Mike Leach talks hot dogs (not a sandwich), Luke Falk (still improving), expanded Playoff

LOS ANGELES — Without even realizing it, Mike Leach might have settled the hotdog/sandwich debate once and for all.

“I don’t like hot dogs. I’ve never liked hot dogs even when I was a kid,” said Leach, Washington State’s head coach, on Thursday at Pac-12 media days. “I think some of that started when I was a really young kid.

"You know, I’ve had bologna sandwich after bologna sandwich, so anything that even remotely resembled bologna, I hated.

“And you know, everyone always says, ‘Go to the ball game. Or, eat a hot dog.’ Not me. And no, it’s not a sandwich. I’m not into hot dogs.”

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Such an eccentric question, though rare for most coaches, is standard for Leach. The unpredictability of his uncanny soliloquies invites questions about anything, even if it has nothing to do with college football.

“There are just too many Cubs fans. … Every yuppie with a BMW, some special attachment to his computer or some designer set of jeans or something like that is a Cubs fan — and refers to it as ‘My Cubbies,’ ” Leach said when Chicago faced Cleveland in the 2016 World Series.

If the Cougars by chance become the topic of conversation, that won’t prevent Leach from similar off-the-cuff remarks.

The head coach ripped his team’s mentality after a 0-2 start to last season.

But Thursday, despite the attack on hot dogs, Leach mostly played it straight.

Leach knows he will coach against star quarterbacks Sam Darnold of USC and Jake Browning of Washington. Leach’s QB, Luke Falk — who threw for more yards than Darnold or Browning last season — doesn't get as much national hype. But, Leach said, the senior quarterback can still improve at the tail end of his record-breaking career.

“Doing the same thing he has been doing, that is one of his strongest qualities,” Leach said.

Along with Falk, Washington State returns a trio of productive running backs and nine defensive starters. However, winning the Pac-12 or sneaking into the College Football Playoff remains a tall order.

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But Leach has an idea that would increase the Cougars' chances. 

“States have 16-team playoffs or more, NFL does it, lower division colleges do it; we are the only ones that don’t,” Leach said. (The College Football Playoff deal runs through 2025, but expanding to eight teams or more comes up regularly). “You can draw up a softball bracket. … It is pretty easy to sort out. You can get the whole thing done in 16 games.”

“Have some well placed breaks in between. Half the country is off; half the country is playing next week. … It’d be incredible fun, and it’s indisputable it’d make more money.”