For those of you who don’t know, Mike Leach is the head football coach for the Washington State Cougars. Following his team's recent loss, Leach addressed the media with the statement I’ve attached below.
I'll be honest. When I first read the headline "Washington State Coach Insults Junior College Softball" I began to further my research with an already diminishing amount of respect. This, of course, is what media tends to do to us. So in order to allow for a more accurate perspective, I have attached the full interview, not just the cut of where Leach actually refers to "JC softball."I am not here to criticize whether or not Leach is correct in how he believes his team performed or if his method of addressing how they played is most effective. In fact, I’m in no position to cast judgment on how a coach runs his team and after watching the full interview, I found that I agree with a vast majority of what Leach is saying. Just like every college level coach, Mike Leach knows what he's talking about.
The only thing I have to say about Leach’s press statement is that I cannot fathom a reason as to why any coach, regardless of level, would use another sport as a comparison of how poorly he believes his own athletes performed. When Leach states that his team of whom he is not happy with at the moment, has “the atmosphere of a JC softball game” he implies that a junior college softball team is lacking in many areas. Whether he purposely does this or not, Leach is condoning the thought that JuCo softball teams don’t have athletes who desire to win and compete with the same passion that D1 football teams have.
I spent a semester on a Junior College softball team, and have many friends who compete at that level and the one thing they don’t lack is passion. When a junior college softball team loses, the last thing on their minds is which team, as Leach insinuates, “has the most fun.” Just like every other athletic team out there, a junior college team spends their bus rides home analyzing every move they made during that game and each thing they believe they could have done better. Just like a D1 football player, a junior college softball player goes back to her dorm and makes a list of things she needs to improve on by the time the next game rolls around. Every single collegiate athlete out there whether D1, D2, D3, or JuCo has a fire inside them that fuels a deep passion for their sport, and this includes all sports.
In fact, to be playing a sport in college is an achievement of its own, regardless of what level. Being a collegiate athlete and student takes extra discipline, responsibility, determination, and perseverance. Athletes are often held to higher standards, putting in tons of effort for their sport, while also working diligently toward academic success in order to obtain the primary goal of earning a degree. All coaches at the collegiate level should understand the effort and devotion that their athletes put into their sport, and if they feel the best way to critique their own team is to pick on another then I truly believe they have some learning to do. I do not see any reason Mike Leach could not have gotten his same point across while leaving another athletic team out of the mix.
So Mike Leach, next time you want to insult your football team’s performance, be sure to stay in your own lane. Maybe point out some flaws or some technicalities, but without disrespecting another sport's athletes who are out there working to be recognized. Because let’s face it, your team can lose every game they play and people will still recognize your name. A junior college softball team can win nationals and send their whole roster on to continue playing at the D1 level, yet people will still ask who they are when they’re mentioned. This fact alone is something that we as an athletic community should be ashamed of, so let’s not continue to enable it.
