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Monte Kiffin

Former Bucs DC Monte Kiffin Dies At 84

July 11th, 2024 at 6:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

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.

Extra Points: Foster, Worrilow, 49ers, Chip

March 3rd, 2017 at 9:51pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

In a development that could hurt his draft stock, Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster is being sent home from the combine after he and a hospital worker engaged in a “heated argument,” reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter links). What’s more, Foster’s combine interviews didn’t go particularly well, per Matt Miller of Bleacher Report and Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Foster was supposed to continue interviews with teams Saturday, but he’ll instead head home to Tuscaloosa. As of last week, one club had Foster ranked as the third-best player in this year’s class. He at least looked like a shoo-in top 10 pick prior to Friday, though that’s now in question.

As we wait for more on Foster, let’s take a look around the NFL:

  • Falcons impending free agent linebacker Paul Worrilow has drawn interest from the Patriots, Lions, Eagles and Colts leading up to March 9, relays Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). The 26-year-old wasn’t much of a factor last season as a member of the NFC champions, with whom he collected one start and 18 tackles in 12 games. But Worrilow did garner significant playing time with the Falcons from 2013-15, when he logged 47 appearances, 42 starts and made between 95 and 143 tackles in each season. Worrilow also totaled four sacks, three forced fumbles and two interceptions during that three-year span.
  • Former Eagles and 49ers head coach Chip Kelly hasn’t been able to find an NFL job this offseason, even as an assistant, and is now trying to break into the media ranks. Kelly auditioned for FOX last week, tweets Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson.
  • Kelly’s successor in San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan, isn’t impressed with the 49ers’ pass catchers, writes Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. When asked which of the 49ers’ receivers and tight ends have stood out on film, Shanahan said, “No one in particular,” and added that the club will look for help this offseason. Jeremy Kerley and Quinton Patton, the 49ers’ top receivers from 2016, are set to become free agents, making the need to add options all the more obvious. San Francisco might pursue Alshon Jeffery in free agency, and signing him would give the team a much-needed No. 1 target.
  • Defensive guru Monte Kiffin is leaving the Jaguars to join up with son Lane Kiffin at Florida Atlantic University, Alex Marvez of The Sporting News writes. The elder Kiffin, 77, only spent one season in Jacksonville, where he worked as a defensive assistant.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Jaguars Notes: Kiffin, Draft, Hurns, Beachum

March 21st, 2016 at 1:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jaguars made a big-name addition to their coaching staff today, formally announcing that veteran NFL coach Monte Kiffin would be joining the team as a defensive assistant. Kiffin, formerly the defensive coordinator in Dallas, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, and Minnesota, served in 2014 and 2015 as an assistant head coach for the Cowboys. In 2016, he’ll work with a unit that will be adding Malik Jackson, Prince Amukamara, and 2015 first-rounder Dante Fowler Jr., among others.

Here’s more on the Jaguars:

  • In addition to hiring Kiffin, the Jaguars also announced a couple more coaching changes, adding John Benton as assistant offensive line coach and John Donovan as offensive quality control coach.
  • GM Dave Caldwell is open to the idea of moving down in the draft, suggesting to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union that he’d be willing to go from No. 5 overall to “somewhere in the early teens.” Caldwell’s comments suggest that the Jags probably feel the top of the draft is fairly deep, and that the team will keep an eye out for opportunities to add another early pick.
  • Caldwell acknowledged that the Jaguars may look into a contract extension for wide receiver Allen Hurns this offseason now that he’s eligible for a new deal. “I think we’ll wait until after the draft to see where we’re at,” Caldwell said, per O’Halloran. “And if we did anything, it would be before the season.” I’d be surprised if Jacksonville gets anything done with Hurns this year, since he won’t be eligible for unrestricted free agency until 2018.
  • Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle provides several details on the Kelvin Beachum contract (all Twitter links). The deal is worth $5MM in year one, with a $2.5MM salary and up to $1MM in per-game roster bonuses. $1.5MM of that $5MM comes in the form of a guaranteed roster bonus. After the 2016 season, the Jaguars will have until 22 days prior to the start of the 2017 league year to decide whether or not to exercise Beachum’s $5MM option bonus for 2017-2020, when his salaries would range from $7.5MM to $10MM.

AFC Rumors: Manziel, Wolfe, Gase, Jags

January 22nd, 2016 at 10:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

Johnny Manziel will have to transform into the kind of constant presence around the team facility that Andy Dalton and Carson Palmer were under Hue Jackson with the Bengals and Raiders, respectively, per Albert Breer of NFL.com, if he’s to have any shot at staying with the Browns and competing for a job.

Jackson, understandably, prefers quarterbacks who make the team’s headquarters their home during the offseason. These characteristics are essentially the antithesis of Manziel’s behavioral pattern since arriving in Cleveland, and Jackson’s all-out interest in making the quarterback the fulcrum of the team’s progress will probably be spent on someone who isn’t on the Browns yet.

“[Jackson] changed Andy’s routine to get him around us more and around the other offensive players more,” a Bengals coach told Breer, before adding how Jackson pushed to get the game plan to Dalton early in the week, “so he could talk through it in more detail. Then, he pushed [Dalton] to meet separately with other skill guys and some offensive linemen to get them on the same page as him.”

Here are some more details on Manziel and some of the rest of the AFC franchises.

  • In an appearance on Jay Mohr’s Fox Sports Radio show earlier tonight, an initial filibuster from new Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta on whether Manziel would be on the team next year turned into the former baseball exec offering a “pass” as a response, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer relays. The comedian gave DePodesta yes, no or pass options, and after insisting he choose one after three initial responses, DePodesta said, “pass.” Obviously not a hard answer on the scrutinized ex-first-rounder, but signs continue to point Manziel away from Cleveland.
  • Derek Wolfe admitted he took “a big cut” compared to what he could have received on the open market in order to stay with the Broncos, Mike Klis of 9News reports. “I don’t really do this for the money. The money is great but you do it to win. That’s why I took a little bit of a haircut to stay here. I took a big cut. But you do it if you want to stay with the No. 1 defense,” said Wolfe in describing the process that went into his signing of a four-year, $36.7MM deal with the Broncos last Friday. In disclosing the terms of Wolfe’s full deal, Klis reports the defensive end will earn base salaries of $4.5MM in 2016, $5.5MM in ’17, $8MM in ’18 and $8MM in ’19, the latter two figures not guaranteed. Wolfe’s largest cap number in this deal will, as of now, loom in 2018, when he’s set to count $9.55MM against the Broncos’ cap.
  • Jaguars senior offensive assistant Frank Scelfo‘s accepted a position at the University of Texas-San Antonio, where he’ll become the Roadrunners’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter). Scelfo coached the Jags’ QBs in 2013-14 before assuming the senior offensive assistant title last season. He served as the OC for Tulane and Louisiana Tech from 1999-2009.
  • Gus Bradley leaned on Monte Kiffin to help make the decision to promote Todd Wash to defensive coordinator, Vito Stellino of the Florida Times-Union reports. The retired Kiffin still serves as a consultant to the Jaguars and Bradley, whom he hired in Tampa Bay when he was the Buccaneers’ DC.
  • Adam Gase has shown patience while sorting out his staff as holdovers decide whether to stay or go, according to Breer, who adds that sort of approach runs counter to the tumult that permeated through the Dolphins‘ facilities last season.

Coach Rumors: Jaguars, 49ers, Eagles, Bucs

January 19th, 2016 at 5:29pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After showing interest in Jim Schwartz before he was named the Eagles’ new defensive coordinator, the Jaguars have turned their attention in another direction as they search for a defensive play-caller. Jacksonville is today interviewing Cowboys secondary coach Jerome Henderson for their DC vacancy, reports Albert Breer of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Longtime NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin is “involved in [the Jaguars’] process” of finding a defensive coordinator to replace the fired Bob Babich, but he is not in line for a formal coaching position with the club, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (Twitter links).

Henderson, 46, has been in high demand this offseason, and even interviewed for a head coaching position (Browns) earlier this month. Dallas’ defensive backs coach since 2012, Henderson, who also has a background in player development, was also linked to jobs on Miami’s new staff.

Let’s look at some news from the coaching front:

  • New 49ers head coach Chip Kelly is likely to keep one offensive coach, as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com reports (via Twitter) that running backs coach Tom Rathman is expected to remain on staff. Meanwhile, both incumbent special teams coach Thomas McGaughey and assistant Richard Hightower are in contention for San Francisco’s ST coordinator position, per Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).
  • Eagles head coach Doug Pederson announced during his introductory press conference that running backs coach Duce Staley — who interviewed for Philadelphia’s top job — will be retained, Neil Hartman of CSNPhilly.com tweets.
  • The Packers have shuffled their offensive staff, firing both running backs coach Sam Gash (per Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Twitter) and tight ends coach Jerry Fontenot (per Tom Silverstein of MJS on Twitter).
  • Confirming four previously-reported hires, the Buccaneers announced that special teams coordinator Nate Kaczor, secondary coach Jon Hoke, defensive line coach Jay Hayes, and linebackers coach Mark Duffner have been added to the club’s staff.

NFC Notes: Falcons, Manning, Cowboys

February 10th, 2015 at 10:02pm CST by Zachary Links

The Falcons might not retain Steven Jackson, but they should strongly consider re-signing Antone Smith, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com writes. Smith’s 2014 season ended prematurely due to a broken leg, but not before he scored five touchdowns off of just 36 touches. Smith has the ability to make one cut and take it to the house, and that would be a great fit in Kyle Shanahan‘s system. More out of the NFC…

  • Eli Manning has one more new contract in him but it may behoove the Giants to allow their franchise quarterback to play out his current deal. On Tuesday, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post looked at the pros and cons of a new deal for Manning. Earlier this week I examined a potential deal for Manning and the possible ramifications in could have on the rest of the roster as a part of the Giants’ offseason outlook.
  • Monte Kiffin, who served as the Cowboys‘ assistant head coach and defensive consultant in 2014, will not be returning to the team for the 2015 season, sources tell Todd Archer of ESPN.com. However, Archer hears from a source that Kiffin, who turns 75 at the end of the month, would like to continue his coaching career in some capacity.
  • The Cowboys should plan on keeping Joseph Randle for now, but they should cut bait if evidence from the pending legal investigation doesn’t go in his favor, Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News writes.

Jason Garrett On Cowboys’ Offseason

March 29th, 2014 at 4:39pm CST by Rob DiRe

Cowboys’ head coach Jason Garrett spoke about his team’s offseason, an unusual one considering the Cowboys are used to being the team that spends big money to acquire high profile free agents. Of course, their dire cap situation made it impossible to spend that money, in fact causing the opposite, as the team was forced to part ways with a few notable contributors, most significantly DeMarcus Ware and Miles Austin.

The team was able to add a few new pieces, with a focus on retooling a defensive line and pass rush that will be without not only Ware, but Jay Ratliff and Jason Hatcher as well. The Cowboys’ response was to add Terrell McClain, Jeremy Mincey, and Henry Melton. David Moore of DallasNews.com was able to transcribe some of Garrett’s thoughts on the new signings, among other things.

Garrett referred to McClain as “an interior player who can have an impact on our team”, and calls Mincey “a really solid football player.” The head coach believes that McClain brings versatility that can be utilized at nose tackle or at a three-technique, and that Mincey could potentially fill a void at defensive end. Garrett lauded Melton’s physical ability, referencing his past as a high school running back.

“You see some of those running back traits in terms of quickness, explosiveness, change of direction,’’ says Garrett. “He was hurt last year and only played in three games. He’s coming off an ACL, but he played very well for Rod Marinelli a couple of years ago and I feel like we can get him to that place.’’

Garrett, the former quarterback, also spoke about picking up Brandon Weeden as a backup to Tony Romo. “We want to develop a guy, and we feel like Brandon Weeden is a guy we can develop,’’ Garrett said of the 30-year-old quarterback. “We feel like he’s got a lot of upside, and we want to get him in an environment where we can help him grow and develop.’’

Garrett also addressed new offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, who has been given play-calling duties despite Bill Callahan calling the plays last season and still being on staff.

“He and I have very similar philosophies about offensive football and how we do things. There are some terminology things that are common to both of our offensive systems and certainly they are philosophically similarly in foundation,” said the head coach. “You always want to evolve your offense from year to year and continue to grow with your system. There is a foundation that we have in place, a philosophy that’s very similar, and we’re excited about the different things that he’s going to bring.’’

While it is unusual for play-calling responsibilities to change hands without letting go of the coach, an equally peculiar move happened on the other side of the ball, where Monte Kiffin relinquished his role as defensive coordinator, a role now filled by Rod Marinelli. Kiffin will still remain on staff as a defensive assistant.

Cowboys Promote Rod Marinelli To DC

January 28th, 2014 at 8:03pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cowboys announced that they have promoted Rod Marinelli from defensive line coach to defensive coordinator. Former DC Monte Kiffin, meanwhile, has been shifted over to an assistant coaching role on defense. The newly-hired Scott Linehan will serve as the Cowboys’ passing game coordinator and play caller.

Dallas’ announcement also infers that Bill Callahan will remain with the staff in 2014 as offensive coordinator. Callahan was rumored to be in the mix for the Browns’ OC vacancy and even though the Cowboys said he wouldn’t be available, speculation persisted following the hiring of Linehan. However, with Linehan at passing game coordinator, it would seem that there will still be room on board for Callahan.

Marinelli has 17 years of NFL coaching on his resume and is best known for a difficult three year run as the Lions’ head coach. Detroit went 10-38 during Marinelli’s time on the sidelines including their infamous 0-16 season in 2008. He served as the Bears’ D-Line coach in 2009 and got bumped up to DC in 2010. After a three-year stretch, he left Chicago even though incoming coach Marc Trestman said he wanted to keep him.

Kiffin, 74 in February, is one of the most highly-regarded defensive coordinators in NFL history. Unfortunately, his Dallas defense was pitiful in 2013, allowing a league worst 415.3 yards per game.