Mike Leach Undermines Racial Progress at Mississippi State

In 2003, Mississippi State became the first university in the Southeastern Conference to hire a black head football coach, Sylvester Croom. Its powerful women’s basketball team, with a coaching staff and a roster consisting mostly of women of color, reached the national championship game two of the past three years. The team was highly ranked again when the 2020 N.C.A.A. men’s and women’s tournaments were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mississippi State responded exactly as it should have in condemning Leach’s remarks and insisting on sensitivity training for him, said Daniel W. Jones, a former chancellor of the University of Mississippi during a period when several school leaders barred Confederate symbols and the song “Dixie” from sporting events there.

“I don’t think that a single coach coming from outside of the Deep South, who doesn’t have an appreciation for how sensitive lynching is here, is going to put a black eye on the university,” Jones said. “I think it puts a black eye on that coach. He’s going to have to be sensitive to those issues. And being sensitive is not one of his strengths, on the record at least.”

Jones said Leach had always been known as a lax speaker. “And being loose with words about some things in Texas and Washington state are very different than the mistake he made here in Mississippi,” he said.

Leach previously coached at Texas Tech as well as at Washington State. He is known for his innovative passing offense and his infatuation with pirate lore. His offbeat, garrulous nature has produced humorous remarks but has also landed him in hot water with university officials as he clumsily balanced his public position as a football coach with his private political views.

In February, weeks after being hired at Mississippi State, Leach made critical remarks on Twitter — and then deleted them — about Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, the only Republican to vote to convict President Trump during his impeachment trial. One tweet from Leach, who is a Trump supporter, said, “As an American, does ANYONE, REALLY want Mitt Romney on their side?!”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/sports/mike-leach-mississippi-state-racism.html