As a senior in 1978, he won the Big Ten Most Valuable Player, was selected as a first-team All-American, and finished third in the 1978 balloting for the Heisman Trophy.

[1] Leach opted to play professional baseball over football, primarily a backup outfielder and first baseman for the Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays.

[4] In 1998, the Detroit Free Press rated Leach as the fourth best quarterback to come out of a Michigan high school.

As an 18-year-old true freshman, Leach started 11 of 12 games and led the Wolverines to an 8–2–2 record and #8 ranking in the final AP poll.

With the Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl berth on the line in the Michigan-Ohio State game, Leach threw an interception that was run back to the Michigan 3-yard line by Buckeye cornerback Ray Griffin and set up the winning touchdown in a 21–14 Ohio State victory.

As a sophomore in 1976, he started all 12 games at quarterback and led the team to a 10–2 record and #3 ranking in the final AP poll.

As a junior, he started all twelve games at quarterback and led the 1977 team to a 10–2 record and #9 ranking in the final AP poll.

As a senior in 1978, he again started all twelve games and led Michigan to a 10–2 record and #5 ranking in the final AP poll.

[1][2] A month earlier at the NFL draft in early May, he was taken in the fifth round (132nd overall) by the Denver Broncos,[1] but opted for a career in baseball.