A rant to sum up 2020? Mike Leach hits changing protocols that caused one of the most ‘joyless seasons on Earth’

Almost every week, Mississippi State coach Mike Leach referred to changing protocols and other political maneuvering that at the very least caused unnecessary headaches, and at the worst, changed entire schedules on short notice.

As the Bulldogs prepared to play Missouri this week, Leach on Monday had a comprehensive rant to summarize the entire season, which has been marked by the coronavirus pandemic, medical protocols and contact tracing which has caused problems with practice and player availability.

Leach covered everything from recruiting, where he said, “you can do this, well you can’t do that, well you can do this instead. Well, you can do that, but not this.”

“OK, are we going to go ahead and do Signing Day, yes we are, well maybe we aren’t, yeah we probably are,” Leach said. “Are we practicing today? I don’t know.”

There were changing procedures for positive tests, contact tracing and availability to practice.

“The NFL does it one way, we do it another,” Leach said. “It’s just the constant stop and start and just the incessant change, adjustment … anytime you get committees involved in something, it’s going to be convoluted and twisted up and then the politicians are trying to beat their chest, and maximize on this at every step. In the end, together with all the commotion and clutter, we’ve created one of the most joyless seasons on earth. And hopefully we have the presence of mind to not repeat it this way again.”

Mississippi State coach Mike Leach ranted about the 2020 college football season.

“In the end, together with all the commotion and clutter, we’ve created one of the most joyless seasons on earth. And hopefully we have the presence of mind not to repeat it this way again.” pic.twitter.com/VAstEhuuks

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) December 14, 2020

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.