Longtime NFL and college coach Monte Kiffin dies at 84

Longtime NFL and college coach Monte Kiffin has died at the age of 84, the University of Mississippi announced on Thursday.

Kiffin passed away peacefully in Oxford, Mississippi, surrounded by friends and family, the school said. “As his grandson Knox said, he’s free of pain and smiling down on us from above,” the school said in a statement on social media. “Please keep the Kiffin family in your thoughts and prayers during this time.”Kiffin was a longtime defensive coordinator in the NFL, spending 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well as seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys.

He was also noted as the mastermind behind the “Tampa 2” defensive scheme which helped lead the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl XXXVII victory over the Oakland Raiders in 2002.

The Buccaneers-owning Glazer family said Monte was a “beloved and iconic member” of the organization.

“As a coach, Monte was a true innovator who got the best out of his players and helped create one of the signature defenses of the early 2000s,” the Glazer family said in a statement posted photos of him and his Father on X, formerly known as Twitter, with the caption, “My hero.”