Mike Leach Slams California Athlete Pay Bill: They Should Focus on ‘Keeping Their Streets Clean’

Washington State coach Mike Leach took a swipe at the State of California over a new law to compensate college athletes. Leach said that California has “trouble keeping their streets clean,” and should focus on that instead.

The Golden State’s so-called Fair Pay to Play Act is close to being signed into law by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, but the plans to pay amateur athletes have already riled many outside the state.

Coach Leach, for instance, thinks that the California legislature needs to stay out of college athletics, according to Yahoo Sports.

“The state of California has trouble keeping their streets clean right now, so my thought is that they probably ought to focus on that,” the coach said on Monday. “That’s just one guy’s opinion, and I’m sure that I’m probably wrong, but at the rate that California is handling their infrastructure and some of their other problems, you know, I think that we’ll see how they do with that before I really think it would be that beneficial for the legislature of California to enter into college football. If you see benefits to them entering into college football, I’d love to hear because they seem determined to do it.”

Leach went on to criticize the bill because it will create a disadvantage for every other state.

“If you create a recruiting advantage beyond what already exists, I think it’s going to be very difficult,” Leach explained. “I think there will be a huge imbalance and you’ll destroy college football, and I think that we have to be very careful of that … Then, of course, are we going to have a draft? Are we going to have trading? Are we going to have free agency? How far does all this stuff go?

“I think we ought to be careful with that, or maybe we ought to just have minor league football,” the coach concluded.

Indeed, the NCAA, the organization that governs college sports, feels the same way and has even warned that it could exclude all California colleges from national championship tournaments if the bill becomes the law in California.

Others have spoken out against California’s plan to pay college athletes, too. Recently former college star and current pro baseball player Tim Tebow slammed the idea of paying athletes.

Tebow worried that paying athletes would put an end to the team spirit in college athletics and turn it into another layer of our “selfish” culture.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.