Mississippi State HC Mike Leach Apologizes for 'Offensive' Coronavirus Tweet

Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach apologized for a COVID-19-related tweet that showed a meme of a woman knitting a noose for her husband during the couple's self-quarantine.

"I sincerely regret if my choice of images in my tweets were found offensive," Leach tweeted. "I had no intention of offending anyone."

The meme contained the following caption: "After 2 weeks of quarantine with her husband, Gertrude decided to knit him a scarf."

The tweet, which went live Wednesday, was deleted Thursday.

Leach, who routinely posts various memes on his Twitter account, received some criticism from current players.

Tyler Horka of the Mississippi Clarion Ledger compiled some reaction:

"Senior linebacker Erroll Thompson, who was a captain on last year's team, retweeted the original post with a hand-on-the-chin, eyebrow-raised thinking emoji.

"Defensive lineman Fabien Lovett responded to the tweet with 'Wtf.' Senior defensive end Kobe Jones responded to Lovett with 'Facts. He tripping.' with a hand-on-the-face ashamed emoji."

MSU Assistant Professor of Sociology Margaret A. Hagerman also responded to the initial meme tweet and wrote "lynching 'jokes' are incredibly offensive anywhere" and noted that they are especially so in Mississippi.

Per the NAACP, Mississippi had the highest number of lynchings in the United States from 1882-1968. Black people were victims of 72.7 percent of lynchings across the United States during that time.

Leach was named MSU's head coach in January after 10 years with Texas Tech and eight seasons with Washington State. He has a 139-90 career record and was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2018.