By Jordan Long
The Washington State University football team finished the 2019 regular season at 6-6 but they were a disappointing 3-6 in Pac 12 Conference play. The 6 wins means they are bowl eligible for the 5th straight year. They will wait and see what bowl they end up in. Even though it was only a .500 year, Washington State gave Head Coach Mike Leach another year on his existing contract.
Leach has been the Head Coach of Washington State for the past 8 years. They managed to win 10 or more games once, 2018. That season they went 11-2 and won the Alamo Bowl. Washington State has been in 5 bowl games under Leach but their record is 2-3. Overall Leach hasn’t been that impressive at Washington State with an overall record of 55-46, a winning percentage of .545.
According to NBCsports.com, WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun said, “Mike Leach has established, and continued, a culture of success at Washington State, both academically and athletically, that few have matched.”. “He has returned WSU to national prominence, is one of the top football coaches in the nation, and we are fortunate to have him leading our program.”
The problem with Leach is he hasn’t been able to coach them to a Pac-12 title birth. The closest they came was last season. All they had to do was beat the University of Washington. Unfortunately, they lost 45-10.
Washington State University must believe Leach is building a winning program for years to come. His new contract will expire at the end of 2024 and he will be paid $4 million each season. With this added season, Leach needs to finish on top of the Pac-12 North Division a few times and have a chance to win the Pac-12 Championship game. If he can do so, Washington State could be playing in the College Football Playoff or at worse a January 1st bowl game. If he keeps coaching them to .500 or worse, it might be time to let him go before the contract is up. They are taking a risk since he has yet to prove he is worth a contract extension.
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