Monte Kiffin, who served as the Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator for 13 seasons in the 1990s and 2000s, died Thursday. He was 84. An NFL assistant for nearly 30 years, Kiffin served as the driving force behind the Bucs’ dominant Super Bowl XXXVII-winning defense.
Tony Dungy brought Kiffin to Tampa upon being hired in 1996; the two had worked together in Minnesota previously. Kiffin stayed on beyond Dungy’s 2002 firing, remaining with the team under Jon Gruden and architecting one of the best defenses in NFL history. Featuring four Hall of Fame-bound defenders, the ’02 Bucs led the NFL in scoring and total defense and intercepted five passes in a Super Bowl rout of the Raiders.
Prior to unleashing the Tampa-2 defense he helped create, Kiffin had previously served as Vikings DC in 1991 and Saints DC four years later. Those were one-offs, however, with Dungy’s offer cutting the New Orleans stay short. Kiffin certainly played a significant role in Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, Ronde Barber and John Lynch establishing Canton candidacies.
“Monte Kiffin was a beloved and iconic member of the Buccaneers family, and our entire organization mourns his loss today,” the Bucs said in a statement. “As a coach, Monte was a true innovator who got the best out of his players and helped create one of the signature defenses of the early 2000s. His passionate and energetic leadership style resonated with all his players, and he was instrumental in our first Super Bowl win and the success of Hall of Famers such as Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch and Ronde Barber.”
Also an assistant with the Packers, Bills and Jets, Kiffin later served as the defensive coordinator for son Lane during the latter’s one-season stay as the Tennessee Volunteers’ head coach. Monte Kiffin followed his son to USC, a stint that helped reestablish the former Raiders HC in the college game, before returning to the NFL as Cowboys DC.
The Dallas 2013 stint also stopped after one season, with Dallas hiring Rod Marinelli as DC in 2014. Monte Kiffin stayed on for one more season as a Cowboys assistant, however, before a Jaguars stop. Kiffin’s final two coaching roles came under Lane at Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss. The Kiffin patriarch was a Rebels analyst as recently as last season.
The Bucs gig earned Kiffin a place in the franchise’s ring of honor. While the Bucs peaked in 2002, Dungy and Kiffin led the way in rebooting a moribund franchise in the late 1990s. The Bucs voyaged to the Super Bowl XXXIV precipice, intercepting Kurt Warner three times in an 11-6 defensive tussle. After two playoff losses in Philadelphia doomed top-10 defenses, the Bucs outscored their 2002 playoff opposition 116-37. Four of Tampa Bay’s postseason TDs came on pick-sixes, with three of those taking place in the team’s Super Bowl romp.
Now this guy was a giant. That Tampa 2 was stupid unbeatable for a long time, and Kiffin’s refinements to Dungy’s system made it all the more stingy. Every defense had its heyday until it was overcome by rule changes, but even to stand out as a defensive scheme at all is an incredible achievement. To do so for so long is even more incredible.
The emphasis on speed in Kiffin’s defense really helped set the tone of the game towards faster and more agile players, and the offense trended the same way to compensate. The biggest difference would come at the linebacker spots, as faster and usually smaller players (relative to then, not now) got the nod over bigger pass rushers. It was a defensive that allowed for a lot of quick reactions, and was well planned but effortless at its height.
I don’t think that we’ll see any more Monte Kiffins in this day and age; coaches get so little time that a long time coordinator would last under one, and no coordinator who has any appeal would stay for longer than a couple of years, maybe three. That’s less time to hone a defense, and in my mind, it takes a lot more to build an entire long term, signature defensive system than an offensive one. Old hand coordinators like Kiffin-Wade Phillips, Tom Moore, Dick LeBeau-they keep coaching until well after their foes have retired, it seems.
I think Vic Fangio is the closest thing we now have to those old hand coordinators. He builds stouts defenses almost everywhere.
Agreed. I always thought that he could have been much better in Denver. Since they were going for a veteran QB anyway, they may as well have given the defensive head coach a chance. They played much better than their talent at the time. A few games of Bridgewater, a few of Lock, a few of Rypien (definitely not Mark) still led to an almost .500 record in thd inaugural 17 game season at 7-10.
But yes, Fangio will still be remembered as a coordinator, and a damn good one at that. One of the best, in my mind. Love watching his old 3-4s.
RIP Monte…..
Always loved seeing him on the sideline. Glad he was alive to see his Ring of Honor recognition.
Kiffin was awesome. One of the best defensive coordinators ever
May he rest in Peace
RIP Ol Coach