Day two of the SEC Media Day had the same amount of circus as expected. One Coach, in particular, stands out from the crowd. The pirate, as many have called him. The Head Coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Mike Leach, joined the media to talk about his Bulldogs and to be the man that the College Football world has grown to love and appreciate.

In his opening seconds at the podium, Coach Leach told the media that he was ready for questions and would not be offering the media an opening statement. Immediately, College Football Media and fans took to Social Media, saying how weird it was that Coach Leach wasn’t offering an Opening Statement. However, when asked about the lack of Opening Statements, Coach Leach responded with a simple but logical response.

” Opening statements? Well, I hate opening statements. I don’t see the point of it. So as opposed to me sitting there and thinking of some flowery opening statement, which I’ve done before, and then at the end of the opening statement, a number of people ask questions that have already been addressed in my opening statement, I decided we’d just sort of cut out the middleman. You go ahead and ask the questions, and I’ll go ahead and answer ’em.”

You see, Coach Leach is a man of the people. Like many of us, he appreciates being blunt, dealing with no bullshit, and getting right to the point. His approach isn’t for everyone, but what Coach Leach brings to the table is a brutally honest man who happens to be a damn good Football coach. Coach Leach is a mastermind that is rare to find in modern times. He doesn’t care how you vote, what others think of him, or what others programs are doing. Coach Leach represents the old-school way of thinking in College Football. His way of thinking is so rare that many people around the sport of College Football are threatened by his weirdness and his quirky ways and have tried to pin him as something he is not.

He may or may not win a National Championship at Mississippi State, but what the Bulldogs have is a good man who cares about the school, takes pride in his work, and is one with the fan base. No other Coach in the SEC can get away with being as quirky and relatable as Coach Leach. We saw it today at Media Days, and we’ll continue to see the legend of Mike Leach develop for as long as he’s the Head Coach at Mississippi State.