban put a dollar figure on how much Alabama players have received in NIL money. What once would have been startling was almost pedestrian. Alabama players, Saban said, have made some $3 million in the past year.

‘Well, I don't dislike name, image and likeness. I'm all for the players. I want our players to do well. Our players made over $3 million in name, image and likeness. I'm all for the players being able to do as well as they can and use their name, image and likeness to create value for themselves.”

But Saban reiterated some of the concerns he has expressed previously.

“I think there's probably a couple factors that are important in that,” Saban said. “How does this impact competitive balance in college athletics? And is there transparency to maintain fairness across the board in terms of college athletics? How do we protect the players? There are more and more people that are trying to get between the player and the money.”

CAN YOUNG DO IT AGAIN?

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young will try to do this season what has been done just once before – win the Heisman Trophy in back-to-back seasons.

“I think that one of the most important things for Bryce or any player who has success is to understand that success is not a continuum,” Saban said. “… Success is momentary. So, if you're going to continue to have success, you have to stay focused on the things you need to do to improve, to prepare, to lead, to impact and affect other people around you.

“Bryce has shown every indication that he's got a willingness to do all those things. He's a perfectionist in terms of what he wants to do and what he wants to accomplish. So far, I've been pleased with the way he's been able to maintain the mindset that you need to do to continue to improve and make progress as a player.”

SENIOR VANDY LINEBACKER ON LEA’S GROWTH

 Senior Vanderbilt linebacker Anfernee Orji said Monday he has seen Lea learn and grow as he approaches his second season.

4COMMENTS

“I think it is just him focusing on the details and being more of a head coach and being relatable,” Orji said. “He’s still, in my opinion, one of the greatest linebacker minds in the country. He’s

really close with the defense, and I am close with him. I go pick his brain and talk ball all the time. He teaches me the little things to help me better my game. He also played at Vanderbilt as well, so it’s just great having someone who has been in my shoes before.”