A couple of days ago, Mike Leach thought he was sharing a funny quarantine meme on Twitter, but it wasn’t too hilarious to people who noted the woman in the picture was knitting a noose.
“After 2 weeks of quarantine with her husband, Gertrude decided to knit him a scarf.”
Over the weekend, Mississippi State felt the backlash of that tweet when defensive lineman Fabien Lovett announced he was entering the transfer portal mere hours after Leach’s tweet.
Leach eventually took to Twitter and apologized for his actions, “I sincerely regret if my choice of images in my tweets were found offensive. I had no intention of offending anyone,” the new Bulldogs head coach wrote.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NCAA stories via Google! Follow Us
On Tuesday, Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen released a statement about the incident, making it clear that the school was not happy about Leach’s conduct.
“No matter the context, for many Americans the image of a noose is never appropriate and that’s particularly true in the South and in Mississippi. Mississippi State University was disappointed in the use of such an image in a tweet by Coach Mike Leach. He removed the tweet and issued a public apology. The university is confident that Coach Leach is moving quickly and sincerely past this unintended misstep and will provide the leadership for our student athletes and excitement for our football program that our fans deserve and that our students and alumni will be proud to support.”
Cohen announced Leach will undergo further educational programming.
ESPN’s top SEC analyst Paul Finebaum noted that it could’ve been much worse for Leach with this tweet, but the entire nation is too busy trying to focus on not contracting the coronavirus, which has killed thousands of people in the country and around the world.
