JOURNAL SPORTS

Cody Leach, son of the late college football offensive mastermind Mike Leach, has joined the Centenary football staff as offensive line/special teams coach, teaming with recently announced offensive coordinator Hal Mumme.

Centenary athletics director David Orr announced the hiring Friday. Mike Leach got his start in college coaching on Mumme’s Iowa Wesleyan staff in the late 1980s, and won 60 percent of his games as head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State until his death in December 2022. Mumme and Leach spent three seasons in Iowa before moving to Valdosta State (1992–1996) and then Kentucky (1997–1998). 

Leach left UK to become offensive coordinator at Oklahoma and a year later got his shot as a head coach at Texas Tech, launching explosive offenses and earning the iconic nickname “Pirate” for his swashbuckling style as a coach and public figure.

The younger Leach, a 2021 BYU graduate who was a defensive student assistant for the Cougars, joins head coach Byron Dawson’s second Centenary staff after three seasons working with special teams at Mississippi State. He and his father coached one season together (2022) in Starkville.

“Cody brings valuable experience from his time at two Power Five programs, BYU and Mississippi State, where he has grown and learned at a high level,” said Dawson.

Mumme is widely recognized as one of the originators of the “Air Raid” offense, which he and the elder Leach honed at Iowa Wesleyan.

“Having grown up around the game, Cody understands the demands, discipline, and sacrifice that college football requires,” said Dawson. “He’ll bring great insight and energy to our offensive line and special teams units. With Cody joining our staff, it’s special to see the Leach and Mumme connection come full circle, two football families who helped shape the Air Raid philosophy, now reunited on the same sideline.

“Cody is a fine young man and we are excited to bring him on board as we believe his experience and background will help an already impressive football coaching staff,” said Orr.