Washington State coach Mike Leach talks hot dogs, Millennials and even football at Pac-12 Media Days
LOS ANGELES – Deadpan humor is a lot more fun than Xs and Os.
Mike Leach proved it again on Thursday, delivering three one-liners before he took his seat at the Pac-12 Media Days event.
This is Hollywood, after all, and the Washington State football coach was ready for his closeup.
Again.
His first targets were his own players, including Cougar linebacker Peyton Pelluer (“he’s got that samurai hairdo going”) and Jamal Morrow, the star running back who dashed to the far end of the room but couldn’t shake Leach’s verbal open-field tackle.
“And he continues to walk away, very disinterested,” Leach deadpanned as he pointed while Morrow tried to shrink his 5-foot-9 frame into a chair.
Laptops went quiet as laughter filled the cavernous conference room.
Then Leach softened the blows, calling Pelluer and Morrow “two quality players getting their degrees, and are basically everything that my parents wish I was.”
More folks laughed and more reporters joined Leach the front of the room.
No surprise there: Leach came into this event with some lighthearted baggage from past media day comedy shows, and the media was eager to help him carry it further – sometimes to extremes.
A question about Twitter (“I’m getting the hang of it”, Leach replied) was followed immediately with his dissertation on a debate for the ages:
Is a hot dog a sandwich?
After stating unequivocally that he doesn’t like them (probably because he ate too many bologna sandwiches as a child), Leach deftly melded the topics of food and sports and announced to everyone that A) “A hot dog isn’t a sandwich,” and B) “I’m not into hot dogs, with all due respect to those that are, but they can have mine, so there will be more for them.”
Leach hot-dogged through the rest of the 20-minute session. By then, the only subject that seemed off-topic was the game of football.
A question about quarterback Luke Falk (“his best football is ahead of him,” Leach said) threatened to break the comedic thread, but Leach and his enablers combined for the most thought-provoking subject of the day:
What is the most challenging thing with Millennials, and the most fun?
Leach, who works with dozens of 18-to-22-year-olds every day, blamed the challenges on a “lack of accountability” spawned by indulgent parents.
“But I think … then the other thing is their best feature, probably, well, they’re experts on technology. Heck, when I was a kid, I would watch Star Trek. These guys could have invented the plane, the computer, Scotty, the whole thing.”
But they lack perseverance – a scarce commodity these days, Leach implied.
“But I think along with that is as soon as something gets hard, you don’t give in. You push through it,” Leach said.
He closed the topic with a dash of hope.
“I do think we’ll cycle out of that. There’s always been a cycle. … Paul Harvey always said, tomorrow’s always better than today.”
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