USC coach Lincoln Riley voiced his support for Mike Leach's College Football Hall of Fame candidacy on Wednesday as he took the stage at Big Ten Media Days. Riley, who apprenticed under Leach at Texas Tech from 2003-09, said the Hall of Fame "is simply not complete without Mike Leach."
"Mike Leach meant a lot to my career, instrumental in my upbringing," Riley said. "I know there's been a lot of debate and talk about him belonging in the College Football Hall of Fame. I certainly want to voice my support for that happening. That's something that's very important to me."
College Football Hall of Fame criteria calls for coaches to have at least a .600 winning percentage to be considered for inclusion. Though that rule has been in place since 1951, exceptions have been made over the years. Leach died in 2022 with a career winning percentage of 59.6% after coaching stints at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State.
Riley began his coaching career as a student assistant under Leach in 2003 before progressing to a graduate assistant and eventually a position coach at Texas Tech. Later, as an offensive coordinator at East Carolina and Oklahoma, he implemented many hallmarks of Leach's innovative Air Raid offense in his own system.
"He changed the game and changed a lot of people's lives, mine included," Riley said.
Riley is just voice in a chorus of influential football minds stumping for Leach's inclusion in the College Football Hall of Fame. Among the others who have used conference media day events to push for Leach's inclusion is Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz, who included a case for Leach in his opening statement at SEC Media Days last week.
"We need to put his name on the ballot," Drinkwitz said. "Coach Leach, in my mind, and I believe in most of the people in this room, is a no-doubt Hall-of-Famer. He impacted our game more in the last 50 years than a lot of other people, not only with his legacy, but also with his football acumen."
