Lane Kiffin’s father, NFL and college coach, dies at 84

Kiffin spent his final years working for his son at Oxford, ultimately as an analyst. In 1966, he began coaching football at his alma mater, Nebraska. Kiffin became one of the game’s most respected defensive experts, working at seven universities and for seven NFL organizations over the course of his career.

Kiffin led the famous and widely imitated “Tampa 2” defense and helped the Buccanneers win Super Bowl XXXVII as the team’s defensive coordinator. The Bucs had the league’s best defense that season, allowing just 12.3 points per game en route to the title.

The organization inducted Kiffin into its Ring of Honor in 2021.

“He was successful not only because of his talent, but I think the talent was largely his,” Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Ronde Barber told the Tampa Bay Times. “That was certainly the case for me. I give him all the credit for setting me up for my career. And it wasn’t that Monte did genius, revolutionary things. It was the way he coached us, with the mindset that if we all just do our jobs, the simple things, we’re going to be successful.”