Tech's Leach voted Big 12's top coach

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Mike Leach can look back on this season and know he led Texas Tech to its best one yet.

The pirate-loving coach and his No. 8 Red Raiders did it by getting their first win over a top-ranked team, garnering their highest national ranking and capturing their first Big 12 South trophy -- the latter a shared prize due to a three-way tie.

Now Leach can add another first. The Associated Press on Tuesday named him Big 12 coach of the year. In balloting by a panel of conference media, Leach got 16 votes to four for Texas' Mack Brown.

Leach took the Red Raiders (11-1) to their best record since 1973, only the third time in the program's 84 years the team tallied 11 wins. Tech's 10-0 start was the first since 1938.

"I don't know what to say," said Leach, who's rarely at a loss for words. "I have good people around me. We had a good year, and I had something to do with it, too, you know."

Tech has for years been considered a good team, but the Red Raiders' pass-happy offense was mostly written off as a gimmicky outfit that put up gaudy numbers in Leach's spread offense. Every quarterback but one has led the nation in passing in Leach's nine seasons, yet the Red Raiders never won more than nine games.

This season's no different from the wild offense standpoint -- Tech averages 417 yards passing a game and Graham Harrell will probably be named a Heisman Trophy finalist. But Tech has also added a powerful running game and an improved defense, leading to a top-10 ranking and a school-record 11 victories.

"It's really flattering because I think we're in the best conference with the best coaches, and it's incredible and tremendous company," said Leach.

The Red Raiders have gone to bowl games every year under Leach and won five of the last six. They'll go to a ninth this year, but instead of a BCS bowl, it's probably a return to the Cotton Bowl.

After back-to-back home wins -- 39-33 over then-No. 1 Texas and 56-20 over then-eighth Oklahoma State -- the fervor for Leach and the Red Raiders seemed at an all-time high this season.

Then the Red Raiders suffered a 65-21 meltdown at Oklahoma for their only loss, which ended any national title talk in West Texas. Tech was the country's No. 2 team for three weeks before succumbing to the Sooners.