The New York Times incorrectly reported that college football coach and outspoken Trump supporter Mike Leach will be the chief diversity and inclusion officer in the Biden administration.
The Times's live updates page on the Biden transition said Wednesday that Leach, currently the head coach for Mississippi State's football team, would take the position. The hire was actually a different Michael Leach, who currently works in labor relations for the NFL. The Times has since corrected the error.
"An earlier version of this artichle inaccurately said that Mr. Leach also coached Texas Tech football, but that coach was a different man with the same name," the Times wrote in a correction.
Coach Leach has publicly stated his support for President Donald Trump and endorsed him in the presidential election. He also displayed a picture of the president on the wall in his office and described Trump as a "world-class problem solver."
Leach said that he became friends with Trump in 2004, and the college football coach even appeared at a Trump campaign rally in 2016. Trump called Leach a "great coach, great guy" after Leach told the crowd, "We need to make America great again."
Leach has also taken aim at political correctness. "Right now, there’s this contest on who can be offended and how fast. Everybody is offended by everything. I’m offended by people who get offended by everything," he told USA Today.
Prior to coaching for Washington State, Leach was the winningest coach in Texas Tech history. He is primarily known for his development of the air raid offense, which prioritizes a passing attack out of shotgun sets.
The Reddit college football account initially identified the Times's error.
https://twitter.com/RedditCFB/status/1349409128297472005