Mississippi State football: Woody Marks has a plan to honor Mike Leach in 2023

As Mississippi State football heads into 2023 with a lot of significant changes, it’s clear that Woody Marks is ready to thrive and to honor his former head coach.

It’s clear that Mike Leach’s passing and the transition to Zach Arnett as head coach will be a big storyline for Mississippi State football this season, but Woody Marks has a plan to honor his former head coach.

This offseason has been an emotional one for Mississippi State as the Bulldogs have had to mourn the loss of Mike Leach, a college football legend. Leach’s tragic death caught everyone off guard, but Zach Arnett and the Mississippi State football team have worked hard to honor his legacy by continuing to build upon the foundation that Leach established.

And this year, it seems that the Bulldogs are determined to honor Leach’s legacy.

They can certainly do a lot there by upholding the standard of excellence that Leach held his teams to. During SEC Media Days, when he was asked about honoring his former head coach, Marks noted that the Bulldogs are focused.

“We plan on honoring Mike Leach by just going out every week and winning for him, going 1-0 every week,” Marks explained, according to ASAP Sports.

Woody Marks, Mississippi State football set to honor Mike Leach in 2023

Another way for the Bulldogs to commemorate Leach’s memory and legacy is to continue to play an exciting, innovative brand of football like Leach was known for. And, well, that can still happen even if the offense is a bit different.

Many were disappointed to see Arnett and the Bulldogs move away from the Air Raid. And bringing in Kevin Barbay kind of ensures that the offense will be considerably different.

But as Marks pointed out, this change could help the Bulldogs.

“I think it’s going to grow tremendously because we’re doing a lot of formations out of running sets and we’re still having a lot of passing sets,” Marks noted. “With Coach Barbay, he’s big on giving his best player the ball.”

While Leach’s quirky personality and brilliant mind are truly irreplaceable, his players are aiming to do everything they can to honor his memory, and that’s great to see.