The Andy Staples Podcast: Mike Leach talks movies, football and more

LOS ANGELES -- Washington State coach Mike Leach is no stranger to Hollywood. In the 1980s, he appeared as an extra in such classics as Grunt! The Wrestling Movie. This is the ‘80s pro wrestling movie that wasn’t No Holds Barred. It also isn’t to be confused with Vision Quest, an ‘80s flick not about wrasslin’, but wrestling. Leach also had a memorable cameo on the Friday Night Lights television series that required him to give fictional coach Eric Taylor some important life advice. (Swing your sword, of course.)

This week, Leach was back on a film lot -- only in a football capacity. He and the other Pac-12 coaches gathered with some of their star players for the league’s annual media days, which, after expanding to twice as long as before, are now half as long as SEC Media Days. This gave Leach a chance to talk about his improved team as well as plug his latest book, Geronimo: Leadership Strategies of an American Warrior. The book, which was co-authored by Buddy Levy of the History Channel’s Decoded series, examines the life of the Apache warrior whom Leach is convinced would run the Air Raid if he were a college football coach. While at media days, Leach -- who would like to remind everyone that Texas Tech still hasn't paid him for 2009 -- took a few minutes to sit down with SI.com and discuss his movie career, his quarterback, his experience bumping into Chip Kelly at a bar in Key West and his explanation for why Basic Instinct is criminally underrated.

Give it a listen …