He's the belle of the ball. At least of SEC football.
For now, and again, Mike Leach is quotable, funny, warm, charming and an innovative genius.
He was those things at Texas Tech, before getting fired.
He was those things at Washington State, before bolting to Mississippi State and the SEC where football is Saturday's religion.
Leach and his Bulldogs rolled into Death Valley on Saturday to face the defending national champion LSU Tigers.
Of all the people watching, there was probably one person who was sure the Bulldogs were going home victors.
Leach.
And they did, 44-34.
Leach's famous "Air Raid" offense was run by graduate transfer quarterback K.J. Costello, who came from Stanford where he averaged about two touchdowns and 212 yards in the 29 games he played.
Against LSU, Costello looked like the next Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs $500 million quarterback.
Costello passed for an SEC record 623 yards and five touchdowns.
The thought of his name probably is giving University of Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman and defensive coordinator Barry Odom a severe headache.
The improved Razorbacks are coming off a 37-10 loss to Georgia that wasn't as lopsided as the score.
Still, MSU went to Baton Rouge and won big.
Costello completed 36 of 60 passes, and his 623 yards shattered the record of 544 yards set by Georgia's Eric Zeier in 1993.
Leach was the offensive coordinator at Valdosta State at the time.
Leach, who has a law degree from Pepperdine, chose to pursue football, which he didn't play at his alma mater of Brigham Young.
He has paid his dues to become a head coach in the country's prime-time league.
He spent a season coaching offensive line at Cal Poly; a season as linebackers coach at College of the Desert; a year with the Pori Bears; then it was Iowa Wesleyan, Valdosta State, Kentucky and Oklahoma. Finally in 2000, he became head coach at Texas Tech.
His Red Raider teams were known for their passing attack, and he became known as "The Pirate." He was 84-43, took the program to 10 consecutive bowls, but he didn't make it to the final one.
He was fired after allegedly putting Adam James in an equipment room during practice. Adam James was the son of Craig James, who at the time was a popular ESPN analyst.
Leach was out of coaching for two years before landing at Washington State, a sort of outpost of the Pac-12.
He was 55-47 and 6-7 last season, and that landed him at Mississippi State.
Leach's mouth has tended to get him in trouble over the years. He expresses candid opinions and says oddball things, but the man is obviously brilliant and knows football.
At least offense.
But he will probably remember from his time at Kentucky that defense wins in the SEC.
Leach and Costello might present some serious problems for the Hogs' defense.
The Bulldogs seem to have four primary receivers, including running back Kylin Hill, but a total of 10 different guys caught passes and four caught a touchdown pass against LSU. Osirus Mitchell led the charge with 7 catches for 183 yards and 2 touchdowns.
A couple of things Pittman and Odom will have noticed is that the Bulldogs ran only 16 times out of 76 plays, and running back Hill had 8 catches.
The Bulldogs also recorded seven sacks, so the Arkansas O-line might not be subbing as freely so players can get a better feel for who they are trying to block.
The Hogs are still the has-beens, for now, and Leach is again belle of the ball.