Alabama football head coach Nick Saban released a statement following the passing of Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach on Tuesday morning.

“Mike Leach was a friend, and we are deeply saddened by his unexpected passing,” the Alabama football statement from Nick Saban read. “I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Mike over the last several years. I never knew quite where our conversations were going, but they always made me smile.

“He was an offensive innovator who always did things his way and was admired for it. His teams were well coached and extremely challenging to defend. They played with poise and toughness which is a credit to his leadership. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Sharon, their children and the entire Mississippi State family.”

The Mississippi State football head coach was rushed to the University of Mississippi Medical Center after suffering a “personal health issue” that kept him in critical condition on Sunday. He had struggled with pneumonia during the season, said a Sunday report from ESPN, but said he was feeling better.

A student of then-Kentucky head coach Hal Mumme in 1998, Leach helped popularize the “Air Raid” offensive philosophy since he earned his first head coaching job with the Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2000. He went 158-107 in 21 seasons with three different schools, leading the Red Raiders to as high as 12th in the Associated Press polls in 2008 and the Washington State Cougars to 10th in 2018. Leach aided in the development of now-Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Gardner Minshew at Washington State.

Mike Leach used a quote from “The Art of War” author Sun Tzu to describe his philosophy of the Air Raid offense in a pinned tweet from 2018.

“If the enemy is superior in strength, evade him,” the quote read. “If his forces are united, separate them. Attack him where he is unprepared; appear where you are not expected.”