 "Photo: Karl Anderson")
Texas Tech President Guy Bailey said he believes Red Raider football head coach Mike Leach’s personality and the success of the team in recent years has impacted enrollment and academics.
Leach broke Spike Dykes’ record with 83 career wins as head coach with the university against Oklahoma on Saturday, adding to his increasing list of accomplishments in his 10-year career at Tech.
“Any time you have somebody whose name is associated with your institution in a positive way, that’s a very helpful thing,” Bailey said. “Mike has done some great things on the field. When people think Mike Leach, they think Tech.”
Bailey said Leach has been supportive of the academic goals of the university, and the success of the football team in academics also has helped in recruiting. One year after the most successful season in Tech football history, the university posted a record 30,049 enrollment.
Although the university might have some increases in enrollment and growth in other places without a successful team, he said, the success of the football team greatly helps with growth as well as recruiting players.
“The other thing that’s so helpful about his name is that he’s associated with academic integrity and academic success,” he said.
Tech Chancellor Kent Hance said Leach’s name recognition on high-profile TV shows such as “60 Minutes” and with appearances in the New York Times helps the university.
“Mike is Mike. He speaks his mind, and he’s enough of an individual that goes with his own drummer that it doesn’t look like he’s another coach,” he said. “Our No. 1 purpose is an educational institution and higher learning, and he promotes our purpose.”
Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers said although the department hired Leach because of his experience and talent for coaching, he has developed a national reputation for his coaching style and the way he talks with the media.
“I think it’s all translated into great exposure nationally as well as regionally for the university,” he said. “I think any time your football team is as successful as our team is, especially last year, it helps attract students.”
Myers also said Leach holds his athletes to their responsibilities in academics.
“I think that the rest of the university would appreciate that,” he said. “I think the faculty appreciates it. I think the administration appreciates it.”
Leach said he wants to dominate in academics in addition to victory on the football field.
“I’ve got more degrees than I use. Than I know what to do with, really. And at one time more than I could afford,” he said. “There’s no question you should have high academics. And there should be no excuse for not graduating people.”
Despite the occasional temptation to be territorial between academics and athletics, Leach said, he supports the academic departments because it is another part of the university that enhances the quality of life for the students.
“I think attention to the university in general is very positive,” he said. “For example, if someone looks to Tech for engineering or something like that and gets excited for our football team, that helps me. Just like if someone gets excited for the football team and looks at our math department, that helps our math department.”
The attention Leach’s athletes put into academics is something most people would be surprised with, he said.
“One of the first questions I get is, ‘What’s the academic center like?’” Leach said. “He knows he’s going to spend a lot of time in that academic center.”
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