DEAR COACHES: YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEAK ON POLITICS

Donald Trump held a campaign rally this weekend in Spokane, and Mike Leach showed up to give a speech supporting the candidate. (Leach also emphasized that he wasn't speaking as a Washington State representative, just as a citizen, though I guess we can argue whether or not that's realistic. Actually, no, don't argue about that. Just think about it on your own, away from the Internet.)

Leach joins Bobby Knight, Lou Holtz, and Rex Ryan in the select group of Coaches Who Support Donald Trump And Also Might Give A Toast At Your Wedding Arguing That Hurricane Hugo Was Faked On A Sound Stage. Holtz and Knight make sense; they've got nothing better to do these days than go to Costco and yell at the food sample distributors for doling out such small portions.

Mike Leach and Rex Ryan? They're wasting an incredible gift: having the perfect excuse to avoid any and all political discussions. Nobody expects head coaches to know anything about the world outside of football. Ask a coach the last movie he saw in a theater and there's a good chance he'll say "Blown Away" or "White Squall." (Coaches just love Jeff Bridges.) It's one of the only jobs where it's not only normal but encouraged, weirdly, to spend so much time on work that you lack any other life skills. Fans are THRILLED to have a coach who wins a conference title even when he can't use a washing machine or make iced tea or turn off italics in Microsoft Word.

Believe me, this isn't about a certain candidate. I'm just as uninterested in seeing David Shaw stump for Hillary Clinton or listening to Bob Stoops extol the virtues of John Kasich or Kirk Ferentz doing an advertisement for Sentient Dust Cloud That Consumes All In Its Path. When coaches decide to wade into these waters, they put us all in an uncomfortable situation. I just want to think of Mike Leach as a weirdo who spends all his time drawing up plays and lecturing waiters about the War of the Flemish Succession.

So please, coaches, take advantage of your insulation from everything outside of the film room. We're the ones expected to develop considered and learned opinions about the candidates and their platforms, not you.

I mean, we won't, but that's not the point.