CFB51 College Football Fan Community

The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: Kris60 on December 11, 2022, 11:09:31 PM

Title: Mike Leach
Post by: Kris60 on December 11, 2022, 11:09:31 PM
https://hailstate.com/news/2022/12/11/football-statement-from-mississippi-state.aspx

MSU calling it a personal health episode.  I’m not on Twitter but a friend is and he said it isn’t sounding good there.  Take it fwiw.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 11, 2022, 11:17:10 PM
Here is the full statement from Mississippi State:

“Mississippi State University Head Football Coach Mike Leach had a personal health issue at his home earlier today (Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022). That issue led to a decision to transfer Coach Leach to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson by ambulance. That is the extent of information that MSU has available regarding Coach Leach’s condition, and the university will make no other comment at this time other than to say that the thoughts and prayers of the university are with Mike and Sharon and their family.

“MSU President Mark E. Keenum and Interim MSU Athletics Director Bracky Brett have conferred, and the decision has been made to place MSU Defensive Coordinator Zach Arnett in charge of the MSU football team until Coach Leach returns. Practice for the ReliaQuest Bowl game and recruiting operations will continue.”
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: jgvol on December 12, 2022, 12:02:52 AM
Reports on MS St message boards are as bad as it gets. 

Worse than really, really, bad.  Hopefully, not true.  
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: ELA on December 12, 2022, 12:14:14 AM
He is a great coach, and seemingly a better man.  All prayers to him.  He is a blessing to the entire college football community 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: longhorn320 on December 12, 2022, 11:21:24 AM
I hope for the best

I really like the Pirate
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: MrNubbz on December 12, 2022, 11:37:03 AM
God speed Mike
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: bayareabadger on December 12, 2022, 11:49:14 AM
Just terrible to hear
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Kris60 on December 12, 2022, 12:01:16 PM
https://twitter.com/jim_howington/status/1602335391662628868?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1602335391662628868%7Ctwgr%5E54ff01d661f853b48c04f90614336659bb511fd1%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F247sports.com%2Fcollege%2Fwest-virginia%2Fboard%2F103745%2FContents%2Fmike-leach-in-critical-condition-200263299%2F%3Fpage%3D1
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Mdot21 on December 12, 2022, 12:07:45 PM
https://twitter.com/jim_howington/status/1602335391662628868?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1602335391662628868%7Ctwgr%5E54ff01d661f853b48c04f90614336659bb511fd1%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F247sports.com%2Fcollege%2Fwest-virginia%2Fboard%2F103745%2FContents%2Fmike-leach-in-critical-condition-200263299%2F%3Fpage%3D1
Omg so sad and horrible. Wondering how this even happened. Feel terrible for his family. 

RIP Mike Leach. A real CFB legend. 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Cincydawg on December 12, 2022, 12:09:23 PM
A massive stroke can cause that obviously.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: longhorn320 on December 12, 2022, 12:21:05 PM
so sad

big loss for college football
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: OrangeAfroMan on December 12, 2022, 12:28:13 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/57dkwSW.jpg)
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: MikeDeTiger on December 12, 2022, 01:12:37 PM
Very sad.  

There's not a good time for that but right before Christmas seems like an extra punch in the gut for his family and friends.  
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: 847badgerfan on December 12, 2022, 02:14:27 PM
My god this is so sad. 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: utee94 on December 12, 2022, 03:26:26 PM
Yeah it's just so sudden, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  I feel for his family.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: medinabuckeye1 on December 12, 2022, 04:13:51 PM
A massive stroke can cause that obviously.
Or a heart attack and a few sites are suggesting that it was a heart attack. 

So sad. 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: 847badgerfan on December 13, 2022, 09:38:18 AM
RIP, Pirate. There will never be another one like you.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: MrNubbz on December 13, 2022, 10:00:36 AM
https://twitter.com/i/status/1602665639633723392
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: utee94 on December 13, 2022, 10:02:35 AM
RIP Crazy Pirate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBxe3cprocQ
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: MrNubbz on December 13, 2022, 10:09:01 AM
https://twitter.com/i/status/986416968919007232
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Mdot21 on December 13, 2022, 10:23:09 AM
RIP to a legend. 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: CatsbyAZ on December 13, 2022, 10:28:29 AM
RIP Mike Leach:
“You’ve got to find your Inner Pirate. A lot of times things just happen for a reason. We don’t know why God wants it that way. But you can’t make the best of it ‘til you get back your Inner Pirate.”

RIP Crazy Pirate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBxe3cprocQ
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: MrNubbz on December 13, 2022, 10:31:23 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/nByMyeB.png)
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Hawkinole on December 13, 2022, 10:59:16 AM
Mike Leach started at the bottom. By 1989 he was offensive coordinator under Halle Mumme at Iowa Wesleyan University, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, a school with an enrollment of 700. This is where, in 1989, '90, and '91, they introduced the Air Raid Offense to college football in NAIA football.


Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 13, 2022, 11:26:40 AM
apparently, I needed golf
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 13, 2022, 11:27:26 AM
(https://athlonsports.com/.image/t_share/MTgyMDE4NTczNTExODI4NjEx/mikeleach_innerpiratejpg.jpg)
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: NorthernOhioBuckeye on December 13, 2022, 01:15:35 PM
Mike Leach started at the bottom. By 1989 he was offensive coordinator under Halle Mumme at Iowa Wesleyan University, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, a school with an enrollment of 700. This is where, in 1989, '90, and '91, they introduced the Air Raid Offense to college football in NAIA football.



I played there from 81-84, he was a few years after me. However, a couple of guys I played with coached with him there. 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: bayareabadger on December 13, 2022, 01:25:33 PM
RIP Crazy Pirate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBxe3cprocQ
You might be the luckiest man alive and you don't even know it.”
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Hawkinole on December 13, 2022, 03:55:40 PM
I played there from 81-84, he was a few years after me. However, a couple of guys I played with coached with him there.
Very cool! Iowa Wesleyan has been on the ropes a couple times the past 5-15 years. Were they D-III or NAIA when you were there? They are NAIA now, but I think that changes for them from time-to-time.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: MrNubbz on December 13, 2022, 05:59:51 PM
This Mike Leach story from Lincoln Riley
(https://i.imgur.com/ltxDii3.png)
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: MarqHusker on December 13, 2022, 07:47:11 PM
Has to be one of the most influential coaches in all of football over past 30 years.  
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: LittlePig on December 13, 2022, 11:07:03 PM
I played there from 81-84, he was a few years after me. However, a couple of guys I played with coached with him there.
Mike Leach started at the bottom. By 1989 he was offensive coordinator under Halle Mumme at Iowa Wesleyan University, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, a school with an enrollment of 700. This is where, in 1989, '90, and '91, they introduced the Air Raid Offense to college football in NAIA football.
Mount Pleasant Iowa is about 20 miles from my home town in Iowa.  I must have driven through it hundreds of times driving up and down US highway 218 going back and forth to Iowa City. 

It just blows my mind that such a small school in such a small town in the middle of nowhere ended up playing such a big role in the evolution of today's modern offenses. The school that teamed up Hal Mumme and Mike Leach.  How in the world did they both end up in Mount Pleasant Iowa at the same time? But I guess that's a sign sometimes strange ideas need strange places to grow.

Its even more ironic that just 50 miles north from Mount Pleasant,  in Iowa City,  the Ferentz family has developed one of the most boring and ineffective offenses in college football history.

It crazy to think about, Iowa would have hired Bobby Stoops instead of Kirk Ferentz in 1998 if Oklahoma wouldn't  have grabbed Stoops 1 day earlier.  Stoops could have brought Mike Leach and the air raid offense home to Iowa.  It would have been wonderful. 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 13, 2022, 11:58:13 PM
I stayed in Mt Pleasant back in June on a business trip.  Had a meal and a couple beers at the Press Box on the East end of town.

I had to stop in Fairfield that afternoon to gander at the Mahrishi International University
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: bayareabadger on December 14, 2022, 12:06:26 AM
This Mike Leach story from Lincoln Riley
(https://i.imgur.com/ltxDii3.png)
This really sums it up. Mike Leach was:
Really curious
Ready to chat
Didn't care a bit about how he was perceived

It absolutely made him unusual and special in this sport. 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: NorthernOhioBuckeye on December 14, 2022, 08:46:26 AM
Very cool! Iowa Wesleyan has been on the ropes a couple times the past 5-15 years. Were they D-III or NAIA when you were there? They are NAIA now, but I think that changes for them from time-to-time.
They were NAIA.

 And I screwed up, I was there from 82 - 86. They say that memory is the first thing to go. I believe them.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: NorthernOhioBuckeye on December 14, 2022, 08:53:38 AM
I stayed in Mt Pleasant back in June on a business trip.  Had a meal and a couple beers at the Press Box on the East end of town.

I had to stop in Fairfield that afternoon to gander at the Mahrishi International University
I was there a few years back on a reunion of our football team. Coming in on 218, it appears that the roads have changed quite a bit since I was there in school. However, the downtown area remains mostly the same.

I'm not familar with the Press Box. That must have opened since I was in school. I spent most of my time in the off season, downtown at the West Side bar. :)
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: NorthernOhioBuckeye on December 14, 2022, 09:01:46 AM
I didn't realize that Mike Leach had ever been at Iowa Wesleyan until a couple of years ago when ESPN did their 150 years of college football where I saw a small piece talking about the Air Raid offense. The other coach that came out of Iowa Wesleyan was Dana Holgorsen (HC Univ Of Houston) who played QB for IW under Mumme and Leach. 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 14, 2022, 09:31:29 AM
the West Side Tap is still there

just north of the Grange Public House and Brewery - which probably wasn't there in the 80s

I just did a google map search for a sports bar and decided on the Press Box
It worked fine - good looking bartender and Bud Fat on tap
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: MikeDeTiger on December 14, 2022, 11:35:16 AM
https://www.secsports.com/article/24866357/the-untold-1999-texas-oklahoma-story-mike-leach-fake-play-script
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Cincydawg on December 14, 2022, 01:03:12 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/3udwOPm.png)
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Honestbuckeye on December 14, 2022, 01:31:51 PM
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/college-football/2022/12/136052/pieces-of-eight

Great read by an excellent writer 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Hawkinole on December 14, 2022, 02:11:13 PM
I didn't realize that Mike Leach had ever been at Iowa Wesleyan until a couple of years ago when ESPN did their 150 years of college football where I saw a small piece talking about the Air Raid offense. The other coach that came out of Iowa Wesleyan was Dana Holgorsen (HC Univ Of Houston) who played QB for IW under Mumme and Leach.
What sold you on attending Iowa Wesleyan?
If you were born a few years later you might be coaching FBS football, instead of writing messages on cfb51.com
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 15, 2022, 12:43:43 PM
(https://scontent.ffod1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/320047719_546071867377863_7408490590041474003_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=PR6AoFN0aTgAX9dyB5U&tn=Dar4Cr1LQ_dl-7gk&_nc_ht=scontent.ffod1-1.fna&oh=00_AfCOspu-W2dLSuL5d2kbWq8fG7NvIMONe9H6cbi-rkD5xw&oe=63A08BE4)
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: OrangeAfroMan on December 15, 2022, 12:57:23 PM
Is that real?  Can it please be real?
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Mdot21 on December 15, 2022, 01:03:45 PM
(https://scontent.ffod1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/320047719_546071867377863_7408490590041474003_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=PR6AoFN0aTgAX9dyB5U&tn=Dar4Cr1LQ_dl-7gk&_nc_ht=scontent.ffod1-1.fna&oh=00_AfCOspu-W2dLSuL5d2kbWq8fG7NvIMONe9H6cbi-rkD5xw&oe=63A08BE4)
they should change the logo to that and the school name/mascot to a Pirate in his honor.

Mississippi State Pirates 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: 847badgerfan on December 15, 2022, 01:20:14 PM
That is fantastic. I'm good on the name change too. Georgia is bulldogs. Change it up.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 15, 2022, 02:09:40 PM
yup, plenty of bulldogs out there

not enough Pirates

Starkpatch is a ways from the coast, but there is a coast
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 17, 2022, 05:35:18 PM
They were NAIA.

 And I screwed up, I was there from 82 - 86. They say that memory is the first thing to go. I believe them.

speaking of NAIA


The Northwestern Red Raiders have won the NAIA National Football title against Keiser University.
Northwestern took the victory 35-25 in Durham, North Carolina.

Northwestern is located in Orange City, IA in NW Iowa

About 40 miles from Morningside University in Sioux City, IA
Morningside was the NAIA football champ in 2021, 2019, & 2018

Northwestern was runner-up in 2020
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 17, 2022, 06:26:12 PM
Play NAIA

🏈 | Coach Leach's offensive prowess began here in the NAIA at
Iowa Wesleyan University Athletics. He, along with coach Hal Mumme were innovators and created one of the top offenses in the nation. That offense broke 26 records at the time. #CollegeFootball #NAIAFootball


(https://scontent.ffod1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/319843435_1343980759690066_4111331262883621755_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=hjQhCEp6BB4AX_K8K2u&_nc_ht=scontent.ffod1-1.fna&oh=00_AfDuiESuVJMkhUfkxJ6m8_bbb4bSWYxDg113JjJyXcm14A&oe=63A366E4)
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Hawkinole on December 17, 2022, 09:06:53 PM
speaking of NAIA


The Northwestern Red Raiders have won the NAIA National Football title against Keiser University.
Northwestern took the victory 35-25 in Durham, North Carolina.

Northwestern is located in Orange City, IA in NW Iowa

About 40 miles from Morningside University in Sioux City, IA
Morningside was the NAIA football champ in 2021, 2019, & 2018

Northwestern was runner-up in 2020
Western Iowa Tech Community College football team won the 2022 national junior college championship. This has been one of the University of Iowa's developmental programs. Somehow U of Iowa has stockpiled some of its recruits at WITCC, and I think Shonn Greene, who started at Iowa, went to WITCC for a year, and returned to Iowa City for his career senior season. Greene was the 2008 Doak Walker award winner and Jim Brown Trophy Winner.
WITCC is in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 17, 2022, 11:47:05 PM
Iowa Western Community College is in Council Bluffs and who you are referring to. Perennial power 

many Husker fans think many of those kids should migrate to Lincoln which is closer than Ames or Iowa City

Western Iowa Tech is in Sioux City - great tech school but no football program
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: OrangeAfroMan on December 17, 2022, 11:48:27 PM
That is fantastic. I'm good on the name change too. Georgia is bulldogs. Change it up.
The fans will have to sneak in concertinas.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 17, 2022, 11:52:08 PM
Great point

if NDSU (Fargo, ND), SDSU (Brookings, SD), Northwestern (orange City, IA), Morningside, Sioux City, IA), and Iowa Western, Council Bluffs, IA) can perform so well on a national level, why can't University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Iowa State University, University of Iowa, and University of Minnesoota develop nationally prominent programs? 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Hawkinole on December 18, 2022, 12:37:54 AM
Iowa Western Community College is in Council Bluffs and who you are referring to. Perennial power

many Husker fans think many of those kids should migrate to Lincoln which is closer than Ames or Iowa City

Western Iowa Tech is in Sioux City - great tech school but no football program
You are right - Iowa Western Community College is the national champion of junior college football. You are wrong on the preferred direction of migration. :) 
That said it reminds me of the notorious story of Iowa hiding prized recruit Alex Karras in the 1950s at Lake Okoboji. The purpose was to keep Woody Hayes and others from recruiting him that summer. This from Wikipedia:
Shortly after he graduated from high school, three coaches from the Iowa Hawkeyes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_Hawkeyes_football) met Karras at his brother Louie's house with an airplane and flew him to Spencer, Iowa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer,_Iowa), where he remained incommunicado through the summer. Writing in the Detroit Free Press (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Free_Press) in 1971 (as reprinted in the Iowa City Press-Citizen), Karras said that "nobody knew where I was, not even my mom, although Louie told her not to worry. Obviously, Iowa came up with something, I have no intention of stirring up any mess. I'll only say that, as Louie explained it, some accommodations were made by the people at Iowa that would make things easier for the family, and so away I went. It was the beginning of some awful years."
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on December 18, 2022, 09:38:37 AM
yup, I've heard that story

nice spot for a summer vacation

I'd guess Mongo enjoyed himself
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: MrNubbz on December 18, 2022, 09:47:28 AM
Evidently he didn't and I quote "I never graduated from Iowa, I was only there for two terms - Truman's and Eisenhower's.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Hawkinole on March 29, 2023, 12:44:36 AM
I played there from 81-84, he was a few years after me. However, a couple of guys I played with coached with him there.
Northern Ohio Buckeye: Unfortunately your alma mater, Iowa Wesleyan, is closing. Iowa Wesleyan University to close at end of academic year (msn.com) 

 (https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/iowa-wesleyan-university-to-close-at-end-of-academic-year/ar-AA19bFjk?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d6cd88a00b2f4ba780c70a0cfd1b8ac7&ei=16)Owing $26 million to the USDA, Iowa Wesleyan University announces closure - Iowa Capital Dispatch (https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/03/28/owing-26-million-to-the-usda-iowa-wesleyan-university-announces-closure/)

I thought they righted the ship. They asked the State of Iowa for a grant of $12M, and were turned down. Usually these small schools have an alumni donor base that includes a few massively rich donors who can help fund requests like this, but Iowa Wesleyan doesn't seem to have those donors. (My daughter attended University of Dubuque which has doubled in enrollment the past 25-years and has had a massive infusion of infrastructure money from mainly one donor I think, but probably a handful of donors).

I noticed a few months ago enrollment at Iowa Wesleyan was up significantly. However, by all indications in the linked article the trustees secretly planned an orderly process to close the university and transfer students to other area small colleges and universities to finish their degrees.

It appears the USDA has some of the most significant mortgages on the property. I hope they find a buyer for the campus buildings. Maybe MIU?
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on March 29, 2023, 07:55:13 AM
bummer
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: MrNubbz on March 29, 2023, 09:55:21 AM
Damn shame the USDA? Hope they are not as blundering/corrupt and inept as the federal agencies seem to be
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on March 29, 2023, 11:03:44 AM
they don't seem to be in my experience, but I'm skeptical 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: NorthernOhioBuckeye on March 29, 2023, 02:50:59 PM
Northern Ohio Buckeye: Unfortunately your alma mater, Iowa Wesleyan, is closing. Iowa Wesleyan University to close at end of academic year (msn.com) 

 (https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/iowa-wesleyan-university-to-close-at-end-of-academic-year/ar-AA19bFjk?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d6cd88a00b2f4ba780c70a0cfd1b8ac7&ei=16)Owing $26 million to the USDA, Iowa Wesleyan University announces closure - Iowa Capital Dispatch (https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/03/28/owing-26-million-to-the-usda-iowa-wesleyan-university-announces-closure/)

I thought they righted the ship. They asked the State of Iowa for a grant of $12M, and were turned down. Usually these small schools have an alumni donor base that includes a few massively rich donors who can help fund requests like this, but Iowa Wesleyan doesn't seem to have those donors. (My daughter attended University of Dubuque which has doubled in enrollment the past 25-years and has had a massive infusion of infrastructure money from mainly one donor I think, but probably a handful of donors).

I noticed a few months ago enrollment at Iowa Wesleyan was up significantly. However, by all indications in the linked article the trustees secretly planned an orderly process to close the university and transfer students to other area small colleges and universities to finish their degrees.

It appears the USDA has some of the most significant mortgages on the property. I hope they find a buyer for the campus buildings. Maybe MIU?
Yeah, I heard about that yesterday when a few of my old teammates started a texting thread about it. I haven't really looked into it or followed it, but from what they were saying, it was basically poor management by the past couple of presidents and the board.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Hawkinole on March 29, 2023, 06:48:22 PM
Yeah, I heard about that yesterday when a few of my old teammates started a texting thread about it. I haven't really looked into it or followed it, but from what they were saying, it was basically poor management by the past couple of presidents and the board.
The last time I recall a small college shut its doors in Iowa was 1973. Parsons College in Fairfield closed, and filed bankruptcy. Maybe Fearless recalls another instance.

Shortly after Parsons College closed, Maharishi International University bought the Parsons College campus, which is just 21-miles from Mount Pleasant. I thought MIU would have a short-term existence, but they have persisted.

I think there is a possibility if the buildings were well-maintained another college might come calling because it would cost less to buy the buildings out of bankruptcy than to build new. - If not a college - it seems there is very little else you can do to repurpose the buildings.

Before my time, in the 1940s, Lenox College, a 2-year college, a few miles south of here closed. It must have had a very low enrollment because the Lenox College campus is small. Its buildings are now the Delaware County Historical Museum. The county keeps the roofs up, but the buildings are not well-maintained.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: betarhoalphadelta on March 29, 2023, 07:00:41 PM

I think there is a possibility if the buildings were well-maintained another college might come calling because it would cost less to buy the buildings out of bankruptcy than to build new. - If not a college - it seems there is very little else you can do to repurpose the buildings.

One of my Purdue buddies ended up in Gastonia NC for work, and for a while he lived in an apartment building that was repurposed from an old high school. *That* was a weird place. The only thing stranger than the architecture was the misfits who ended up living there. 

I can imagine how difficult it would be to repurpose a college campus into anything else. I could see it making a lot of sense for tech or research companies, but in the middle of Iowa it might be hard to entice potential job recruits to move there. I mean, if your alternatives are Silicon Valley, Research Triangle Park, Austin, the entire Boston area, Seattle, etc... Are there enough people who want to move to Fairfield IA to make it viable?
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on March 29, 2023, 10:36:41 PM
Westmar college in LeMars, IA closed in the 80s.

Was purchased by a Japanese company.   

I'd have to look up the history. 

My Jr high football coach took the team there to see a game in the 70s.

My first college game 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: NorthernOhioBuckeye on March 30, 2023, 08:50:09 AM
The last time I recall a small college shut its doors in Iowa was 1973. Parsons College in Fairfield closed, and filed bankruptcy. Maybe Fearless recalls another instance.

Shortly after Parsons College closed, Maharishi International University bought the Parsons College campus, which is just 21-miles from Mount Pleasant. I thought MIU would have a short-term existence, but they have persisted.

I think there is a possibility if the buildings were well-maintained another college might come calling because it would cost less to buy the buildings out of bankruptcy than to build new. - If not a college - it seems there is very little else you can do to repurpose the buildings.

Before my time, in the 1940s, Lenox College, a 2-year college, a few miles south of here closed. It must have had a very low enrollment because the Lenox College campus is small. Its buildings are now the Delaware County Historical Museum. The county keeps the roofs up, but the buildings are not well-maintained.
There was a bar in Fairfield that we would go to sometimes on the weekend were we would run into some of the students from MIU. They were some strange people. 
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: Hawkinole on March 30, 2023, 06:49:44 PM
There was a bar in Fairfield that we would go to sometimes on the weekend were we would run into some of the students from MIU. They were some strange people.
When your studies may include the science behind levitation, it's other worldly.  New High From the Maharishi: Levitation From Meditation - The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/06/06/new-high-from-the-maharishi-levitation-from-meditation/b13e9b83-b0d3-45f7-8d4a-a6c84f5f6b73/) (article from 1977). I don't trust those physics. That said, it would be fun to drink alcohol with their students. I imagine the discussion would be colorful, and might make you smile.
Title: Re: Mike Leach
Post by: FearlessF on March 30, 2023, 06:58:47 PM
The hookah might pair well with the alcohol in that setting