Gardner Minshew on Mike Leach: He ‘changed my life.’ The Eagles QB reflects on the late coach.

Gardner Minshew cried as he spoke about Mike Leach. It’s likely he wouldn’t have been so open with his emotions had he never met and played for the colorful, innovative college coach who died on Monday.

Minshew spent just one year with Leach at Washington State. But the Eagles backup quarterback said he would have never made it to the NFL had it not been for the coach and the confidence he instilled in him after coming close to giving up on his dream of playing in the pros.

“He was the first person I’ve ever been around who, just by the way he lived and how authentic he was, brings that out in the people around him,” Minshew said on Wednesday, his voice often cracking. “I never found myself more comfortable with myself than when I was with Coach Leach.

“The way he believed in me — that belief, that’s something that really resonates, and that’s something I tell any parent, coach, teacher. The best thing you can do for a kid is believe in him. And he did that for me, and it changed my life.”

On Sunday, Leach, who had been in his third season at Mississippi State, was airlifted from his home in Starkville to the University of Mississippi’s Medical Center in Jackson after suffering an apparent heart attack. He was pronounced dead there at the age of 61 due to complications related to a heart condition, the school said.

News that Leach was gravely ill swept across the football landscape. Minshew said that he received updates on the coach’s condition and that he was comforted by the outpouring of affection from the community of players who were coached by Leach, who popularized the “Air Raid” offense.

He said the “first thing [he] looked forward to” after hearing of the death was getting to hug teammate Andre Dillard, who spent his entire collegiate career at Washington State. The Eagles offensive lineman similarly expressed a belief that he wouldn’t be where he is now without Leach.

“I was just a skinny tackle coming out of high school at like 240 pounds,” Dillard said. “He was part of the only big school that kind of recruited me. And so, when I got there I was like, ‘I’m not going to let anybody down, I’m not going to let myself or him down.’ ”

While the strength of Leach’s character was first in the minds of Minshew and Dillard, they also recalled that he could be quite the character. He had many interests outside of football. He often sprinkled those pursuits — like the best pizzas, or beaches or vacations, Minshew recalled — into his X’s-and-O’s talks.

Leach was a natural storyteller. But he often had trouble staying on topic or within tight time windows.

“We’d have a rule in our pre-practice meetings; if he gets off track and starts telling a story, we all have to turn and start watching the screen,” Minshew said. “Because if he gets hooked on a story, we’re going to be 30 minutes late to practice. That happened multiple times.”

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Dillard laughed at the recollection of Leach’s long-windedness or how the rest of the team would sometimes be on the field waiting for the coach and the quarterbacks to arrive so training could start. It wasn’t always funny then.

“Guys in the moment were like, ‘What the heck?’ Kind of [ticked] off,” Dillard said. “But when you look back at it, a few weeks later, a few years later, those were some pretty good times with the guys experiencing Mike Leach.”

Leach was the head coach in three Power Six conferences — first at Texas Tech from 2000-09, then at Washington State from 2012-19, and lastly at Mississippi State. But he helped resurrect moribund programs that weren’t often accustomed to getting blue chip prospects.

Minshew had already been through a lot by the time Leach came knocking on his door. He transferred from Troy — before even slipping on a uniform — to Northwest Mississippi Community College. He moved on to East Carolina and played sparingly for two seasons.

He had a year of eligibility remaining when he graduated, and committed to Alabama as a graduate student. But he was going there more to begin his career as a coach than to challenge Jalen Hurts or Tua Tagovailoa. Leach, though, saw a quarterback who could run his spread offense.

“He said, ‘There was something. There’s a twinkle in this kid’s eye,’ ” Minshew said, recalling a story the coach had never told him, but to one of his friends. “And he always made me believe that and feel that I was special and that I could succeed.”

Leach saw the college game differently than most did when he started devising his scheme in the late 1990s. He felt that too many offenses were run-based and he wanted to make defenses defend every blade of grass. His quarterbacks sometimes threw 60 passes in a game.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said there are plays in his system that come from the “Air Raid.” Minshew led the nation in passing in 2018, throwing for 4,779 yards and 38 touchdowns as the Cougars went 11-2. He finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

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“The lens he sees the game through is definitely different and something I never really experienced seeing the game,” Minshew said of Leach. “It’s numbers, it’s leverage, it’s grass. We’re running to grass, if it’s man coverage, we’re running away from people.

“And seeing the game in such a simple way and really being able to build on that really helped.”

Minshew, drafted in the sixth round, started 20 games for the Jaguars before Urban Meyer traded him to the Eagles last year. Stuck behind Hurts, who is having an MVP-worthy season, the fourth-year quarterback has had to bide his time.

He said he last connected with Leach via text a few weeks ago.

“He just encouraged me to keep plugging,” said Minshew, who is eligible for free agency this offseason. “He always believed that when I’d get a chance, I’d do well. He’s always believed that for me. So it was good to hear that from him one more time.”

Minshew said he knew what he’d be doing had he never followed Leach to Pullman, Wash.

“I’d be coaching right now,” he said, “getting my [butt] ripped by Nick Saban probably twice a day.”

Inquirer Eagles beat reporters EJ Smith and Josh Tolentino preview the team’s Week 15 game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Watch at Inquirer.com/EaglesGameday