In Bob Stoops’ 10 seasons at Oklahoma, five different assistants have left to become head coaches. But none have created a bigger name for himself than Mike Leach

The Red Raiders’ success over the last nine seasons has given Leach a coaching identity that reaches well beyond Big 12 Conference borders. He’s 75-37 over the last nine years and brings No. 2 Texas Tech (10-0, 6-0 Big 12) to Owen Field to face the fifth-ranked Sooners (9-1, 5-1) with hopes of winning its first Big 12 championship.

That’s an obvious reason why Leach has broken from the crowd.

His quirky interests like in-line skating stand out. His impressive knowledge of Geronimo, obsession with pirates or the fact he’s a football coach with a law degree all make him different.

Leach doesn’t fit in any mold, and that makes him very unique from any of Stoops’ other assistants.

Mark Mangino, who succeeded Leach as offensive coordinator, was an assistant with Stoops at Kansas State.

Mike Stoops, aside from the family ties, also cut his teeth as a Kansas State aide.

Chuck Long, who succeeded Mangino and was Stoops’ first quarterbacks coach, played at Iowa, Stoops’ alma mater.

Even Kevin Sumlin, who left his job as receivers coach last season to take over at Houston, had deep roots in the Big Ten Conference.

Leach didn’t have their pedigrees. All he had was an in-depth knowledge of an offense Stoops greatly admired.

“I didn’t have any idea that he’d call me,” was Leach’s recollection of his first talks with the OU coach about joining him in Norman.

When Stoops was assembling his first staff in December of 1998, one thing that stuck in his mind was how difficult Kentucky had been to stop.

Hal Mumme, then Kentucky’s head coach, was receiving the credit for the record-shattering amount of points the Wildcats were putting up. The four- and five-receiver sets the Wildcats employed were new to the SEC. Throwing the ball 50 times a game was, too.

Stoops would have loved to have brought Mumme to Norman, but that wasn’t possible. He went with Kentucky’s offensive coordinator — Leach.

“I figured I might as well try the guy that’s been with him the longest and try and to do the same things here,” Stoops said. “There wasn’t anyone else that I had seen that was like that, and I felt it would be different here as well, that it would give us an advantage maybe that people weren’t familiar with.”