Mississippi State coach Mike Leach taken to Jackson hospital

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State coach Mike Leach was hospitalized Sunday after what the university called “a personal health issue” that happened at his home in Starkville.

The 61-year-old Leach initially was treated at a local hospital before being airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, which is about 125 miles away from Mississippi State, the university said.

UMMC spokesman Marc Rolph said Leach was listed as a patient at the hospital, but had no information regarding the coach's condition.

The school said in a statement it would have no further comment on Leach's condition, adding “that the thoughts and prayers of the university are with Mike and (wife) Sharon and their family.”

“Prayers for Coach Leach and family. We’re all on the same team tonight,” Mississippi athletic director Keith Carter posted on Twitter.

Defensive coordinator Zach Arnett has been placed in charge of the football team by Mississippi State president Mark Keenum and interim athletic director Bracky Brett as it prepares for an appearance in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois on Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla.

Leach is in his third season at Mississippi State, with a 19-17 record. He acknowledged a bout with pneumonia late in the season that was causing a persistent cough. Leach replaced Joe Moorhead, who was fired Jan. 3, 2020, after going 6-7 for Mississippi State.

Leach, known for his prolific Air Raid offenses, is 158-107 in 21 seasons as a head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State.

In his eight years at WSU, Leach led the Cougars to six bowl appearances, including one in each of the past five seasons, and in 2018 he was named National Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. He finished 55-47 at Washington State.

Leach grew up in Cody, Wyo., but has long felt an affinity for the South. The Mississippi State job takes him back to the Southeastern Conference, where he spent 1997 and 1998 as offensive coordinator for Hal Mumme at Kentucky. Later he spent a successful decade as head coach at Texas Tech, where he ushered into prominence the Air Raid offense he’d co-authored with Mumme.

Leach’s name perhaps resonates especially distinctly in Mississippi, home of his most high-profile WSU quarterback, Gardner Minshew, the “Mississippi Mustache,” now with the Philadelphia Eagles.