'What the #&$@ is going on right now?' : Inside Mike Leach's QB meetings - The Athletic

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Connor Halliday, 2012-14: His first meeting, he had just gotten there and I was expecting him to install the offense. Everybody had their notebooks out ready to go. I think we got there at like 6 o’clock at night and were there until 9:30. He didn’t speak one word about football.

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Halliday: On his way in from Spokane, he almost got in a car crash. There was a snowstorm that day and a semi truck had rolled, and he was talking about how dangerous it is for semis to drive in the snow…I was already a huge Leach fan, so I knew a little bit about his formations and a few plays, so I wrote down a few things in my notebook. I was excited to get the meeting started. But the only thing I wrote down in big, bold letters was, “What the frick is going on right now?”

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Tyler Bruggman, 2013: There was one time Connor, a veteran, made a rookie mistake. Sundays are typically long days, and we had finished the film from the game before. We were ready to head off to dinner. And then Connor made a rookie mistake and asked about the economy crash. I just remember Coach Leach putting the film clicker down and saying, “You know, it’s kind of a long answer, but it’s worth talking about.” So at that point, I knew we were going to be stuck in there for a while.

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Isaac Dotson, 2013: I was playing QB at the time, and we had our first position meeting, and 90 percent of the meeting had nothing to do with football. Maybe five plays into watching film, something happened that sparked a classic Mike Leach tangent. For at least an hour, he sat there rewinding and playing the same play over and over while he talked about everything from growing up in Wyoming to having a pet raccoon, getting paddled by the principal at his junior high, the origins of football and eventually just a full-blown Native American history lesson. The one-hour meeting lasted probably three hours. I remember looking at the veteran QBs in the room with a ‘what is happening right now?’ look on my face, but I could tell by their reactions that this was just a normal thing.

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Apodaca: I remember I threw a pick or something, and I remember asking him what coverage that play is good against. And he goes, “Well, you should have just thrown it to this fricking guy because he’s standing there wide-arse open.”

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Halliday: I said to Leach, “What do I need to do to get the ball there on time?” He was like, “Well, just throw it to the guy who’s fricking open.” I was like, “Yeah, no, I get that dude, but what do you want me to do to get there quicker?” And he was like, “I don’t give a shite what you do. Just throw it to the guy who’s fricking open.”

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Tuel: I think the most entertaining thing during my time at Washington State was watching Coach Leach teach a three-step and five-step drop. That was some of the better stuff I’ve seen on that field. I mean, what do you think it looks like? Picture in your head what Mike Leach doing a three-step or five-step drop looks like, and that’s exactly what it looks like. Just the exact opposite of graceful.

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Jorgensen: We would go into the meeting, he would push pause and continue talking about a play or concept, and then he would pull out his can. He’d snap it a few times and pack his lower lip and he would get more muffled. You’re still trying to follow what he’s saying, but it’s a little more difficult to understand him. And then he would pack in another pinch into his top lip. They call it the upper-decker or double-decker or something. So he’d have two going at once, and he’d be really muffled so you’re trying to understand what he’s saying and you have to pay extra close attention.

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Anderson: He had a can on him and he had a real small dip left. He looks at me and goes, “You know, Anderson, I try not to get anyone started on this stuff. But if I’m being completely honest with you, I’ve got a perfect starting dip for you if you want to give it a try.” That’s what got me started on chewing.

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