Washington State’s — and the Pac-12’s — career all-time passing leader certainly has enough Mike Leach stories to fill a novel.

Luke Falk was Leach’s quarterback on the Palouse for half of Leach’s tenure. From 2014-17, Falk quarterbacked the Cougars while throwing for 14,481 yards and 119 passing touchdowns. In Leach’s patented Air Raid, Falk flourished and the partnership between coach and quarterback was strong.

With Leach’s sudden passing earlier this week, Falk was on the radio sharing stories about his former mentor and one stands out as peak Pirate.

“We were playing Oregon State in 2016 and we were just getting our ass kicked,” Falk recalls of a game that went to halftime with the Cougars down 24-6 at the halftime break. “I come into halftime and I think he’s going to have… One, I think I’m going to get an earful and I think the whole team is going to get an earful, and that he’s going to switch things up.

“I go in the coaches’ locker room and he’s on Rosetta Stone practicing Spanish. I just started laughing. And then he’s like, ‘There’s nothing these guys are doing. We’ve just got to go out there, play calm, and kick their mother f’ing ass.’ And then he goes back to practicing Spanish. And that’s all he said. That was it.”

And then Washington State outscored the Beavers 29-7 in the second half to win 35-31. Falk threw touchdown passes of 66, 37, and 28 yards in a 22-point third quarter to spur the comeback. He finished the game with 415 yards and five touchdowns while completing 72% of his throws and going without an interception.

Leach passed away on Monday night at the age of 61 following complications from a heart condition. He’d been one of the highest-profile coaches in the country for over two decades, spanning a decade-long run as the head coach at Texas Tech before moving to Washington State (2012-19) and then Mississippi State (2020-22).

The tributes have been pouring in from all throughout the sport for Leach, who helped to revolutionize the game with his offensive system. A huge percentage of the country runs some form of an offense that either directly imitates or draws inspiration from Leach’s Air Raid, and his coaching tree is spread throughout the sport.