Rest easy, pirate.

There wasn’t a whole lot of Mizzou news to really dive into yesterday, so I thought we’d dedicate today’s links to Mike Leach, who passed away on Monday night at the age of 61– Mississippi State announced early Tuesday morning.

Man, this one hurts. Thoughts and prayers to Leach’s family and friends and the Mississippi State community during this difficult time. College Football won’t be the same without him. It’s just devastating news for the sport. He will greatly be missed.

Eli Drinkwitz called Leach “A true giant in our game.”

Gary Pinkel called Leach “one of the most influential offensive minds in all of football in the modern era.”

From Blake Baker:

And from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey:

Howard Richards even notes that Leach was interested in the Mizzou job before Drinkwitz was hired but wasn’t interviewed. Interesting.

Leach was a head coach for 21 seasons (10 at Texas Tech, 8 at Washington State, 3 at Mississippi State) and led his teams to bowl eligibility 18 times. It’s important to note that Lubbock, Pulman, and Starkville aren’t exactly easy places to win.

He had a .596 winning percentage, but you need a .600 winning percentage to be eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame. Time to change the rule.

RIP, Coach.

Moving on, in other college football news, congrats to former Mizzou defensive coordinator Ryan Walters — who has been named Purdue’s head coach.

Former Mizzou DCs are now head coaches...well, everywhere.

Onto the links.

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Yesterday at Rock M

• The Revue from Josh Matejka: The evil empire strikes back in Columbia
• From Matthew Smith: Mizzou Wrestling Weekend Preview
• Wake Forest in Bowl Games: An Investigation, from Nate Edwards
• PODCAST with Sam Snelling and Matthew Harris: Following a rough showing from Mizzou is a tough slate of games. So, what can we expect?

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More Links:

(STLToday)

• On the latest Eye on The Tigers Podcast with Dave Matter and Ben Frederickson: Border War takeaways, Isiaih Mosley mystery and remembering Mike Leach
• From Dave Matter: ‘A true giant in our game:’ College football mourns death of Mississippi State’s Mike Leach

(Columbia Missourian)

• From Kenny Van Doren: Former MU offensive tackle White commits to SMU
• From Kenny Van Doren: MU players, coaches react to the passing of Mississippi State’s Leach
• From the staff: MU DC Walters takes Purdue head coaching job

(Miscellaneous/Tweets)

• From Kevin Sweeney at Sports Illustrated: College Basketball Should Prioritize Preserving Its Key Rivalries (obviously headlined by Mizzou-kansas)
• Congrats to Mizzou Softball’s Taylor Pannell and Stefania Abruscato on being named to USA Softball’s Junior Women’s National Team! Read more on MUTigers.com.

• Some pretty good company here.

• Dennis Gates honoring Rickey Paulding on Tiger Tuesday:

• Be sure to pack Hearnes Center for Mizzou Gymnastics’ Home Opener — Friday, January 13th vs Georgia!

• Former Missouri offensive tackle Hyrin White has committed to SMU. The Dallas, Texas native returns close to home.

• Some cool highlights here from Rilee Malloy — Creative Video for Mizzou Athletics

• Youth Sports Day for Mizzou Women’s Basketball: Sunday, December 18th vs Illinois

• If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now!
• If you’re looking to sign up for a new streaming service, you can try FuboTV: click HERE for FuboTV access — FuboTV now has ESPN, CBS, FS1 and more sports channels.
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