Mike Leach to appear on 2027 College Football Hall of Fame ballot, per report
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The great Mike Leach will appear on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2027, according to a report.
On3’s Brett McMurphy broke that news on Friday morning, reporting that Leach will officially be up for HOF consideration.
Leach was initially not deemed eligible to be on the HOF ballot because his career winning percentage sits at .596. Formerly, coached had to have a minimum winning percentage of .600 to be on the ballot but that threshold was lowered to .595 by the NFF in 2025.
That rule change clears the way for Leach, one of the most influential college football figures of the 21st century, to be eligible for Hall of Fame induction.
Leach had a 21-year head coaching career at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State before his untimely passing in 2022. Prior to becoming a head coach, Leach was an innovator of the Air Raid offense along with Hal Mumme.
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Leach and Mumme worked together at smaller programs such as Iowa Wesleyan and Valdosta State before bringing their innovating offense to Kentucky in 1997. Leach later left Mumme to be the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 1999 and was named head coach of Texas Tech in 2000.
Leach’s influence can still be seen today in some of college football’s top coaches. USC head coach Lincoln Riley and Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel both played quarterback for Leach. Sonny Dykes, Kliff Kingsbury, Dave Aranda, Eric Morris and Graham Harrell are a few other coaches who worked for Leach and are still rising in the profession.
The official ballot is expected to be announced on Monday by the NFF. Inductees will be announced in January.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
