Lane Kiffin's reputation as an offensive genius is being further burnished in Year 1 atop the Ole Miss Rebels' football program.
His candid, no-nonsense approach isn't going anywhere, either.
Nor is Kiffin's recognition of the need to feed the beast – when one has a beast on roster.
In this case, enter Ole Miss wunderkind Elijah Moore. He had 13 receptions in the Rebels' come-from-behind win Saturday night at home against South Carolina.
To further tax the besieged Gamecocks' coaches and defense, Kiffin elected to also line up Moore as a tailback.
“I've said it before: This isn't Little League,” Kiffin said after his team improved to 3-4 and set a school mark with 708 yards' offense in an SEC game. “Everybody doesn't get the same amount of touches.
“If you've got a great player, if you've got LeBron James or Michael Jordan, you get him the ball.”
Kiffin's ability to get Moore the ball against South Carolina left the ball coach tossing his coaching clipboard, first high into the air, and later, deep into the stands.
But the Rebels trailed 42-38 with 12 minutes to play when Kiffin said Rebels record-setting quarterback Matt Corral – 925 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, 59-for-66 in his last two games – checked into a different play from his own 9-yard line.
Corral then found Moore on a double-move, and the Rebels wideout didn't have a defender within 20 yards. The result was the longest play from scrimmage for Ole Miss in an SEC game.
Ever.
“When you audible to a play and see a coverage,” Kiffin said, “and the defense doesn't check out and the players execute it and you beat a matchup? (USC's Jaycee Horn) had been (defending) in the slot against Elijah, but he wasn't in the slot against Elijah.
“I just get really excited when that happens.”
Moore now has 74 receptions on the season, a total of 88 touches and more than 1,100 yards, as well as eight touchdowns.
Kiffin again conjured the names of previous star wideouts he has coached for comparison to Moore.
“Well, it's not that easy,” Kiffin said of getting Moore so many touches. “We may not be good at a lot of things, but this is something we've been good at wherever we've been.
“Robert Woods and Marqise Lee (at USC), Amari Cooper at Alabama; I think all those guys had over 114 catches (in a season). This kid would shatter that if he had a full season and some non-SEC opponents. So we move him all over the place.”