Given our previously published articles on Mike Leach, Blue Ocean coach of the Texas Tech football team, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to share with our readers a recent interview with him on 60 Minutes. As head coach for the Red Raiders, Leach makes up for a lack of money and talent by creating an offense that's changing the way college football is played. What are some of the ways his approach exemplifies Blue Ocean Strategy?
In a move right out of our defying conventional wisdom playbook, Leach does not recruit top talent, rather he recruits an average group of players and coaches them to victory using untraditional techniques. Even his team’s kicker was discovered not via standard recruiting channels, but through an open competition held among spectators at a home game.
On offense, Leach's team uses a strategy previously unprecedented in college football: It has a relentless emphasis on passing rather than running the ball. The result is phenomenal. It confuses and tires out much bigger and stronger defenses unaccustomed to such an unconventional approach.
Furthermore, in the spirit of a value innovator, Leach’s team provides end customers (fans and spectators) with exceptional enrichment, by taking traditional football to a whole new level of up-tempo, high-scoring events, which are much more entertaining to watch. All the while working with only the fraction of the budget of his much more established and renowned rivals.
See the full 60 Minutes interview with Texas Tech’s blue ocean Coach Mike Leach by clicking on the image above.
[Video via CBS. ]
