Former Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach is certainly a legend and is someone who had a remarkable impact on the sport as well as many of those around him.
Few have had as large an impact on the sport of football the way that former Mississippi State football head coach Mike Leach did. The Pirate, a fantastic and brilliant mind who revolutionized the way football is played at nearly every single level, was also a man who seemed to impact many of those around him.
And it appears that he had a bit of an impact on Cole Cubelic.
Cubelic, a former Auburn offensive lineman and now a media personality who works with SEC Network, hosts his own podcast, and then has a show with former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, has been working on previewing the scene around the SEC in recent weeks.
During his run through previewing each SEC program ahead of the 2023 college football season, Cubelic spent some time talking about Mississippi State football as the Bulldogs get set to enter the coming season.
And while he spent plenty of time talking about the actual stuff of what was going on on the field, Cubelic also took some time to address a pretty tough topic: the tragic passing of Mike Leach.
Cole Cubelic honors Mike Leach’s memory during Mississippi State football preview
Before he even began to preview Mississippi State in his video, Cubelic acknowledged and discussed the devastating topic that has been closely connected with MSU football since December when Leach unexpectedly passed away.
“First thing I want to say is I kinda hate having part of this conversation because Mike Leach was great to me, he was great to our crew,” Cubelic said.
Cubelic then noted that Leach’s interviews could be “tough to deal with sometimes,” but that was part of who the legendary coach was and that Cubelic “accepted the challenge.”
“I probably put more into talking to him leading into a game mentally than I did anyone else because I wanted it to be great and I wanted to get something out of him which it didn’t seem like all of us on the sideline are able to do very often,” Cubelic continued.
From there, Cubelic discussed the story of how his son dressed up as a pirate once for Halloween. You need to see this video, if you haven’t already.
Forever my favorite Leach story/interaction. We had a LTT with him Fri before a game, got FB questions out of the way & I knew my son was a pirate for Halloween so I hit him with this. Still the most animated I had him in an interview. But what happen after was the coolest part👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/1m4M7wkyue
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) December 13, 2022
And of course, because Leach was a man who loved pirates and swords and being unique and having fun, he did this:
This hoodie was included. Nobody asked for anything. Nobody mentioned anything after the interview. Coach Leach just liked his Halloween costume & decided he needed State gear. I told my son he should wear it today. So he did. Thank you Coach, go swing that sword in the sky! pic.twitter.com/3QAqYi9nu5
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) December 13, 2022
During his preview of Mississippi State, Cubelic continued to honor the memory of Leach by describing him as a “very kind soul behind somewhat of an odd, gruff personality at times.”
“But man I loved being around him,” Cubelic said. “We loved talking to him.”
If you haven’t already seen Cubelic’s preview of the Bulldogs, it’s a must watch. After his touching tribute and commemoration of Leach, Cubelic goes through and highlights much of what Mississippi State football fans need to know about the upcoming season.
It’s a worthwhile watch for a number of reasons.
Zach Arnett has the unenviable task of following Leach. He’s not going to be Leach by any stretch of the imagination, but that’s okay. He’s allowed to be himself. And while it’s hard to lose Leach, especially in the manner in which Mississippi State football did, the Bulldogs can build upon what he was getting established. Even if things look a little different while they do that.