Newy Scruggs of NBC 5 (Dallas-Fort Worth) reports that Washington State’s Mike Leach is “working on a deal” to become head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. Scruggs adds that a deal “could be announced Friday.”
Sources tell @NBCDFWSports that former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is working on a deal to become the next coach at Tennessee. A deal could be announced Friday. I’m working on more details.
— Newy Scruggs (@newyscruggs) December 1, 2017
Additionally, Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman reports that the Vols met with Leach, and the meeting “went very well.”
#Tennessee coaching search update: Source tells me the meeting with Mike Leach went very well. And… stay tuned.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 1, 2017
Hiring one of the most wacky, entertaining personalities in college sports would certainly be a fitting way to end this wacky, entertaining (well, maybe not as much for Vols fans) Tennessee coaching search.
Leach, 56, has led the Washington State Cougars to a 9-3 record (6-3 in Pac-12) and No. 18 College Football Playoff ranking (and No. 21 AP ranking) this season. His 38-37 record over six seasons with Wazzu is certainly not impressive, but the Cougars have gone 26-12 over the last three seasons to become one of the better programs in the Pac-12. Before Washington State, Leach was head coach at Texas Tech and compiled an 84-43 record over 10 seasons with the Red Raiders.
It would certainly be interesting to see how Leach’s “air raid” offense would perform against teams like Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Georgia in the SEC.
And, perhaps the most interesting thing would be to see even more coverage of Leach and his entertaining interviews. It seems that just about weekly, Leach has a hilarious — or at least very interesting — press conference (example, example, example, example, example), and that would likely only increase with the Tennessee and SEC media circus (Paul Finebaum has to be drooling over this).
But, as we’ve learned time and time again with this comical Vols coaching search, don’t assume this deal gets done. There will surely be much more to come on this story Friday morning.
