When legendary college football head coach Mike Leach suddenly passed away in 2022, calls immediately began for him to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, Leach did not meet the explicit criteria to be eligible for the hall, as his win percentage was below the .600 threshold. Now that is no longer the case.
Chris Vannini of The Athletic reported Thursday that the College Football Hall of Fame had altered its criteria for coach eligibility. As of today, coaches must have been a head football coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with just a .595 winning percentage.
NEWS: The College Football Hall of Fame has dropped its coach win percentage requirement from .600 to .595.
The NFF doesn’t say this is about Mike Leach, but it makes Leach eligible when his clock comes up to get on the ballot. He was one win short of reaching .600.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) May 29, 2025
While the college football hall did not explicitly state that the rule change was due to Leach, it’s easy to read between the lines. The legendary head coach had a 158-107 record with Texas Tech, Washington State, and Mississippi State. That left him with a .596 win percentage. Had he won just one more game during that span, he would have cleared the .600 win percentage threshold.
Leach, widely considered the master of the “Air Raid” offense, is a widely beloved figure and almost every agrees he belongs in the hall. In fact, the College Football HOF even considered a one-time exemption in order to induct Leach.
“Mike Leach is a unique case. The three schools he coached at were not easy. His influence over the sport in high school and college, you have to take that into account,” National Football Foundation (which runs the hall of fame) COO Matthew Sign said a year ago. “These will be things that get discussed, and we’ll see where it goes.”
Now it appears that the exemption won’t be necessary, and Leach appears headed for his rightful place in college football history.
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Mike Leach Now Eligible For College Football Hall Of Fame After Significant Rule Change
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