TAMPA, Fla. — Monte Kiffin, the longtime NFL and college football assistant coach whose defenses with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers routinely ranked among the league’s best, died Thursday. He was 84.
One of the architects of the ultra successful Tampa 2 coverage scheme, Kiffin spent 13 seasons as defensive coordinator of the Bucs under head coaches Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden from 1996 to 2008 and helped the franchise win the first of its two Super Bowl titles.
The Ole Miss football program announced on social media that Kiffin, whose lone head coaching tenure was at North Carolina State from 1980 to 1982, died surrounded by family and friends in Oxford, where Kiffin’s son, Lane, is entering his fifth season as head coach of the Rebels. After leaving the Bucs, he mostly worked for Lane in college stops at Tennessee (2009), Southern California (2010-12), Florida Atlantic (2017-19) and Ole Miss.
In a career that spanned more than five decades, Kiffin also worked in the college ranks at Nebraska — his alma mater — and Arkansas with time as an NFL assistant for the Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets.
“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,” the Glazer family, who own Tampa Bay’s NFL franchise and inducted Kiffin into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor three years ago, said in a release. “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. Off the field, Monte was kind, genuine, gracious and always had a positive attitude. He was very special to the Buccaneers organization and our family.”