Mike Leach or Lane Kiffin
Who wins more games this season?
Leach:
He finished 55-47 in eight seasons with the Cougars. He produced a similar turnaround at Texas Tech, taking the Red Raiders to bowl games in all 10 seasons.
His style is anything but typical. Leach gets a lot of attention for his news conferences, where he has been known to dole out wedding advice, once pondered which Pac-12 mascots would survive a fight and told tales about his passion for pirates. He taught a class at Washington State last year about football and combat.
It has not all been fun and games, though.
Leach was fired by Texas Tech after being accused of mistreating a player, Adam Jones — the son of former ESPN announcer and NFL player Craig James — who had suffered a concussion. He then clashed with his bosses, and sued Texas Tech for wrongful termination. The school was protected by state law, but Leach is still trying to fight that case. He also filed a lawsuit against ESPN and Craig James that was later dismissed.
When his teams have struggled, his news conferences have been far less amusing. Leach has not been shy about calling players soft and making other disparaging remarks.
But on the field, his teams win more than they lose and his quarterbacks typically throw for more yards than just about anyone else. Washington State has led the nation in passing four times since 2014 and never finished worse than third over the period.
Kiffin:
The path to Ole Miss is well-known: Former Southern California assistant. Oakland Raiders head coach. Tennessee head coach. USC head coach. Alabama assistant. FAU head coach. Along the way he's coached everyone from Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush to Amari Cooper and Derrick Henry to Devin Singletary.
At 44 years old, Kiffin is still the third youngest head coach in the SEC behind Missouri's Eliah Drinkwitz (36 years old) and Georgia's Kirby Smart (also 44 years old, but seven months younger than Kiffin).
Leach:
He finished 55-47 in eight seasons with the Cougars. He produced a similar turnaround at Texas Tech, taking the Red Raiders to bowl games in all 10 seasons.
His style is anything but typical. Leach gets a lot of attention for his news conferences, where he has been known to dole out wedding advice, once pondered which Pac-12 mascots would survive a fight and told tales about his passion for pirates. He taught a class at Washington State last year about football and combat.
It has not all been fun and games, though.
Leach was fired by Texas Tech after being accused of mistreating a player, Adam Jones — the son of former ESPN announcer and NFL player Craig James — who had suffered a concussion. He then clashed with his bosses, and sued Texas Tech for wrongful termination. The school was protected by state law, but Leach is still trying to fight that case. He also filed a lawsuit against ESPN and Craig James that was later dismissed.
When his teams have struggled, his news conferences have been far less amusing. Leach has not been shy about calling players soft and making other disparaging remarks.
But on the field, his teams win more than they lose and his quarterbacks typically throw for more yards than just about anyone else. Washington State has led the nation in passing four times since 2014 and never finished worse than third over the period.
Kiffin:
The path to Ole Miss is well-known: Former Southern California assistant. Oakland Raiders head coach. Tennessee head coach. USC head coach. Alabama assistant. FAU head coach. Along the way he's coached everyone from Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush to Amari Cooper and Derrick Henry to Devin Singletary.
At 44 years old, Kiffin is still the third youngest head coach in the SEC behind Missouri's Eliah Drinkwitz (36 years old) and Georgia's Kirby Smart (also 44 years old, but seven months younger than Kiffin).