College football coaching legend Mike Leach brings his Washington State Cougars to Texas to take on Houston on Friday night. If he had his druthers, he wouldn’t play anyone on Fridays.
As reported by the Houston Chronicle, Leach’s rise ran through Texas, where he almost reached a national title game with Texas Tech. He may now coach across the country from Texas, but he’s still siding with high school football coaches in the Lone Star State.
“I’m sort of with Texas on this, Texas has always kind of reserved Friday night games because they think it impinges on high school games,” Leach, the head coach at Washington State who spent nearly a decade at Texas Tech, told the Chronicle. “Their thought is, ‘College, you have Saturdays, so why are you playing on Fridays, and high schools deserve Fridays.’ They have a point there that I respect to a certain degree.”
The decision to play a college game, any game, at a neutral, NFL location has a more direct impact on the high school game in Texas than on any colleges. Houston is receiving a @2 million guarantee for playing the game at NRG Stadium instead of their TDECU Stadium, but it’s also infringing on the sanctity of high school football in the Lone Star State.
That doesn’t sit well with new Houston coach Dana Holgerson, who made it clear that Houston’s game at NRG wasn’t his decision.
“I’d rather this game be on Saturday and be in our stadium, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” Holgorsen told the Chronicle.
