Cody Leach, Son of Mike Leach, Aims to Carry on His Father's Legacy Through the Air Raid

Cody Leach was part of the way through his college career at BYU when he felt the need to make sure that football, something he hadn't been super interested in the intricacies of before, wasn't a career path he wanted to take.

The son of Air Raid guru Mike Leach contacted a friend that was working on the advertising side of the Cougars' athletic department, looking for the best way to get in touch with head coach Kalani Sitake to see what was available for a student assistant.

"I asked my buddy if he would ask his boss to ask Kalani to give me a call," Leach said. "I get these emails from BYU that they send all the students there and it's things like job listings but I didn't see anything about football, so I was wondering how to go about finding out how to do that kind of thing."

It wasn't long after the younger Leach's colleague followed up and Mike Leach got in touch that things were able to get going for Leach on the football field in Provo, Utah.

Unlike his father, Leach started off on the defensive side of the ball as a student assistant, where he had the opportunity to grow and get a lot of hands-on experience. He says his responsibilities included working with the cornerbacks and their position coach, studying defensive scheme and strategy, watching film with the players, going to the games with them and helping signal plays for the defense.

"It was during that time at BYU that it really clicked that this is something that I want to do and do professionally," Leach said.

He stuck to it and went to join his father in Starkville in January of 2022, the only season the two would spend together on the sideline as Mike Leach tragically and unexpectedly passed away in December.

Currently serving as a special teams fellow under the guidance of special teams coordinator Eric Mele and assistant coach Shane Gallant, Leach is dedicating his future to carrying on his father's offense one step at a time, currently making his way through Hal Mumme's Air Raid certification course while helping out at MSU.

The Air Raid and its philosophy -- both on and off the field -- is something the 27-year-old Leach holds close to him that has been a part of his family's life since early childhood.

"Dad's philosophy on offense growing up kind of also leaked into our family for sure," Leach said. "I remember growing up while he was at Texas Tech, my little sister had to write a small paper in elementary school about being a team. My dad had team goals that he preached to the team and they were 'be the best at doing your job, be a team and be the most excited to play. So that was the same way in the household and that's what my sister wrote her paper on."

On the gridiron, Leach sees his father's offense as something that works regardless of the types of recruits a team lands and does not overcomplicate thing.

"Philosophy-wise, the Air Raid is doing more with less talent than some other teams may have and despite that, the most important play is the next one," Leach said.

"We're going to keep doing it over and over and over again and attack, attack, attack. You need to be okay with sometimes being bored because we're going to rep the same play repeatedly because we don't have playbooks that are like the menus at Cheesecake Factory. We have a piece of paper where we rep a few plays and we're just better than you at those plays."

And despite some of the adapted version of the Air Raid and similar offenses that have developed within Mike Leach's extensive coaching tree, Leach is dedicated to seeing it operated in its purest form for years to come.

"I would look at other teams like Houston with Dana Holgorsen or like USC with Lincoln Riley and I just preferred dad's idea of the Air Raid," Leach said. "He did sometimes talk about adding a tight end, but I like it just the way it is."

Listening to the way Leach describes his vision couldn't echo his father's ideology any clearer.

"We have these five guys and that their main goal is to be as fast as possible and get to grass, get to to space as fast as possible. I like that idea and I want to carry it forward because his offense has been so successful for so long. It has revolutionized the game of football."