Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach passes away at 61

The university said in a statement that Leach suffered complications from a heart condition, and he died in a Jackson hospital just two days after being transported there from his home. Leach was finishing his third season at MSU, which yielded a bowl appearance and a victory over in-state rival, the University of Mississippi. Leach is the first active SEC coach to pass away since 1980, when LSU's Bo Rein died in a plane crash after just two months in his position.

Sid Salter is the Chief Communications Officer at Mississippi State. He says he has many memories of Leach saying and doing unexpected things, but his quirkiness was matched by his intelligence on the field.

"I got nervous every time Mike was in front of an open microphone," he said. "It was part of his charm, that you never knew what he was going to say... but he could back up the eccentricity with really excellent talent as a play-caller and a coach."

Leach's reputation for unorthodox media interaction and bold offensive play-calling earned him the moniker "the pirate." Paul Finebaum hosts a show on the SEC network and has reported on SEC football for decades. He said that most football coaches give very manufactured and "boring" interviews, but Leach always made for interesting conversation.

"It was like opening up Pandora's box when you said hello to him," he said. "You didn't know where he was going, you didn't whether he was going to talk about ancient Mediterranean classics... bigfoot... politics... but one thing it was sure he was never going to talk about was college football."

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Finebaum says Leach was one of the most unique coaches he had ever talked to in his 40 plus years of working in sports journalism.

"I want people to remember him for being one of the most authentic people that we’ve ever seen in the game," he said. "One of the most innovative, one of the smartest, one of the quirkiest… but also, and I think most important, one of the most likeable people that college football has ever known."

Salter says that while it will be emotional, he still believes the team will put up a good fight in the ReliaQuest bowl in January.

"I think if Mike were able to weigh in on this, he would absolutely say [the players] have earned this opportunity," he said. "Go out there, do your best, fight to win this game."

Fellow SEC coaches Lane Kiffin, Nick Saban, Brian Kelly and others have all sent out statements honoring Leach and sending condolences to his team and family.