Washington State University Under Pressure To Fire Mike Leach

Washington State University lost to Portland State and many fans want Mike Leach fired. WSU was supposed to beat Portland State with ease, paying the school more than $500,000 to come play a Pac-12 opponent. It did not go according to plan, as WSU lost its home-opener 24-17 to a school from a lower division. The end result was that social media tore into Leach and his game plan.

To call the game ugly would be an understatement, despite some good plays from receiver Gabe Marks. Losing to a FCS team from the Big Sky Conference is just inexcusable for a Pac-12 school, with no disrespect intended for the lower level school. The Cougs had won 18-straight games against teams from the Big Sky and has won 19-straight games against FCS schools.

To make matters worse, starting quarterback Luke Falk was injured on the last drive of the game for Washington State University. He made a great play to get the team a first down, but after landing hard on his throwing shoulder, trainers had to take him from the game. WSU still has a chance to march down the field, but redshirt freshman quarterback Peyton Bender came on the field and threw an interception that ended it.

Since taking over as the head coach at WSU, Mike Leach now has a 12-26 record to his name. That’s not good for a coach making more than $2 million per season. He even got a raise this past offseason, pushing his guaranteed money to $2.75 million for the 2015 college football season.

As for the possibilities of Mike Leach getting fired, he has a clause in his contract that calls for him to be paid 60 percent of his salary (per season) the moment WSU cuts ties with him. His contract was extended through the 2019 college football season, meaning the school is on the hook for millions of dollars. That makes it extremely unlikely he will get shown the door.

WSU continues non-conference play with a game against Rutgers on September 12 at 12:30 p.m. PT. It’s a road game before the team returns to Pullman for a game against Wyoming on September 19 at 5:30 p.m. PT. There is still time for the Cougs to get back on track and make a bowl game, but Mike Leach has got to get this team to play better on offense and defense. The most important games for the Washington State Cougars will come in conference play, where the young roster has to prove that the loss to Portland State was just a fluke.

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