Joe is sad to see Monte Kiffin go. But he's not going to be overly dramatic about it.

Joe loves Monte Kiffin and hates to see him leave but understands why. Who can blame a guy who, in the final years of his career, for wanting to work with his son?

Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune is already missing the Monte Kiffin era. So have the Bucs; they’ve been missing Kiffin apparently for the past three weeks.

Joe thinks Cummings is going a bit over the top in waxing poetic about Kiffin.

We have no idea who will replace Monte Kiffin. It could be Raheem Morris; it could be Rod Marinelli or Joe Barry if one of them suddenly becomes available. It might be someone we haven’t considered.

Whoever it turns out to be, he has an almost impossible task ahead of him. It’s something akin to replacing Steve Spurrier at Florida or Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh or, dare we say it, Vince Lombardi in Green Bay.

First rule of thumb for any writer: when comparing any coach to Vince Lombardi or Chuck Noll, it’s best to check yourself. Before invoking Lombardi (who won five NFL titles in nine years and lost only one playoff game in that same time frame) or Noll (who led his Steelers to four Super Bowl titles in six years and built one of the great teams in NFL history), it’s best to push away from the keyboard, take a deep breath, maybe go for a two-minute walk or grab a cup of coffee.

Is Kiffin one of the best defensive coordinators in recent NFL history? Sure.

Is Kiffin a Lombardi or Noll? Of course not, not even close. When invoking the name of Lombardi or Noll, there are only two coaches Joe can think of whose names should be uttered in the same breath: Paul Brown and/or Bill Walsh.

Kiffin is none of the above.