[Mick]

I agree.  A coach's demeanor is not THE critical metric.  You hire coaches to win enough, but not at any cost.  At least, most schools follow that dictum.  But the assertion with Leach is his quirkiness and personality actually might get in the way of :

a) winning in realtime.  Refusing to burn clock to assure victory at the end of a game (because ,as Leach stated afterwards, his preference is for attack, attack, attack) shows he is willing jeopardize victory in favor of football philosophy. 

b) winning in the long run.  This part was more Stanford-centric.  My point was that Leach's personality, his quirkiness and pricklyness would most likely not have succeeded at  Stanford..  Just a different athletics culture. And, following the grumpy, withdrawn, I'll-do-it-my-way Wlat, was definitely not what Stanford needed.  Now, Harbaugh had his share of prickly moments, but somehow managed to stay on the side of that fine line that Leach hasn't yet discovered.  On the field, Harbaugh, too, had an offensive philosophy. And, Andrew Luck. But it worked.  Leach has been less successful and seems proud because managing the clock to assure victory is for sissies.

Leach as Jean Van De Velde....

[Mick]

I agree.  A coach's demeanor is not THE critical metric.  You hire coaches to win enough, but not at any cost.  At least, most schools follow that dictum.  But the assertion with Leach is his quirkiness and personality actually might get in the way of :

a) winning in realtime.  Refusing to burn clock to assure victory at the end of a game (because ,as Leach stated afterwards, his preference is for attack, attack, attack) shows he is willing jeopardize victory in favor of football philosophy. 

b) winning in the long run.  This part was more Stanford-centric.  My point was that Leach's personality, his quirkiness and pricklyness would most likely not have succeeded at  Stanford..  Just a different athletics culture. And, following the grumpy, withdrawn, I'll-do-it-my-way Wlat, was definitely not what Stanford needed.  Now, Harbaugh had his share of prickly moments, but somehow managed to stay on the side of that fine line that Leach hasn't yet discovered.  On the field, Harbaugh, too, had an offensive philosophy. And, Andrew Luck. But it worked.  Leach has been less successful and seems proud because managing the clock to assure victory is for sissies.

Leach as Jean Van De Velde....