Put Your False Narratives to Bed, Mike Leach is Doing What Everyone Said He Couldn’t at Mississippi State

There have been a lot who stated Hal Mumme was ruining soccer when he introduced the Air Raid offense alive at a small college referred to as Iowa Wesleyan in small-town Mount Nice, Iowa. 

As a substitute, he revolutionized a program that by no means had any sort of earlier relevance to one thing that caught consideration and the ideas by which he used equally modified the world of soccer in any respect ranges. In the present day, Air Raid performs exist in the highschool, faculty and NFL ranges of soccer and there are groups in any respect three of these ranges that run it both in its purest kind or practically its purest kind.

Whereas Mumme was the founding father of this offense, Mike Leach was with him each step of the best way, starting as an offensive line coach and offensive coordinator with Mumme at Iowa Wesleyan after spending time at Cal Poly, School of the Desert and the Pori Bears overseas. He stayed with him till he departed to Oklahoma as because the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, happening to turn out to be the pinnacle coach at Texas Tech and Washington State earlier than touchdown at Mississippi State.

Even though Leach and his Air Raid offense have fully circled each program he has been with (should you make a journey to Lubbock, you will discover a lot who speak about how badly they need he was nonetheless there), there have been loads of doubters of Leach’s method of doing issues in an period the place “run the rattling ball” and “protection wins championships” are such widespread sayings that a number of analysts and coaches alike affiliate themselves with.

There are a number of false narratives which have surrounded the time period “Air Raid” which have already been dispelled, but proceed to be stated, although the quantity of people that appear to be as loud about them appears to have gotten smaller by a major bit. That tends to occur while you make it to No. 16 within the rankings whereas dealing with the hardest schedules within the nation.

These fallacies vary from that the Air Raid is simply too easy to the purpose that its gamers do not translate to the NFL, that its quarterbacks’ numbers are inflated (often that is accompanied by one thing in regard to that almost all of them come from yards after the catch as effectively) and that it’s a ‘dink and dunk’ offense.

Anybody who has taken even a second to look into these is aware of that that is an offense that retains quarterbacks sincere due to how typically they’re requested to throw the ball and places arguably extra duty on them on the line of scrimmage than every other sort of offense does. There have been a number of quarterbacks who got here up within the Air Raid offense who’ve been profitable NFL starters, with Patrick Mahomes serving as the first standout.

And it is secure to say Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers is not precisely doing too shabby as he has now damaged a number of program and SEC data, at the moment main the nation in passing yards and with a really actual shot at being a Heisman Trophy candidate and potential early spherical 2023 NFL Draft choose.

As for the latter, Leach had a message for many who label it as such in his Monday press convention as his quarterback has begun to garner much more reward for the expertise he has proven on the deep ball.

“The dink and dunk label, I simply assume that each time I hear that, that claims extra about the individual that refers to it as that than it does the Air Raid, actually,” Leach stated. “Properly, the entire NFL does not appear to assume that it is dink and dunk. That is why they’re all operating Air Raid ideas, proper?”

There was a time limit that Rogers was getting some criticism starting from the ideas that he was a “system quarterback” or could not succeed as a deep passer for a spread of causes, one among them being the Air Raid label and the unfounded stigma that surrounds it. 

Now, as one of many prime quarterbacks within the nation beneath Leach and in that Air Raid offense, Rogers leads in a number of downfield passing classes. These embrace completion leading to good points of 20 yards or extra (26), touchdowns thrown 20 yards or extra down the sphere (7) and a PFF deep passing grade of 95.4.

“So far as the deep stuff, that is sort of a two-way avenue,” Leach stated.

The larger chunk performs and profitable deep passes come right down to greater than arm power and the flexibility to do it himself. When Leach got here to MSU, he had one of many youngest groups within the nation that was transitioning from a very completely different scheme on both aspect of the ball and spent the primary yr of that with no true offseason, compelled to be taught the vast majority of the brand new method of doing issues over Zoom throughout COVID.

With some added expertise and continuity, the deep passing recreation naturally comes collectively extra. That does not have something to do with the Air Raid.

“Primary is the receivers and their method so far as operating the route. Quantity two is the quarterback’s capability to throw it. Quantity three is then there’s this sort of this bridge it’s important to cross so far as the entire ‘area of goals’ issues they are saying. You recognize, ‘should you construct it, they’re going to come.’ Properly, should you run it, he’ll throw it. If he throws it, he’ll catch it. 

“There is a level to the place you have to sort of power it a bit of bit as a result of till they run good vertical routes and make good vertical catches, the quarterback does not belief them to throw it. However till he throws it, they don’t seem to be going to make these catches. We sort of have been going via these rising pains, proceed to, however we’re making progress.”

With Kentucky on the horizon and several other upset wins beneath his belt over these three seasons with the Bulldogs, Leach is proving that he is able to competing with the very best of them. He is main a staff that has lacked nationwide respect for years to excessive relevance within the hardest convention within the nation whereas nonetheless doing issues his method.

And it is easy to get the sense with the monitor this staff is on, the mentality and buy-in fee and success on the recruiting path that that is simply the tip of the iceberg for what Leach is constructing in Starkville.