His son, Lane Kiffin, is the pinnacle coach at Ole Miss.
It was Monte Kiffin’s job as a defensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers within the Nineties and early 2000s the place he constructed his popularity as one of many NFL’s greatest defensive minds.
He was not solely extremely profitable in that position, however he helped change the best way protection is performed within the NFL in a manner that few others have.
That type of influence is the type of factor that ought to make him — and different influential coordinators — worthy of the Corridor of Fame honors they’ve by no means acquired.
It isn’t simply the truth that Kiffin was the architect of a Tremendous Bowl-winning protection in Tampa Bay in 2003, or that his defenses have been constantly among the many greatest within the NFL. It isn’t simply that he helped put six totally different Buccaneers gamers on All-Professional rosters or helped 4 of them (Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, John Lynch and Ronde Barber) attain the Corridor of Fame.
It’s that his defensive philosophy and strategy helped essentially shift the best way protection was performed on the highest stage.
Together with head coach Tony Dungy, Kiffin helped create the “Tampa 2” protection that was one of the vital modern methods the league had seen in many years. It put an emphasis on pace or dimension, created turnovers and helped set up the “bend-but-don’t-break” strategy to protection. The “Tampa 2” was a variation of the Cowl 2 defensive scheme however would ask the center linebacker to play deep in protection to trigger havoc in the course of the sector. It helped eradicate large performs and made life extraordinarily tough for groups attempting to play from behind as a result of they might additionally participate in prolonged, clock-crushing drives.
The Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts each performed variations of the “Tampa 2” once they performed within the 2006 Tremendous Bowl, simply a few years after the Buccaneers used it.
The Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame does probably not take into account coordinators for induction, a observe that should come to an finish, particularly in excessive instances like this. They are often simply as impactful to the sport as any head coach, and Kiffin is sort of definitely on the Mt. Rushmore of defensive coordinators in NFL historical past.
Dick LeBeau is on that checklist for his zone blitz improvements in Pittsburgh, however he already acquired an induction for his taking part in days.
Former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan would even be deserving for the “46” protection that helped the 1985 Bears win the Tremendous Bowl with among the finest single-season defensive performances ever.
It takes quite a lot of totally different individuals and ability units for greatness to occur within the NFL. That features the work of assistants and coordinators. Few have been higher than Kiffin when he was at his peak.
