Mississippi State coach Mike Leach apologizes for tweet

Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach has apologized on social media for posting a tweet that drew criticism from Bulldogs players and an assistant professor at the school before it was deleted.

The outspoken coach on Wednesday night tweeted a picture depicting an elderly woman with knitting sticks in her hand, the

Leach’s tweet had more than 4,000 likes on Thursday morning, the newspaper said. But several MSU players responded to the post with face-palm and raised-eyebrow emojis and a profane acronym, the newspaper reported. Mississippi State assistant sociology professor and author Margaret A. Hagerman chastised Leach and wrote that lynching jokes are incredibly offensive anywhere and “especially in Mississippi.”

Leach deleted the tweet sometime Thursday morning, according to the newspaper. He

The 59-year-old Leach was