Monte KiffinFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Monte Kiffin
Date of birth February 29, 1940 (1940-02-29) (age 68)
Place of birth Lexington, Nebraska
Position(s) defensive coordinator
College University of Nebraska
Regular season N/A
Postseason N/A
Career record N/A
Championships
won Super Bowl XXXVII champions
Stats
Coaching stats Pro Football Reference
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1966-1972
1973-1976
1977-1978
1979
1980-1982
1983
1984-1985
1986-1989
1990
1991
1992-1994
1995
1996-2008
2009- present University of Nebraska
(assistant)
University of Nebraska
(defensive coordinator)
University of Arkansas
(defensive coordinator)
University of Arkansas
(assistant head coach)
North Carolina State
(head coach)
Green Bay Packers
(linebackers coach)
Buffalo Bills
(linebackers coach)
Minnesota Vikings
(linebackers coach)
New York Jets
(linebackers coach)
Minnesota Vikings
(defensive coordinator)
Minnesota Vikings
(linebackers coach)
New Orleans Saints
(defensive coordinator)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(defensive coordinator)
University of Tennessee
(defensive coordinator)
Monte Kiffin (born February 29, 1940 in Lexington, Nebraska) is an American football coach in the NFL. He currently serves as defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Kiffin is widely considered to be one of the best defensive minds in the NFL, and an elite defensive coordinator. His defensive philosophy is one of the most influential in modern college and pro football. His son Lane Kiffin was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 2007-2008, and was recently named the head coach at University of Tennessee. Monte Kiffin told his team on Wednesday December 10th that this would be his last season with the Buccaneers. Kiffin will join his son Lane and work as the Defensive Coordinator at the University of Tennessee.
[edit] Early years
Monte Kiffin is a native of Lexington, Nebraska. From 1959-1963, Kiffin was offensive and never defensive at the University of Nebraska. After a brief stint as a defensive end for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Kiffin returned to Nebraska as a defensive coach. In 1977, he moved to the University of Arkansas, and then in 1980, he got his one and only head coaching job at North Carolina State.
He then began a series of short stints in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings (twice), New York Jets, and New Orleans Saints. In 1996, he became the defensive coordinator for the Bucs.
After Tony Dungy was dismissed by the Buccaneer front office following the 2001 season, Kiffin was persuaded by incoming head coach Jon Gruden to remain in Tampa and continue to run his defense. Kiffin had been interviewed for a head coaching position with the San Francisco 49ers. With the seamless transition on defense allowing the new coaching staff to focus intently on a more potent offensive philosophy, the result was an immediate balance between offense and defense that carried the Buccaneers to the organization's first championship in Super Bowl XXXVII on January 26, 2003 in San Diego, California.
[edit] Defensive philosophy
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Monte Kiffin is the mastermind behind the Tampa 2 scheme, which is a slight modification of Tony Dungy's Cover 2. His defensive philosophy has several hallmarks.
Speed over size and strength. Coordinators that employ Kiffin-style defenses will often replace linebackers with safeties and linemen with linebackers in order to put more speed on the field, an approach known as spinning down. In particular, linebackers must be able to cover receivers; in the Tampa 2 scheme, one linebacker frequently drops back deep into coverage, turning what looks like a Cover 2 defense into a Cover 3. Kiffin's defenses also employ large but quick defensive/nose tackles as run-stoppers.
Preventing scores over preventing yardage. A Kiffin coordinator doesn't care how many yards an offense gains, as long as the team doesn't score, an approach known as bend-but-don't-break.
Multiple defenses from one look. Kiffin-style defenses try to use the same personnel (or the same kind of personnel) at all times, so that the offense cannot adjust its play call based on the alignment of the defensive personnel.
Attacking and causing turnovers. Kiffin-style defenses focus on getting the ball away from the offense by stripping the ball away from the ball carrier or reading the quarterback to make an interception. The risk is that if the ball is not stripped or intercepted, then the ball carrier on offense has a better chance of gaining more yards or scoring; the reward is that the offensive drive is stopped without a score more often, frequently giving good field position.