Bob Stoops, who coached against and with Mike Leach, remembers him as ‘truly one of a kind’

Bob Stoops remembers being on both sidelines with Mike Leach, first as a defensive coordinator at Florida, and later as the head coach at Oklahoma who hired Leach to run the Sooners’ offense.

Stoops recalled on Sirius XM that there was no one like Leach, and he was “truly one of a kind.” Stoops remembers being at Florida and having the “hardest time” dealing with Kentucky when Leach was the offensive coordinator for the Wildcats.

Then when Stoops was hired as the head coach at Oklahoma, he reached out to Kentucky coach Hal Mumme about Leach leading the OU offense.

“Mike Leach was his right-hand man and his protege,” Stoops said, and admitted that he couldn’t hire Mumme, so he moved to Leach. Mumme didn’t even hesitate, Stoops said.

So Stoops hired Leach as his first offensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 1999.

“He jump-started us,” Stoops said on Sirius XM. “We to this day, for 20-some years, there’s certain parts of his offense that we still run.”

.@cfbhall HC @CoachBobStoops joined #FullRide w/ @ChildersRadio, @CoachNeuheisel & @CoachDanMullen to reflect on the life of legendary head football coach Mike Leach. #RIPMikeLeach pic.twitter.com/STR6NsFU1c

— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) December 13, 2022

Keith Farner

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