Mike Leach turned Texas Tech and Washington State into competitive programs, and he won the Coach of the Year Award in both the Big 12 and Pac-12 while doing so. Now, he’s trying to do the same with Mississippi State in the SEC.

However, it seems not everybody is confident in Leach at the moment. SEC Network host Paul Finebaum has some critiques of Leach, including the fact that the longtime head coach may not be immersing himself in the community where he’s now leading a program.

“I don’t think Mike Leach is a top-15 coach right now,” Finebaum said on the latest episode of the Saturday Down South Podcast. “I respect him, but to be a successful head coach these days, you have to do more than just coach, and my biggest fault of Mike Leach is he just doesn’t do very much other than show up at the game and call the plays, and I think he is making a mistake.

“I think that’s why he runs into trouble, not only with his fan base, but with the people that employ him.”

Finebaum didn’t stop there, as he’s unsure of how much Leach has integrated himself into Starkville.

“I realize we just went through COVID … but I wonder how many times Mike Leach has reached out in that community that he lives in to try to develop and further the football cause,” Finebaum said. “I’m willing to bet you that very few people in [Starkville] know Mike Leach. … I know people that are well plugged into that community. I’m not just talking idle fans. I’m talking about people that are part of that program who don’t know him, have never met him.

“That concerns me a little bit because ultimately, you do need to do more than just coach, and I think he’s a very good football coach … if you win 10-11 games, you’ll be successful whether you talk to anybody or not. But if you’re in those gray areas where I think Leach will be, you need support, and I’m not sure he’s going to have that.”

Leach didn’t reach that win total in his first season with the Bulldogs, as they went 4-7. But they won two straight games to end 2020, which included a victory over Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Mississippi State will look to carry over that momentum into the 2021 season, which begins with a home matchup against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 4 at 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU.