Washington State Head Coach, Mike Leach, Talks His Cougars Win over Stanford, the Possibility of Pac 12 Supremacy, Political Correctness, the Presidential Election, More
Over the years, Washington State head football coach, NY Times Bestselling Author and CYInterview regular Mike Leach has discussed with us a variety of interesting topics, beyond those that arise in relation to the gridiron. Our latest chat with him was no exception.
Of course, we discussed football. Then, Coach Leach gave us his predictions for the 2016 Presidential Elections, his thoughts on political correctness in America and his viewpoint on what the future of technology holds, including robots and self-driving cars. Additionally, he shared a story about how a man lost his legs and subsequently became a success. And, in this wide ranging, not to be missed conversation, he discussed even more things. You will certainly want to listen.
Focusing on football, this past weekend was one of the biggest wins for Mike Leach’s program since he became head coach. A lopsided 42 to 16 win over number 15 Stanford, in a game televised nationally on ESPN, demonstrated to sports fans across the country that the Cougars are on the cusp of becoming a national contender.
This 25 minute CYInterview is worth a listen. You can read the highlights and listen to the entire segment below:
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Focusing on the 42-16 upset win over number 15 Stanford, Washington State head coach Mike Leach told us this:
“I thought we played really hard. I thought we played sloppy at times. I thought our defensive line played really well. The biggest thing, I thought we played on all three sides of the ball and even when there’s adversity and they’re a very physical team, maybe the most physical team in our league, we kept playing, never let anything rattle us and I was really proud of our guys from that standpoint.”
With three consecutive victories, Washington State has a 3-2 record and a clear path to the Pac 12 Championship Game. In the last three games, the Cougars have outscored their opponents 149 to 55. So what changed after the first two games? Coach said this:
“The short answer is everybody started doing everything together. I mean, everybody started playing together. And then, you know, if everybody does their jobs, stuff synchronizes in a pretty big way, pretty quickly.”
Speaking on the 2016 Presidential Elections, these are his thoughts on who will win:
“I think Donald Trump will win. I think a lot of people are frustrated that not much has gotten accomplished in Washington for over a decade. I think that people want practical solutions to problems where both parties communicate with one another regardless of party. I think that, you know, I think that whole change the establishment thing is very real because I think the anxiety exists in both parties.”
To understand the NY Times Bestselling Author’s political thinking, Coach Leach said he believes both the Democratic White House and Republican Congress are equally failing the American people:
“I think that’s an understatement too. I think they’ve both been total failures. One is they don’t work together, but the thing about it is, you know, when the Democrats ruled the house, there weren’t any working together then either. I mean, it’s like, they just float problems along and then, you know, they hold office for a long, long time and you know, there’s no level of accomplishment that comes out of there.”
When it comes to attitude and accomplishing whatever you desire, Mike shares this story about fellow football coach Jack Harbaugh:
“Jack Harbaugh, who I’ve had the opportunity to talk on the phone with, he’s Jim Harbaugh’s dad. And people that know about Jack Harbaugh, he won a couple of national championships at Western Kentucky when they were in 1AA. He’s a great football coach and of course coached at Michigan as an assistant, things like that. He said, what he use to tell his teams is, he had a whole kind of thing where they’d say, ‘Who’s got it better than us?’ And then they’d all say, ‘Nobody.’ And you know, if you think about it, if you make the most out of your opportunities, most people can say that they really had it pretty good.”
You can find more information and purchase a copy of Geronimo: Leadership Strategies of an American Warrior by Mike Leach and Buddy Levy clicking here.
You can find more information and purchase a copy of Mike Leach’s paperback edition of Swing Your Sword: Leading The Charge in Football and Life clicking here
You can find Mike Leach’s official Twitter clicking here.
You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com
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