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The tributes have poured in for legendary NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, who helped lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the first Super Bowl win in franchise history following the 2002 season.
Kiffin, who was Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator from 1996-2008, died on Thursday at 84 years old. His death was announced on the official X account for Ole Miss football, where Kiffin’s son, Lane Kiffin, is the head coach.
From Ole Miss: “Monte Kiffin, 84, peacefully passed away today in Oxford surrounded by family and friends. As his grandson Knox said, he’s free of pain and smiling down on us from above. Please keep the Kiffin family in your thoughts and prayers during this time.”
After his death, players and former colleagues expressed their admiration and love for Kiffin, who spent over 50 years coaching college football and in the NFL.
Tributes Pour in From Former Players
In Tampa Bay, Kiffin oversaw a defense that include four future Pro Football Hall of Famers in linebacker Derrick Brooks, defensive tackle Warren Sapp, cornerback Ronde Barber and safety John Lynch, who is now the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers.
The 2002 defense for the Buccaneers was the first since the Chicago Bears in 1985 to lead the league in points allowed (196), yards allowed per game (252.8) and interceptions (31) and the 196 points allowed are the fifth-fewest in NFL history with a 16-game schedule.
“I love that man and am so indebted to him,” Lynch told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times about Kiffin. “Monte had a unique enthusiasm for life, football and family. He also had a passion for coaching — and helping people like myself become the best version of themselves. He was a great listener — he listened to his players. He knew u played best when I got involved in the game early so he tried to blitz me in every first series of a game. He was a funny man as well and he loved people. I’ll miss that man.”
Brooks was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2002.
“(Kiffin) brought it every day,” Brooks told Buccaneers.com. “It was about teaching, making sure from a defensive standpoint we understood the why behind everything that we did.”
Sapp was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1999. Both he and Brooks were drafted in 1995, the year before Kiffin became the Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator.
“Monte was one of a kind,” Sapp told Buccaneers.com. “That voice, the energy — everything about him, he’s a ball coach and he’s going to hold me to a standard that might have been a little higher than my own.”
Kiffin’s Coaching Legacy Stretched Across Decades
Kiffin played college football at Nebraska and was the defensive coordinator for the Cornhuskers on a pair of national championship teams in 1970 and 1971. The school was one of many to pay tribute to Kiffin on Thursday.
Kiffin was the head coach just once in his esteemed career, at North Carolina State from 1980 to 1982, where he went 16-17.
Kiffin was the mentor to many coaches throughout his career, including current Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, who paid tribute on social media.
Kiffin spent the last seven seasons as the player personnel analyst at Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss while Lane Kiffin was head coach at both schools. Kiffin coached under his son at four different stops — also at Tennessee as the defensive coordinator in 2009 and at USC as the assistant head coach from 2010 to 2012.
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