Mike Leach is technically not eligible for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, but Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz wants to see that change.

Drinkwitz used part of his opening statement at SEC Media Days in Dallas on Tuesday to lobby Hall of Fame CEO Steve Hatchell to waive his organization’s eligibility standards and induct Leach, the former Mississippi State, Texas Tech and Washington State head coach who died in 2022 at age 61.

Leach’s career record was 158-107, four percentage points short of the 60% threshold for Hall of Fame eligibility.

“Next summer, we will be moving media days to Atlanta,” Drinkwitz said. “And so it reminded me to call on CEO Steve Hatchell to do the right thing and to nominate Mike Leach for the College Football Hall of Fame. We need to put his name on the ballot.

“He won 158 career games, was the 2008 Big 12 coach of the year, two-time Pac-12 coach of the year and in 2018 was the AFC A football coach of the year. (He) won 11 games at Texas Tech and 11 games at Washington State. And I understand that his career winning percentage is .596, one win short of the 60% threshold. And I understand that standards are there for people to make decisions. But I also understand that coach Leach would be a great value to the Hall of Fame because of the legacy that he has, because of the impact that he made, because of the innovator that he was because of the legacy of coaches that he left.”

As Drinkwitz noted, Leach’s “Air Raid” offense has been adopted or adapted by hundreds of college and high school football programs around the country. His teams led the nation in passing offense five times in seven years at one stretch, and three of the top seven quarterbacks in single-season passing yards in NCAA history — Texas Tech’s B.J. Symons and Graham Harrell and Washington State’s Anthony Gordon — played for Leach.

Leach’s coaching tree is also extensive. Among those who played or coached under him who now are head coaches are Samford’s Chris Hatcher, Louisiana Tech’s Sonny Cumbie, Baylor’s Dave Aranda, West Virginia’s Neal Brown, TCU’s Sonny Dykes, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, USC’s Lincoln Riley and former Texas Tech and Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who is now with the NFL’s Washington Commanders.

Drinkwitz never coached or played for Leach, but was influenced by him, nonetheless. He grew up in Norman, Okla., while Leach was offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, and spent his early coaching years working under spread offense afficionados Gus Malzahn and Hugh Freeze.

This is not the first time Drinkwitz has made his admiration and affection for Leach publicly known. He wore a t-shirt with Leach’s picture on it during the 2022 Gasparilla Bowl, which took place less than two weeks after the coach’s sudden death due to complications from heart disease.

“In my opinion, (he was) not only a winner but a Hall of Famer, and I hope that Mr. Hatchell will recognize that as CEO he has the ability to utilize his discretion to make the obvious into reality,” Drinkwitz said. “And that ‘obvious’ is that the Hall of Fame is incomplete without coach Mike Leach in it.

“… Coach Leach in my mind — and I believe in (the minds of) most of the people in this room — is a no doubt Hall-of-Famer. He impacted our game more in the last 50 years than a lot of other people, not only with his legacy, but also with his football acumen. His Air Raid offense is the dominant offense, when you look at high school football, its elements in college football and all the way translating into the NFL game.”