Topic: Monte Kiffin

Monte Kiffin (born February 29, 1940 in Lexington, Nebraska) is an American football coach. He is widely considered to be one of the preeminent defensive coordinators in modern football, as well as one of the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history. Father of the often imitated “Tampa Cover 2” defense, Kiffin's philosophy is one of the most influential in modern college and pro football.

He currently serves as defensive coordinator for the USC Trojans, where his son Lane Kiffin was named head coach on January 12, 2010. He previously served 26 years as an NFL assistant coach, including 13 years as defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His defensive units have finished ranked in the top 10 in points allowed and yards allowed 10 times during that period, an NFL record.

Kiffin was paid about $1.2 million per year by Tennessee, which made him the highest paid assistant coach in college football. He earned a reported $2 million annual salary from the Buccaneers and has turned down several NFL head coaching jobs during his career. To this day, Kiffin's only head coaching job was at North Carolina State University in 1980–82.