HOUSTON — In typical Mike Leach fashion, Lane Kiffin‘s first interaction with the late Mississippi State head coach came well into the night.
Kiffin – asked by Texas Tech media Tuesday ahead of the Texas Bowl on Wednesday (8 p.m., ESPN) to share memories of Leach, who spent 10 seasons in Lubbock – recalled an out-of-nowhere, late-night phone call he’d gotten from Leach while Kiffin was at USC. Kiffin’s father, Monte, had given Leach his number without his knowledge.
“It was in season,” Kiffin said. “We were at USC, playing really well. Tech was having a down year. He just said, ‘Hey, your dad gave me your number,’ then he started saying, ‘What do you guys practice like on Wednesdays?’ He just stayed on the phone for like 45 minutes. He just wanted to talk and learn.”
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Leach called the next night, too, Kiffin said. It marked the starting point of a long relationship that became a friendship. Kiffin and Leach were open about their mutual admiration for each other, even when coaching on opposite sides of the Egg Bowl rivalry when both arrived in Mississippi prior to the 2020 season.
Leach died on Dec. 12 at the age of 61. Kiffin was among a large group of football A-listers who traveled to Starkville for his memorial service last week. Many of them told similar stories about Leach’s propensity for late-night calls.
“I just have a lot of great memories,” Kiffin said. “I appreciate, too….that he was going to get up here and just be who he was. He wasn’t going to change for a camera or a person. I just really appreciate that part about him.”
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football’s Lane Kiffin recalls first interaction with Mike Leach