WRONG! Washington State is historically just about a .500 team and Leach's record there is ... .545. Wazzu was in the toilet because they hired Paul Wulff, but they were a decent program before that. They made the Rose Bowl in 1997 and 2002. They bounced between being pretty good and being bad in the 90s and 00s, but it's not Baylor or Kansas State pre-Snyder we're talking about here.
Leach's record really isn't as good as it should be, considering his offensive philosophy and coaching tree. He's been a head coach for 18 years and has 1 (probably going to be 2 after this year) 10-win season. At some point, he should have been able to back into a division title or a couple of 10 win seasons. Coaching luminaries like Bo Pelini and James Franklin have more 10 win seasons and CCG appearances than him. Leach is basically Pat Fitzgerald. Which is fine, but you're not going to give Fitzgerald the keys to a big program either.
And why not, exactly? Just more proof that coaching, more than most professions, is heavily nepotistic and good ole boy network oriented. Leach is a weirdo, no doubt about it. He is a guy who has such an unorthodox pedigree in the game that most football-minded ADs are frightened of him.
I'd be ecstatic if Lynn Swann held a press conference to announce Mike Leach as USC's next coach.
The pro-Helton crowd keep falling back on "uhhh, back to back 10-win seasons! Uhhhh, Rose Bowl! Uhhhh, Pac12 shampship!" while ignoring that the reason for those came down to having a slew of great players (most of which were recruited by his predecessors) like Jackson, Jones, Smith-Shuster, Cravens, and of course, Darnold.
This year's current roster is theoretically just as talented, based on Rivals star ratings, but they play about as poorly as I think I've ever seen a talented team play. He is not just having a down year. This is who he really is once you take off the mask named Sam Darnold.
That's not my take. My take is that he should be able to back into a division championship or 10 win season more than twice every 18 years. Leach is good for one or two WTF losses a season (2015: Portland State, Washington; 2016: Eastern Washington, Minnesota; 2017: Cal, Arizona). Leach doesn't just struggle to beat big time programs like you'd expect at Wazzu, he struggles with shitty teams in random games. Pat Fitzgerald has 3 10-win seasons at fucking Northwestern. Kirk Ferentz has won 2 conference titles at Iowa, and has 5 10-win seasons. MSU is a terrible example, too. Why doesn't Leach's record look more like Dantonio's? MSU is hardly a blue-blood program, but he's got 3 conference titles and 6 10-win seasons. 
