Watching that video that @codycc64 posted on the tweets was beyond nostalgic and so awesome. I dearly miss that insanely fun Era. I dearly miss Mike himself, RIP.
The players, the culture, the rabid fan base, the winning…all of it. I said in the game thread, under Mike we had an absolute chip on our shoulder. An edge, an attitude under Leach. Players and Fans alike. We embraced the underdog role and the fight you in an alley mentality. Been almost the opposite culture since.
It’s now been 15 years since the Captain Leach tenure was locked up in a shed. FIFTEEN.
Mike coached 10 seasons here
10 straight bowl games
This program has been to 8 total bowls in the 15 years since
Mike won 8 or more games 8 straight years in a row 02-09. He won 9 or more games 5 times (half the seasons he coached here)
We’ve won 8 games a grand total of FOUR times since and we’ve never once hit that 9 win mark (even with a guy named Pat Mahomes at QB)
Tuberville, Kingsbury, Wells, McGuire, hasn’t mattered…
In comparison to simply other Texas Tech programs… in that same 15 year span:
Tech Basketball: Big 12 champs, 3 Sweet 16s, 2 Elite 8s, Final Four, Natty Appearance. Has become a legitimate brand in college hoops.
Tech Baseball: 3 Big 12 titles, 8 tourney appearances, 4 CWS trips and one of the elite brands in college baseball
Track and Field a couple natties, Tech soccer a Big 12 title… and so on
I don’t even really have some deeper or even metaphorical point here. We suck at playing pigskin. Like a lot of you I’m just numb to Tech football. We’ve been good to elite in the majority of our other programs for an extended period. Yet Tech football just continues to flatline. Okie State, Baylor, TCU, K State etc. doing their thing. Tech Football… Weekend at Bernie’s and after the first two weeks of 24, no life in sight. Frankly embarrassing. Big shiny stadium with nothing to show for it.
15 years of this… I’m fine embracing Tech is just not a football school. But also tired of knowing what Leach showed us we can be as a program. My younger self misses that Pirate era immensely. Current reality tells me just embrace what we are as an athletic program, it ain’t coming back.
The players, the culture, the rabid fan base, the winning…all of it. I said in the game thread, under Mike we had an absolute chip on our shoulder. An edge, an attitude under Leach. Players and Fans alike. We embraced the underdog role and the fight you in an alley mentality. Been almost the opposite culture since.
It’s now been 15 years since the Captain Leach tenure was locked up in a shed. FIFTEEN.
Mike coached 10 seasons here
10 straight bowl games
This program has been to 8 total bowls in the 15 years since
Mike won 8 or more games 8 straight years in a row 02-09. He won 9 or more games 5 times (half the seasons he coached here)
We’ve won 8 games a grand total of FOUR times since and we’ve never once hit that 9 win mark (even with a guy named Pat Mahomes at QB)
Tuberville, Kingsbury, Wells, McGuire, hasn’t mattered…
In comparison to simply other Texas Tech programs… in that same 15 year span:
Tech Basketball: Big 12 champs, 3 Sweet 16s, 2 Elite 8s, Final Four, Natty Appearance. Has become a legitimate brand in college hoops.
Tech Baseball: 3 Big 12 titles, 8 tourney appearances, 4 CWS trips and one of the elite brands in college baseball
Track and Field a couple natties, Tech soccer a Big 12 title… and so on
I don’t even really have some deeper or even metaphorical point here. We suck at playing pigskin. Like a lot of you I’m just numb to Tech football. We’ve been good to elite in the majority of our other programs for an extended period. Yet Tech football just continues to flatline. Okie State, Baylor, TCU, K State etc. doing their thing. Tech Football… Weekend at Bernie’s and after the first two weeks of 24, no life in sight. Frankly embarrassing. Big shiny stadium with nothing to show for it.
15 years of this… I’m fine embracing Tech is just not a football school. But also tired of knowing what Leach showed us we can be as a program. My younger self misses that Pirate era immensely. Current reality tells me just embrace what we are as an athletic program, it ain’t coming back.
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