Air Raid, Indeed: HC Mike Leach Leads the Nation in One Interesting Stat

There are plenty of colleges coaches in the nation, but few can do what Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach has done.

Leach has been a head coach for 20 years, and although it might seem shocking, he has only been the leader of three teams: Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State. His unique Air Raid offense is unlike anything that college football has ever seen and focuses on sailing the ball through the air rather than having a balanced rushing and passing attack. In fact, Leach's offense is so successful that it has accomplished one amazing feat: through his 20 years as a head coach, Leach's offenses have averaged 4,870.4 passing yards per season, which leads the nation over that span.

The Bulldogs leader has also had a quarterback throw for over 3,000 yards in 18 of those 20 seasons-- 10 different quarterbacks were even able to reach at least 4,000 yards passing during that time.

These include names such as Kliff Kingsbury, Sonny Cumbie and Gardner Minshew II. Kingsbury is currently the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, but before he worked in the NFL, he was Leach's quarterback at Texas Tech. He passed for more than 3,000 yards in both 2000 and 2001 and reached 5,017 in 2002. Cumbie coached against Leach in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl as Texas Tech's interim head coach-- he threw for 4,742 yards for that very team in 2004. Now, Cumbie could very well be taking the Air Raid offense to Louisiana Tech, where he has been named the next head coach. Minshew was drafted out of Washington State, where he posted a monster 4,779-yard year in 2018; he currently plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. Current Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers also added to Leach's legacy when he threw for 4,739 yards this past season.

It's not a secret that some Bulldogs fans questioned Leach's coaching style when he joined the SEC-- some still do. However, these stats prove that the Air Raid can be successful when executed correctly by the players. The 2022 season is already shaping up to be a great year for Mississippi State, and Leach will carry his Bulldogs far.