Mike Leach: 5 things to know about potential UT Vols football coach

As Tennessee football's coaching search rolls on, the Vols and athletic director John Currie reportedly turned their sights on Washington State coach Mike Leach.

Here's 5 things to know about Leach:

Friday Night Lights and pirates

Leach, like Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes, has a cameo in probably the best TV show ever made: Friday Night Lights.

In Season 4, Leach talks to fictional coach Eric Taylor at a gas station. Leach asks Taylor for directions to Lubbock, then admonishes Taylor for "losing his inner pirate'' and not "swinging his sword'' with conviction.

Sign Up:Get Vol headlines in your inbox every day.

"You've got to find your inner pirate," Leach says. "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 until you get back your inner pirate. You might be the luckiest man alive and not even know it."

So, Tennessee could have two coaches with cameos in Friday Night Lights. That's got to be a first.

In real life, Leach also is a big fan of pirates – one of his many, many unique interests.

"Pirates function as a team," Leach said in a 2008 ESPN interview. "There were a lot of castes and classes in England at the time. But with pirates, it didn't matter if you were black, white, rich or poor. The object was to get a treasure. If the captain did a bad job, you could just overthrow him."

He also has debated who would win between vikings and pirates. 

He walks to work

Leach walks to work – seriously – and reporters have done the walk with him in Pullman, Wash.

It's just another facet that makes Leach as unique as can be.

He's basically a marriage counselor

Leach made headlines recently for giving marriage advice to a reporter, who asked the Washington State coach for it.

He first remarks were the reporter waited too long to ask him for advice since the wedding was days away. Then he offered his commentary on the days leading up to a wedding.

"When it comes to marriages, the women lose their mind," Leach began. "Your fiancee’s gonna lose her mind. Your mother-in-law’s gonna lose her mind. Your mom is gonna lose her mind. Several of your sisters and female relatives are gonna lose their mind.

"They’re gonna barrage you with constant questions — ‘What should we wear?’ And of course my answer was ‘I don’t care.’ And then, ‘What color should the invitations be?’ I don’t care. ‘What should we have for dessert?’ I don’t care. ‘Should we seat this way or that way?’ I don’t care.

"But see, ‘I don’t care’ is not satisfactory at all, and you’re gonna get caught in a Catch-22 and I’m certain that you already have, and that Catch-22 is, ‘Well I want you to be a part of this, too, so what color invitations?’"

He went on some more before summarizing his advice as, "In the end you'll wish you'd just eloped."

Skelton in the closet

In 2008, Leach had a spat with Texas Tech and then-ESPN announcer Craig James over the treatment of James' son, Adam James – a wide receiver at Texas Tech.

James alleged that Leach punished his son, who had a concussion, by locking him in an electrical closet.

Leach denied the accusation, but was suspended and ultimately fired. He still isn't happy about how the situation unfolded and took legal action against the school.

He coaches football, too

On top of being supremely interesting, Leach also coaches football and is known for a high-powered offensive scheme.

He went 84–43 in 10 seasons in Lubbock, having five teams ranked in the postseason. His best year was 2008, when the Red Raiders went 11-2.

His record in six seasons at Washington State is 38–37, but in the past three years he has gone 26-12 with stark improvement.

More UT Football Headlines:

UT Vols coaching search: Here's what we know, including Mike Leach, Kevin Sumlin

UT Vols: What will it take for them to return to SEC championship game?

Cade Mays narrows down to top three choices

Mike Leach: 5 things to know about potential UT Vols football coach

UT Vols football: Dave Doeren staying at NC State after interest from Tennessee

UT Vols football: Kevin Sumlin? Kevin Steele? Les Miles? Are only fired coaches options now?

UT Vols hot board (3.0): 8 names from Kevin Sumlin to Mike Leach to Tee Martin

UT Vols: Man identified after arrest at men's basketball game

Kevin Sumlin: 5 things to know about potential UT Vols football coach

5 things to know about Kevin Sumlin

Also of note: Leach did not play college football, which is rarity among Division I coaches.