Ex-Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach on College Football HOF ballot

Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, who made the Texas Tech football's passing game something to fear, were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in recent years.

>Now the coach who famously mapped out their plays on a scrap of paper the size of an envelope will have a chance to join them.

>The late Mike Leach is one of four former Texas Tech head coaches who are on the upcoming year's ballot for the hall. The National Football Foundation revealed the list Monday, June 1.

>It's the first time on the ballot for Leach after the NFF in May 2025 lowered the coaches' criteria for eligibility from a .600 career winning percentage to .595. That move was largely made to give consideration to Leach, whose Air Raid offense teams gave him a .596 winning percentage. He was 158-107 in 21 seasons at Texas Tech (84-43), Washington State (55-47) and Mississippi State (19-17).

>The other former Red Raiders coaches on the Hall of Fame ballot are Pete Cawthon, Jim Carlen and Tommy Tuberville. Cawthon went 76-32-6 from 1930-40, and his .693 winning percentage still ranks first among Tech coaches.

>Carlen was 37-20-2 with the Red Raiders from 1970-74 and 107-69-6 overall in a 16-year career that included stops at West Virginia and South Carolina. Tuberville led the Red Raiders to a 20-17 record from 2010-12 and was 159-99 overall in 21 years with other stops at Mississippi, Auburn and Cincinnati.

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>Leach, the Tech career victories record holder, led the Red Raiders to bowls every year from 2000 through 2009, though he was fired before the 2009 Alamo Bowl. His teams won nine games in 2002, 2005 and 2007 and went 11-2 in 2008.

>He died unexpectedly from complications related to a heart condition on Dec. 12, 2022. He was 61.Voting for the 2027 class will begin this week among more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers. The class will be announced in early 2027.Texas Tech has seven players enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta: E.J. Holub, inducted in 1986, Donny Anderson in 1989, Dave Parks in 2008, Gabe Rivera in 2012, Zach Thomas in 2015, Crabtree in 2022 and Harrell in 2025.

>Former head coach Jerry Moore was also inducted as part of the 2014 class. Moore went 242-135-2 as head coach at North Texas (11-11), Texas Tech (16-37-2) and Appalachian State (215-87).

>This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Ex-Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach on College Football HOF ballot