Everything about Monte Kiffin totally explained
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 is currently the
head coach of the
Oakland Raiders.
Early years
Monte Kiffin is a native of Lexington, Nebraska. From 1959-1963, Kiffin was an offensive and defensive tackle 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 1995, 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.
Defensive philosophy
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 into pass protection, 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 can't 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 isn't 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.
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