Despite the fact that he calls plays for a rival school (Texas Tech), Mike Leach is probably one of my favorite coaches.
Smart, witty, and innovative to boot.
If you get a chance, be sure to check out the NY Times in-depth overview of this polymath.
One of the better quotes in there is his fascination with the Corps of Cadets at A&M:
“How come they get to pretend they are soldiers?” [...] “The thing is, they aren’t in the military. I ought to have Mike’s Pirate School. For homework, we’ll work pirate maneuvers and stuff like that.”
He has also pulled a Mark Cuban/Dairy Queen switcheroo.
Several years ago, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban criticized the officiating crew in a game, essentially saying they couldn’t manage a Dairy Queen. And a few moons later, in one of the better PR stunts, Cuban put on an apron and spent a day making and handing out ice cream at a local Dairy Queen (the line was packed all day).
Apparently Mike Leach had similar feelings about the forecasting ability of the weather team up in Lubbock, so he jumped into the studio and candidly described how to accurately predict the weather each day. And the lead meteorologist seemed to have a good time with it, as he was allowed to call a couple of plays at the Red & Black scrimmage game.
That’s what I call, putting your mouth where the money is.
And I’d like to see Bobby Knight do the weather.
[Note: a lady friend of mine has pointed out that real cadets only come from West Point. I'll let you guys squabble over the No True Scotsman]