Mike Leach Apologizes for Tasteless Quarantine Tweet Depicting Woman Knitting a Noose
By Brady Williams
No stranger to controversy or bad press, new Mississippi State Bulldogs football coach Mike Leach found himself in hot water on Wednesday when he sent out an offensive tweet related to life amid the coronavirus pandemic. The tasteless tweet depicted a woman knitting a noose, strongly implying that she was preparing to kill her husband as a result of being quarantined for a couple weeks.
(Not to mention the loaded history of noose imagery in the context of the history of the American south.)
Naturally, observers weren't terribly pleased with his flippant post making light of such a serious time. Leach has since deleted the post, but other users quickly took a screenshot of the offensive image.
— Les Kelly (@NoLoneRangerz) April 2, 2020
Leach claimed he regrets posting the a tweet that was "found offensive." He acknowledged that he didn't mean to upset anyone.
Notaably, he did not directly apologize for the image itself.
I sincerely regret if my choice of images in my tweets were found offensive. I had no intention of offending anyone.
— Mike Leach (@Coach_Leach) April 2, 2020
His own MSU defensive lineman, Fabien Lovett, notably responded to the original post with a simple "wtf," Leach is known for posting memes on Twitter to the delight of over 357,000 followers, but when they cross this kind of line, he's got to wonder if it's even remotely worth it.