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NATIONAL FUNDING HOLIDAY BOWL: MINNESOTA VS WASHINGTON STATE

December 26, 2016

Mike Leach

San Diego, California

COACH LEACH: I want to thank everybody and the Holiday Bowl for having us and the University of Minnesota and the fine football team that they bring.

Q. You've taken teams in two different conferences to this bowl. Do you have a different perspective of the bowl as a Pac-12 coach than you did as a Big 12 coach?
COACH LEACH: Not really. Staying in a different hotel would be the only thing. Even some of the red coats are the same people that I remember from before. Just a great bowl, great location. It's set up in a fashion that the players can walk where they need to go to keep themselves busy and definitely in an above-average, wholesome fashion. It's been good. I think that it's kind of been a quality that they have built over time and consistency in the way they've done it.

Q. If this ends up being Luke's last game in two years with a minimum 17 wins, chance to win the conference, what has he meant to the program?
COACH LEACH: Won't be his last game. We will see what the last game does mean to the program and all the milestone stuff.

Q. Coach, teams react differently to adversity. There have been bowl games where players have been suspended and they've rallied. Have you talked to your team at all about being weary of a team that is going through adversity?
COACH LEACH: No, we just worry about what we can do, just try to do the best that we can, be the best football team that we can, get the best work that we can and the best practices that we can. They're a great football team. The only thing we can control is ourselves so we're just worried about ourselves.

Q. Coach, you said a couple weeks ago that if players decided to boycott on your team you would cut 'em. Can you elaborate on that stance?
COACH LEACH: I would. I'm not going to elaborate on it because in this setting it's just all about me trying to contradict something that Minnesota did and that's up to Minnesota how they handled that situation, and ultimately if I have a boycott I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. That's essentially how I would handle it so you can elaborate from there. Any other questions?

Q. How strong do you get the sense the San Diego area is for Washington State fans? Is this a hot bed normally?
COACH LEACH: We've got some players from here. We've got some players from here and over time we have started to get more. Over time we have started to get more players. I think one of the things that is sort of a big deal here is, you know, just that it's Pac-12 country. So there's the elements of people excited about the Pac-12.

Q. Coach, one football and one non-football question. Mitch Leidner, have you been able to see much from him? What challenges does he present?
COACH LEACH: Big strong, physical, team seems to rally around him, you know, because they've had a lot of close games and obviously him being the quarterback is key and instrumental in that team holding together and doing some good things at the end. The big thing that jumps out is how big and physical of a kid he is, especially at that position.

Q. You have talked about hip-hop music and you said you know a lot about the history even though you don't listen to it a lot? What peaked your interest?
COACH LEACH: It's country music for city people so Gabe and I have talked about parallels there and the themes are all the same with regard to, you know, relationships, money, law enforcement, the vehicles change from pick-ups to more sporty vehicles, buses perhaps replace trains, but there's a lot of parallels with it and we have discussed it, and I asked him how he keeps track of it, because see to me it's like classical music. I can tell you whether I like it or I don't, but I can't tell you what the title is.

So, yeah, Gabe is a sharp guy with a wide variety of musical tastes, so, yeah, we enjoy sharing the arts and culture of our generations. It's exciting conversation.

Q. He said you're not a fan of Ice Tea?
COACH LEACH: He's not.

Q. He's not a fan?
COACH LEACH: I'm ambivalent, he's not. There is a story about when rap was starting how he went out and basically just said, hey, I've got a band, I've got this and I need a bunch of front money in order to make this happen and they said well let's hear your stuff, and he said well if you don't trust me why would I want to get in a business relationship with you and why should I be able to trust you. So they gave him the money before the fact and he went and got a band and did a tremendous job, you know, right at the right place, right time, great instincts.

Q. Coach, when you were at Texas Tech you overcame troubles there. What have you been able to do with Tracy Claeys this week to bond or share your experiences in overcoming tough times?
COACH LEACH: Really the biggest thing is you see each other at these socials, some and not always as much as you would like. You know, if not know each other, know of each other, for sure. I think all coaches wish for the best for one another, you know.

I think he's done such a fine job up there in Minnesota it's hard to not respect.

Q. Coach, yesterday at the zoo Gabe Marks and Cody O'Connell, I was asking players what animal resembles Coach Leach the most. Cody O'Connell went with a lion, king of the jungle, and Gabe Marks with a Koala Bear. What would you associate yourself with more?
COACH LEACH: I think we're going to play Cody O'Connell more this game than we are Gabe Marks. I haven't given it a great deal of thought. I'll go ahead and defer to the brains of those two guys. I haven't thought about it a lot. From a personal standpoint let's stick with O'Connell.

Q. Coach --
COACH LEACH: If Gabe thinks I'm warm and cuddly that's good.

Q. With the state of college football and the bowl games, a lot of comments have come out that the bowl season has been watered down ever since the college football playoffs has emerged. What are your thoughts on that? What are your thoughts on certain players foregoing their last game and bowing out just to prepare for the NFL?
COACH LEACH: I think the notion that it's watered down is ridiculous. It's like all of the sudden how can bowl season be watered down any more than the regular season's watered down. People watch football for the sake of football. I think that's absurd.

I think the notion that playoffs have had some impact on that, I think is even more incorrect. I think we need more playoffs I think in order to have a playoff system that will truly represent and get settled on the field you need to have at least 16, I would like to see 64 but at least 16. I think it's 100% selfish, these guys that don't play in the bowl game. Those guys that don't play in the bowl game it appears to me that they think all their accomplishments were solely theirs and theirs alone forgetting the fact that somebody snapped the ball, handed off the ball, somebody threw the ball, somebody made a block, somebody made a tackle, somebody made a catch, you know, anything that they accomplished on their team couldn't have been done by anyone else and more strictly theirs and I can't think of a more selfish point of view, and I think this is driven by selfish players and selfish agents. Occasionally I wonder if they're afraid they can't pass the drug test, that may exist at a bowl.

I think it's mind numbing to suggest that some guy can go in there and have a profitable NFL career, yet at some point can't play football one more game with his teammates who have done a lot of things to sacrifice on his behalf. I think it's short-sighted and selfish in a nutshell.

Q. Minnesota hasn't seen the air raid very often, but they have seen it with TCU and Texas Tech after you left. Have you studied how Coach Claeys and Sawvel have attacked those games?
COACH LEACH: We have more film nowadays than you know what to do with, but we haven't played a ton of teams with their style, either, so I think it goes both ways. Their conference, I remember one time they were actually a pretty wide-open conference, and now they're back to being what the Big Ten is known for. In our conference it's a little more open.

The one thing that good teams do is they identify what they do best and they continue to do it over and over. All right. Thanks, I appreciate it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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