Mike Leach’s legacy endures through his family as College Football Hall of Fame nod remains out of reach

Sharon Leach blames herself. College football coaches’ wives are sainted about the time they say, “I do.” Family duties that normally would be shared by a couple quickly tilt to one side of the marital dynamic as the husband/coach logs countless hours away from home.

Sharon Leach is one of those saints, in part because she still blames herself for the only college football game her husband Mike Leach ever missed as a coach. 

“Why, why would I ever have a baby during a football season?” Sharon Leach told CBS Sports. “That was very bad timing. Not smart.”

Sharon is clearly aware of pregnancy’s unpredictability. Nonetheless, Kimberly Leach was born on a football Saturday — Nov. 4, 1989, a night during which her father’s Iowa Wesleyan Tigers won a football game without their offensive coordinator. 

“He never took a day off, [never] a sick day. His whole life in coaching, he would drag himself,” Sharon Leach said of her celebrated spouse. “The only time he missed a game was when I was in labor. They ended up giving him the game ball.

“He went [to work] no matter what. He put a lot of time and a lot of life into football and never got to really reap the rewards after.”

Her voice catches with emotion at the end of that last sentence. That’s understandable. It’s only been a year and a half since her husband died. Mike Leach’s shine on the college game as one of the sport’s great coaches, minds and rogues has barely dimmed.

When Leach died suddenly in December 2022 at the age of 61, he left a loving wife, four children and a portion of his legacy that sooner or later must be dealt with: By almost any measure, Leach is a College Football Hall of Fame coach. But as things stand right now, he can never be in that hall of fame. 

When the…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/mike-leachs-legacy-endures-through-his-family-as-college-football-hall-of-fame-nod-remains-out-of-reach/

Author : Dennis Dodd

Publish date : 2024-06-11 14:38:03

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.