Mike Leach talks Ralphie: “Their mascot is just outstanding.”

Since taking over at Washington State in 2012, Mike Leach has offered sage advice on everything from golf to getting married. As far as sound bites go, the Cougars head coach is a national treasure, especially when discussing live mascots. Such was the case Monday when he took the podium for his weekly press conference. In addition to talking about this weekend’s matchup with the Buffaloes, Leach had some high praise for Colorado’s live mascot Ralphie.

“Their mascot is just outstanding.” Leach said of Ralphie. “Them and Mike the Tiger are by far the best. Butch [Washington State’s mascot] is a better person and a symbol — the whole thing, I’ll go with that, OK. But as far as — that buffalo and Mike the Tiger … utterly outstanding. Then it’s got the handlers. No, they’re not pulling that buffalo, the buffalo is pulling them. You see these kids running besides this buffalo, and sometimes they’ll wipe out or whatever. … I grew up in the West. What can you say? The buffalo. That’s hard to argue with unless you have a live grizzly bear out there or something.”

Leach was also asked by a reporter if Washington State should get a live mascot. Here’s how he responded:

“We should. It would be cool if we still did. I don’t know how good mountain lions do in captivity. I’m curious. If they have just a good, happy life like the Georgia bulldog where they get their own hotel room and eat like a king. I don’t know how’d they do in captivity or how cooperative they are parading around the field. That buffalo goes pretty well wherever he wants.”

Here’s a look at his entire 22-minute press conference from Monday:

Colorado is 6-5 all-time against Washington State, 2-3 since joining the Pac-12 Conference. But Leach hasn’t fared well when Ralphie leads the Buffaloes onto Folsom Field. During his 17-year head coaching career, (2000-’09 Texas Tech, 2012-2018 Washington State) Leach has brought a team to Boulder on three separate occasions and lost each time:

October 26, 2002 Colorado 37, Texas Tech 13

October 14, 2006 Colorado 30, Texas Tech 6

November 19, 2016 Colorado 38, Washington State 24