Former NFL DC Monte Kiffin, father of Lane, passes away

• Andrea Adelson, ESPN Elder WriterJul 11, 2024, 07:06 PM ET

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  • ACC press reporter.
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2010.
  • Graduate of the University of Florida.Monte Kiffin, a

protective wizard who invested more than 50 years coaching in the NFL and college ranks, died Thursday at age 84, Ole Miss announced.Kiffin, whose boy Lane is the head coach

at Ole Miss, was surrounded by family and friends. He had been a protective analyst for his son’s team because 2020.”As his grand son Knox stated, he’s without discomfort and smiling down on us from above,”the school stated in a post to X.”Please keep the Kiffin household in your thoughts and prayers during this time.”Monte Kiffin, 84, quietly passed away today in Oxford

surrounded by family and friends. As his grandson Knox stated, he’s free of pain and smiling down on us from above. Please keep the Kiffin family in your ideas and prayers throughout

this time. pic.twitter.com/eM1HT2lGHx!.?.!— Ole Miss Football(@OleMissFB)July 11, 2024 Kiffin invested 13 seasons as protective planner with the Tampa

Bay Buccaneers. His deal with Tony Dungy to construct the vaunted”Tampa 2″scheme assisted the Bucs win the Super Bowl in 2002 and was copied by a number of other teams around the league.During Kiffin’s period with Tampa Bay, its defense enabled the least points per game (17.5)while ranking second in both lawns allowed per game( 286.8)and total takeaways( 293).”That defense that Monte coordinated was the best unit that had actually ever bet the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Monte was the planner of it, “previous Bucs security John Lynch informed the group’s website.”He became part of the material of the Tampa neighborhood; he was so cherished.”Three years back, Kiffin ended up being the first– and just– assistant coach in the Bucs’Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium.The Glazer household, the owners of the Bucs, called Kiffin a”

cherished and iconic member of the Buccaneers household. “” As a coach, Monte was a true innovator who got the very best out of his players and assisted produce one of the signature defenses of the early 2000s, “the family said.”His enthusiastic and energetic management

design 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.”Kiffin invested 25 years in the NFL, having likewise functioned as a planner for the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys.In March, he was honored by the Pro Football Hall of Popularity through its Awards for Excellence program. Kiffin started his profession in 1966 as a graduate assistant at Nebraska following his playing profession, learning from Hall of Famers Tom

Osborne and Bob Devaney. Within 4 years he had his very first protective planner job, at Nebraska in 1970, and worked his way up to ending up being head coach at NC State from 1980 to 1982. Kiffin went 16-17 in those 3 seasons, his only stint as a head coach.From there, he proceeded to the NFL as linebackers coach with the Green Packers in 1983. Monte Kiffin spent the bulk of his later years working for Lane Kiffin– initially as protective coordinator at Tennessee in 2009, then at USC from 2010 to 2012, then as a protective analyst at FAU and Ole Miss, where

he served as an analyst considering that Lane became head coach in 2020. Earlier Thursday, Lane posted images of himself as a kid with his dad on X, writing,” My hero.” My Hero @NCStateFB @Vikings pic.twitter.com/gHPAbrUQF1!.?.!— Lane Kiffin(@Lane_Kiffin)July 11, 2024 Monte Kiffin’s other boy, Chris, has been a coach for the Rebels and in the NFL. Monte and his wife, Robin, also have a child, Heidi.The Associated Press added to this report.