OT: Pray for Mike Leach

He's suffered a serious medical event and had to be airlifted. Some saying heart attack, some saying stroke but every insider saying it's not looking good and he's fighting for his life. Prayers up for the pirate.

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Dang. College football and the world is better with Mike Leach. Prayers for his recovery.

Unless you're Craig James' son amirite

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Craig James has killed at least 5 hookers and yet Mike Leach is the one who lost his job. Now he's suffered a catastrophic health event. Life can be so unfair. Prayers for him and his family.

I would root for the Russians before I would root for Virginia.

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Ohh boo fucking hooo. Little Johnny had to sit in the dark for a few mins while the trainers looked at him. Boo fucking Hoo. Fans erupt in cheer when the QB gets his head knocked off in a game or a WR is separated by a LB...But an old school coach tells the kid to go sit in the dark and wait for the trainer- well that crosses the line. lol. Leach did cody james a favor.

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Haven't seen anything about what happened only that it's extremely serious and he's in critical condition. 🤞

Outside it's night time, but inside it's LeDay

I have read that he was airlifted to one of the best stroke and brain injury hospitals (University of Mississippi Medical Center) in the south. Could be a sign of what his health issue is.

Prayers for Leach

Hokies, Local Soccer, AFC Ajax, Ravens

One of my favorite coaches. Here's to hoping he can recover.

Fire Whit.

Damn. It's paywalled so I won't link but the latest is he's not expected to recover and is on life support to allow all his family to be brought in to say their goodbyes. If there was ever a time for an insider to be wrong, I hope this is it.

Is this report from the same guy that found the Hugh Freeze phone calls?

Clarion Ledger article

"According to multiple sources, Leach, 61, collapsed at his home in Starkville, but did not receive medical attention for between 10 to 15 minutes. EMTs used a defibrillator machine and delivered multiple shocks to restore normal heart rhythm.

After he was stabilized at Oktibbeha County Hospital, he was transported by helicopter to UMMC.

Sources said two of four his children are already in Jackson with the other two en route.

It appears, according to sources, that Leach may have suffered seizures with the possibility of brain damage. Sources said the situation is dire."

The human body is insane. How could they even establish a rhythm after 10-15 minutes?

Fire Whit.

I'm no doctor, but 10-15 minutes seems really bad for potential outcomes

If he had no heartbeat, they wouldn't have even tried a defibrillator - I think the limit is usually like 3 minutes. I would assume an irregular heartbeat, but that steps into stuff I don't know enough about to expound on. They did say to establish a "normal" rhythm. Here's a description that may help:

Defibrillators are devices that send an electric pulse or shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat. They are used to prevent or correct an arrhythmia, an uneven heartbeat that is too slow or too fast. If the heart suddenly stops, defibrillators can also help it beat again.

Statistically, it is looking positive. This is what I remember being taught when I took my CPR/AED class:

It is essential that defibrillation be administered immediately following the cardiac arrest. If the heart does not return to a regular rhythm within 5-7 minutes, this fibrillation could be fatal. If defibrillated within the first minute of collapse, the victim's chances for survival are close to 90 percent. For every minute that defibrillation is delayed, survival decreases by 7 percent to 10 percent. If it is delayed by more than 10 minutes, the chance of survival in adults is less than 5 percent.

"Nooooooooooo!"
~What happened?
"James Franklin to Virginia Tech...."
~Fuck me......*sigh*
"Oh my God.... They're gonna take all our recruits... like WTF bro...."
~*squints eyes in disbelief*

Unfortunately the leaks out of the staff of MSU's 24/7 board are not hopeful in any sense of the word.

Had a family friend who was epileptic, but went 11 years without an episode. Got a seizure out of the blue, collapsed face down into a pillow, effectively suffocating himself. The doctors kept him 'alive' for a couple more days, until they confirmed without a doubt that he could not recover.

Unfortunately lost my mom (not recently) because of seizures and the meds associated to them. Not sure how long after she was found, but wasn't breathing and had no brain function. I might be overly bleak on situations like these as a result. I hope the pirate comes out okay, but I don't feel like he'll be the same.

Prayers for him and his family regardless of the outcome. He has made for exciting football and interviews for over 20 years.

Wishing him a speedy recovery. Thoughts and prayers to him and his family.

Recovering scientist working in business consulting

Just a reminder to all my Hokie brothers on here, if you have not been to the doctor lately or tend to avoid them you need to get your ass into the doctor. I got put on blood pressure medication on my last visit after avoiding the doctor for a few years which was a bit of a shock to me, and I just had a close friend and former co-worker pass away from a stroke at 54 two days before Thanksgiving. I'm certainly not suggesting that Leach was not going to the doctor or anything, just saying get in there and get your blood work done so you know your numbers, particularly if you are over 40.

Just made my appt.

Been meaning to do this ever since my retired personal trainer, been in shape and eating right all his life, dad had a quadruple bypass last fall. unfortunately, no doctors in the OBX taking new patients, so I gotta drive to Hampton Roads

Now finish up them taters; I'm gonna go fondle my sweaters.

I tell every patient, a lot easier to treat high blood pressure than it is to recover from a heart attack, lot easier to treat high cholesterol than recover from a stroke.

Similar to you, not making comments on Leach. I know nothing about it and wish him the best. Men are stubborn. Go to the doctor! Live a long life! See you kids graduate! Watch Mike Young win 20 Nattys in a row.

BP monitors are actually pretty cheap on Amazon. Get one with a ARM cuff, because I had one of those wrist ones and it seemed to be giving me lower readings once I got one with an ARM cuff. If that bottom number is near or over 100, you will need to get on medication. I was walking around not even knowing that I could have a heart attack at any time. BP medication should be 100% covered by almost all insurance plans as preventive care. I'm 45, have not done at all a good job of taking care of myself in regards to diet and exercise, and that shit will catch up to you REAL quick at this age. Just get in there and get your baseline numbers, you really need to know them at this age, it WILL save your life.

I'm 45, have not done at all a good job of taking care of myself in regards to diet and exercise, and that shit will catch up to you REAL quick at this age.

Can confirm. Am now 52, and am battling high blood pressure, gout, and now type 2 diabetes. Things are looking up now, as I've lost about 80 pounds this year, but having to juggle all these medications is a pain in the ass.

Get checked out, with blood work, at least once a year.

"Yes I am going to have favorites. My favorites are high production and low maintenance players, coaches, and staff." - JMFF

I've lost about 80 pounds this year,

Well done sir!!!

To be fair, about 50 of them were a rapid weight loss from not knowing I was diabetic, I guess due to my system being out of whack. But I've lost another 25+ after stabilizing just from eating better (mainly cutting out almost all sugars and most carbs).

"Yes I am going to have favorites. My favorites are high production and low maintenance players, coaches, and staff." - JMFF

Fuck gout.

Old sigline: I've been cutting back on the drinking.

New Sigline: lol it's football season.

Pulled out the old cuff last night and checked. 128/80. Getting high for me, time to start exercising a little more diligently.

I'm 6' 170lb forever and exercise enthusiast and whisky, scotch, drinker. Had beginning high blood pressure in 50's and thought it was controlled by meds. Out of the blue had an aortic dissection requiring an aorta graft and open heart surgery. Long recovery and life changes keep me going now. Heads up friends! Don't take rising blood pressure for granted. Do something about it.

...with spirits true and faithful...

100%. I've been on BP meds since my 20s. High blood pressure has basically no symptoms. I only found out my BP was high because I tried to give blood during a blood drive at work and they thought their sphygmomanometer was broken because I was like 28 and my BP was like 240/125.

Deposit whiskey, receive wisdom.

Official update from Miss State:

"Exit light..."

Truly sad news, for sure. One of the greatest offensive minds in the game. Prayers goin' up for him and the family...

TN_Hokie

Looking pretty bad at this point.

FWIW, when I went into cardiac arrest (not just a heart attack, but things like ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia) a few years ago, if you had a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital, the odds of surviving to the point where you were released from the hospital alive was 12%. I beat the odds, in part, because I was in very good shape outside of my (unknown) coronary artery blockage and in part because there was a physician that actually saw me collapse while walking on the street. Started CPR right away, although defibrillation was not until much later.

If I had been at home and not taken my car in for service/gone for a walk while the car was being checked, I would 99.9% certainly be dead now as my wife was with our daughter at dance class. Luck plays a big role.

Edit: that 12% came from the American Heart Association website 4 or 5 years ago or whenever this happened. Cannot remember exactly when.

Recovering scientist working in business consulting

Yah the odds are pretty insurmountable if he was down for that long without CPR AND outside of a hospital when he collapsed. Even IF he survives he's likely to have anoxic brain injury from lack of circulation for that amount of time.

With a physician working on me pretty much immediately, I still had damage. It happened on (I think) a Wednesday or Thursday. The last thing I remember was being at mass the Sunday before that. The next thing I remember is being in the ambulance being transferred from the first hospital where I was revived, stabilized, given cryotherapy to the second hospital where they did the quadruple bypass surgery. That was a couple days after the fact. Something like 6 or 7 days of my memories were wiped clean. Everything that happened was people telling me about it or me reading my medial records.

Recovering scientist working in business consulting

Somehow Bill Snyder is the only one claiming this?

I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

He just walked it back but it's trending on Twitter already

(add if applicable) /s

damn bruh he's 83 doesn't he have someone to tweet for him yet?

I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

Just heard on the radio that it is now official. RIP Mike Leach. You were a real one for sure.

Deepest condolences to Coach Leach's family, friends, and team. He was truly one of a kind.

"Exit light..."

Had a feeling this was going to be the outcome. Just glad his family was able to all get down there.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

This one hurts. Along with the Hokies, the early 2000's TTU teams helped create my obsession with football. Rest easy, Pirate.

"There's this (absurd) notion of 'If you come in my house I'll shoot ya.' I do have a Viking axe by the bed if I need to whack someone. ... My wife bought me a Viking axe – the axe side curls down so you can grab the adversary around the neck and you can use it to climb walls, as a grappling hook."

"I've never liked candy corn. I think it's just awful," Leach said as documented by Pac-12 Network cameras. "I think candy corn is awful. You know, it's like fruitcake. There's a reason they serve fruitcake once a year, because it's awful. There's a reason they only serve mint julips once a year, because they're awful. And there's a reason they only serve candy corn once a year, because it's awful. Now that does beg the question why they serve it at all, but, anyway, that's my opinion."

Fire Whit.

The fat little girlfriends quote will always be my favorite.

"As coaches, we fail to get through to them. As coaches, we fail to make our coaching points and our points more compelling than their fat little girlfriends. Their fat little girlfriends have some obvious advantages. For one thing, their fat little girlfriends are telling them what they want to hear, which is how great you are."

This sucks.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

RIP. Great character.

This is so sad and out of the blue. Only a couple weeks ago he was folding up chairs because his receivers "didn't deserve to sit down" and explaining how they would evolve not to have hands. Truly one of a kind and will be missed by all.

A legend. Belongs in the football mount Rushmore. RIP

Onward and upward

The man's outlook on life is unbeatable.!!!!

Even when you get skunked; fishing never lets you down. 🎣

Terribly sad on so many levels. For college football, he's been one of the biggest personalities in the sport, and he's been around the whole time I've been watching college football. He was an innovator within the game on a schematic level, and a coach who proved he could win at many different places and situations all over the country in terms of running a program.

On a human level, as you get older you realize 61 is not that old, and there's still plenty of life left to live, to spend with friends and family at that age. I was talking to my mom last night about this. One of my grandparents died when I was in Elementary school, the other three died when I was in my early twenties. Though I am immensely thankful for the time I got to spend with all of them, that's a huge disparity in the amount of life we got to share, and events like this are unfortunately often what makes that difference.

Awful news. A true innovator of the game and extremely interesting personality. His coaching tree and being a constant winner wherever he went speaks volumes. A huge loss for the sport.

The Pirate has moved on to new seas to explore. He will be missed by all.

My prayers for his family, friends, and team.

He had a postgame interview where he literally talked about how he loved Haribo gummy bears, Sprees (in a box), Nerd Gummy clusters, and HATED candy corn.

And his "wisdom" on weddings is incredible.

Great guy, great football coach...this is very sad to see. My thoughts to his family in this difficult time.

His palate for candy will be missed. Nerds clusters are criminally underrated.

Vroom Vroom

Fair winds and following seas, Pirate.

Never Forget #1 Overall Seed UVA 54, #64 UMBC 74

Great (and relatively short) podcast remembering Leach. Bruce and Mike wrote a book or two together. Some really funny stories about meeting Charles Barkley, Leach's acting career, and more.

Now finish up them taters; I'm gonna go fondle my sweaters.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

His cameo on Friday Night Lights blew the doors off Mack Brown's cameo. His offense is still an absolute blast to watch, I caught the MSU-Arizona game and spent a good portion of heartily scoffing at UA's attempts to stop it.

Mike Leach is that guy at the bar, when you're down and out on life, and he sits next to you, and talks about anything and everything, and next thing you know, you're back with your dodgeball team winning a check to save your gym. In a pirate outfit.

Swing your sword.

TKPhi Damn Proud
BSME 2009

CFB lost a huge personality and a brilliant FB mind. 61 is so damned young. RIP, Pirate.

"... I think he played his nuts off. And you can quote me on that shit."

When I logged on and saw all of the new comments, I had figured he had passed.

RIP Mike and may your family be comforted.

Recovering scientist working in business consulting

What's the pirate reference?

Reach for Excellence!

VT Football: It'll get after ya!

Proud Hokie since 2004.

He was very into pirates

Never Forget #1 Overall Seed UVA 54, #64 UMBC 74

Why was Mike Leach Called the Pirate

The nickname started when Mike was the head football coach at Texas Tech University, a position he held from 2000 to 2009.

While he was teaching there, he brought a pirate's sword to show his team and used it as a metaphor to give them some advice.

He spoke about swinging your sword with great power, just as pirates like Blackbeard would have done – and the pirate talk stuck.

Fans soon began sending him pirate items like flags and swords, and the media began referring to him as the pirate coach.

🦃 🦃 🦃

Hopefully they asked the kids their preference.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

That Texas-Texas Tech game with the last second TD to Michael Crabtree is one of my favorite non-VT football memories.

RIP Coach Leach. All the best to his family, friends, and colleagues, as well as the players and their fat little girlfriends.