SAN FRANCISCO – Washington State University Head Coach Mike Leach has been named the 2015 Pac-12 Conference Co-coach of the Year, it was announced Tuesday by the conference. He shared the honor with Stanford’s David Shaw.
Leach guided the Cougars to an 8-4 record this season, 6-3 in Pac-12 play, both the best at WSU since the 2003 season when WSU went 10-3 and 6-2, respectively. The Cougars, selected fifth in the Pac-12 North Division’s preseason media poll, have posted road victories over Rutgers, Oregon, Arizona and No. 18 UCLA.
The win at Oregon was the first over the Ducks since the 2006 season while the Cougars hadn’t defeated UCLA since 2007. Additionally, the Cougars achieved a top 20 national ranking following the win over Colorado, the first top 20 ranking since the 2003 season.
Last month, Leach was named a semifinalist for the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award, one of 18 coaches named. He has guided a Cougar program that leads the nation in passing offense, at 397.0 yards per game, and in red zone offense, converting on 94.3 percent of their opportunities inside the 20-yard line.
Leach was named the George Munger National Coach of the Year in 2008. He received the Woody Hayes Award, Howie Long/Fieldturf National Coach of the Year and Big 12 Coach of the Year in that same season.
He is the first Cougar coach to receive Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors since Bill Doba in 2003. Five WSU coaches have received the honor, including Jim Walden (1981, 1983), Dennis Erickson (1988) and Mike Price (1997, 2001).