Mike Leach appeared to remove his name from consideration for other head coaching jobs when he signed a contract extension with Washington State last month, but that was not the case.
Leach has agreed to a deal to become the next head coach at Mississippi State, Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports reports.
Source: Mike Leach will be the next head coach at Mississippi State.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 9, 2020
Mississippi State reportedly offered its head coaching job to Joe Judge, but he was hired by the New York Giants this week. Leach and Steve Sarkisian were mentioned as possible candidates for the Mississippi State job on Tuesday, but the idea of them landing Leach seemed farfetched after he just inked a new contract with Wazzu.
Leach has already proven himself as a successful head coach at both Washington State and Texas Tech. He is 139-90 in his career and managed to turn Washington State into one of the top programs in the country.
Leach interviewed with Tennessee before they hired Jeremy Pruitt, so he has been pursued by at least one SEC school in the past. He has also expressed frustration in the talent gap between Washington and Washington State, and that may have been a factor in why he chose to leave.
