Former boss Hal Mumme reacts to Mike Leach's historic return to the SEC
Long before Mike Leach was the quirky head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State, he was the offensive coordinator for Hal Mumme at Kentucky and Valdosta State.
Under Mumme and Leach, the Kentucky offense set six NCAA records, 41 SEC records and 116 school records in just 22 games.
On Saturday, Leach coached QB K.J. Costello to an SEC record 623 yards and five touchdowns as the Bulldogs knocked off No. 6 LSU 44-34. That caught the eye of the college football world as the defending champions were upset at home. That included Mumme, who shared his thoughts with Ross Dellenger.
“He’s the best coach in the game,” Mumme said. “I’ve been saying that for years. Dangerous now because he’s at a place with great skill and a history of great defense. Great to see the Air Raid back in the SEC.”
That may not have been a surprise to Mumme, but the record-setting start was for Costello.
“I don’t know if any individual could visualize this taking place,” said Costello, who was Stanford’s starter in 2017 and 2018, per the AP. “I wasn’t visualizing sitting here breaking records. … I’m excited about the potential that this offense has because, believe it or not, we did leave a lot on the field today.”
“With this group, I don’t feel like we ever lose momentum,” Costello said. “I feel like we’re always in the attack mode. That’s just Leach’s philosophy.”