Remembering Mike Leach: Friday Night Lights Cameo
With the passing of Mike Leach this week, so many great memories have been coming out about the college football coach who made an impression on so many across the sport.
As people remember and share their stories around Mike Leach, one of his most-memorable non-coaching moments will be the cameo he made in the former hit TV show Friday Night Lights. Leach made this cameo after he left Texas Tech in which he told Coach Eric Taylor on the show to channel his inner pirate, which was of course Mike Leach’s calling card.
Here’s that cameo from over 10 years ago.
After Texas Tech’s 2009 breakthrough season where the team won the Big 12 South, Leach was profiled by Scott Pelley on “60 Minutes”. Leach explained the “pirate” mantra that came to define the Red Raiders and Leach throughout his coaching career. “I brought this sword in, this pirate sword replica, and talked about how are you going to swing your sword?” Leach told Pelley. That phrase, “Swing Your Sword” later became the title to Leach’s autobiography.
Mike Leach was as unique a figure as college football has ever had, and he will be sorely missed across the sport in the short and long-term.
