Mike Leach rips kickers after tough outing at Arkansas, calls for ‘open tryout’

Mike Leach and the Mississippi State Bulldogs had plenty of chances to take down Arkansas on Saturday in Fayetteville.

However, field goal woes plagued the Bulldogs all night. Brandon Ruiz missed both of his tries. Then, with the chance to send the game to overtime, Nolan McCord missed his only kick of the night.

That prompted Leach, after the 31-28 loss, to call for an open tryout for kickers on Mississippi State’s campus this coming week:

Mike Leach's full comment on the kicking game (0-3 on FGs): “There’s an open tryout on our campus for kickers. Anybody who wants to walk on and kick at Mississippi State, we’ll hold a tryout anytime you can get over there to our building providing you’re cleared by the NCAA.”

— Theo DeRosa (@Theo_DeRosa) November 7, 2021

Obviously, those comments won’t do much to help the confidence of either Mississippi State kicker.

But, this was definitely a missed opportunity for the Bulldogs, who entered the game ranked No. 17 in the College Football Playoff rankings. Oh, what could have been.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.