Working with SB Nation means working with some incredibly smart and talented writers. Our college football stable is full of thoroughbreds, from Spencer Hall to Bill C. to Jason Kirk, the ringleader running the show. And like us, they all love Mike Leach, and are unabashed about it.
Anything Bill C -- the 80's rap name of Bill Connelly -- writes is worth reading. So just go on ahead and read his five reactions to Wednesday's Leach news. Before you jump on him for singling out Connor Halliday, relax. He likes Halliday and what he saw earlier this year, and many others do too. Throwing for almost 500 yards, then throwing for almost 300 the next week while playing with a lacerated liver does that.
"As I've mentioned before, Mike Leach is to college football bloggers as Brett Favre is to ESPN. We can't help but like the guy, and we really want him back in our lives."
Spencer wrote about Mike Leach and the pirate's new union with Washington State. Spencer loves Mike Leach. In some ways, Spencer might be the Mike Leach of college football blogging -- and that's a great thing.
"The unusual in this case is getting a second chance to coach just far enough away from the public eye for comfort's sake, while still existing safely inside the boundaries of Division One Football. Unusual is one word, but another adjective applies here, too: promising."
If you haven't read it yet, here's one more link to Spencer's day on the boat with Mike Leach, where the two sailed the high seas of Key West, fished, conquered some lands, and ended up wandering through a guest house at nearly two in the morning.
Our newest piece of college football talent is Bud Elliott. Bud's not exactly new -- he runs Tomahawk Nation, one of the biggest and brightest sites on the network and the place to go for Florida State information -- but he did hop aboard the SB Nation team to run the new recruiting hub. He'll be focusing on recruiting, so he took a look at how Leach might recruit to Pullman and the challenges he could face.
In a state as loaded with talent as Texas, this strategy can work. But it might not work in Pullman. Compared to Lubbock, Texas, Pullman, Washington is completely bereft of surrounding talent. In addition, the skill guys Leach pulled were typically from the prep infrastructure that includes years of passing work in seven-on-seven camps during the summer. Simply put, they were more ready to step in and play college football than the kids in Washington state.
And from our own humble corner of the Internet, a wrap-up of Bill Moos' conference call announcing Leach as the head coach and what the hire represents for the WSU athletic department.
Back with more words to read in a bit. Enjoy these for now. Like I said, I work with some cool people and am sure you'll be smarter having read their takes on Leach and the Cougars.