Jon Gruden Talks Monte Kiffin, The Godfather Of Effort
July 12th, 2024
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Sage of Tampa Bay Sports Ira Kaufman has been covering the NFL since the late 1970s. He landed on the Buccaneers beat in 1985 for United Press International and proceeded to have a storied career at The Tampa Tribune. He abandoned corporate shackles and short lunch breaks when he arrived at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters in 2016.
BY IRA KAUFMAN
The passing of Monte Kiffin hit hard for friends and associates, including Jon Gruden.
Legendary Bucs defnesive coordinator Monte Kiffin in a tender moment with Rondé Barber.
Kiffin ran Tampa Bay’s defense in 2002, when Gruden arrived as head coach and challenged a star-studded unit to score nine touchdowns. Led by NFL Defensive Player of the Year Derrick Brooks, the Bucs promptly responded with one of the most dynamic seasons by a defensive unit in league history.
“It’s a sad day, very sad,” Gruden said. “Monte was the same guy every day, upbeat, positive and prepared. He was a phenomenal teacher and presenter. He did the preparation and he did the presentation. Those are the two things I always thought the great coaches did … and he did it better than anybody. God bless him and his family.”
Gruden and Kiffin had an interesting history before teaming up at One Buc Place.
Former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden talks about the iconic architect of his Tampa Bay defense.
“I’m sure going to miss him,” said Gruden. “We had a lot of fun together. When I was coaching at Philadelphia and Green Bay, all the way up to the Raiders, I would come back to Tampa in the offseason because that’s where my family was.
“I’d see Monte down there at the beach and we’d huddle up someplace and talk football almost the whole vacation. His wife would be pissed at him and my wife would be pissed at me. One year (1998), the Bucs beat us 41-7 in the preseason and he was making fun of me the whole next year. He was just crushing me. Then the next year, we beat Tampa 45-0 in the regular season. I don’t think Monte crawled out from beneath the bench for two weeks.”
Kiffin earned a spot in the Buccaneer Ring of Honor for overseeing the best defense of its era, led by Hall of Famers Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, Rondé Barber and John Lynch.
“When I got traded to Tampa, Monte and I were really excited to work together because we’d been behind the scenes studying football for several years,” Gruden said. “He was a great mentor for me and we worked really well together.”
According to former Buc GM Rich McKay, the pairing of Gruden and Kiffin proved to be a perfect match.
“The thing that doesn’t get talked about enough was how consistently excellent Monte’s defenses were,” McKay said. “That’s a real credit to him because you can’t stay with the same approach every year or people will figure you out in our league.”
With Gruden directing the attack against Kiffin’s defense, the 2002 Bucs offered up dynamic practice sessions marked by high intensity.
“A lot of times, when you get very competitive units, it leads to a cheap-shot mentality and a lot of infighting,” said McKay. “What they did a great job of with Jon upping the game on the offensive side was how competitive every practice was. That made both units better. Monte’s defense was so sound, they just didn’t make errors.”
Gruden said the essential element of a Kiffin defense was relentless hustle.
“It was an effort-based program,” Gruden said. “They sold their souls on flying to the ball. We practiced effort, we preached effort and Monte was the Godfather of it. His defenses played their asses off for him. It was a religion. You play your ass off or you don’t play.”
It didn’t end well for Kiffin and Gruden in 2008, when the Bucs opened at 9-3 before losing their final four games to miss the playoffs. The defense collapsed down the stretch after Kiffin announced he would be leaving at the end of the season to join his son Lane at the University of Tennessee.
After a season-ending 31-24 setback at home against Oakland, Kiffin offered no excuses.
“I didn’t write a very good script, let’s put it that way,” he said, slumped against a locker room wall. “The wheels fell off.”
Gruden prefers to dwell on better times, when he tied in vain to scheme players open against Kiffin’s stellar unit during practice.
“That defense wanted to kick my ass every day and the feeling was mutual,” Gruden said. “I think that had a lot to do with the competitive environment we had down in Tampa. Give Monte Kiffin credit — he created a lot of great lives for a lot of people.”
July 12th, 2024 at 1:35 pm
Miss those days, went to every game until 2013 then health made me give it up love those guys with all my heart.
July 12th, 2024 at 1:56 pm
Spectacular tribute Ira. Loves Chucky’s tribute.
Glazers need to swallow some butthurt and reinstate Chucky into the Ring of Honor. Give Darcy a cookie or something.
July 12th, 2024 at 2:52 pm
Great tribute, Ira. I’ve always loved Bucball. I prefer a bone shattering defensive struggle to a shootout anytime.
July 12th, 2024 at 2:52 pm
Excellent article! Definitely miss that attitude, speed, and fundamentals our defense played with.
July 12th, 2024 at 3:05 pm
The current defense is a joke compared to Monte’s.
July 12th, 2024 at 3:07 pm
Thanks Ira for this tribute to Monte. Sad day for sure. Condolences to his family. Not only was he one heck of a defensive mastermind, he was an absolute character. Those guys would run through a wall for him, and did. That defense played at such a high level for so many years. Definitely one of the best defenses in NFL history. Obviously we had some Hall Of Famers on that defense but, what Kiffin did with the support players was nothing short of stellar. Appreciate that you got Gruden’s thoughts in there. Together, they were hilariously intense. If Gruden could’ve held up his end, we would probably have one or two more Lombardi Trophies. Kiffin certainly held up his. What an incredible defensive run that was.
July 12th, 2024 at 4:27 pm
Thanks for printing this, joe and ira. i know gruden has some powerful enemies.
it will go down as a personal favorite as it confirms a belief ive had for 50 years but rarely heard spoken elsewhere.
July 12th, 2024 at 4:57 pm
Well done Mr. Kaufman. That post brought back a lot of fond memories. I used Coach Kiffin’s coaching style and work ethic as an example to my then young son.
July 12th, 2024 at 5:04 pm
Excellent tribute all around. Thank you for sharing this.
July 12th, 2024 at 5:52 pm
So much fun watching those videos of him screaming at the defense in practise. They thought he was crazy hahaha. Remember he played q.b. in a practice and ge thought he did great and the players were laughing thier backside off.
July 12th, 2024 at 5:55 pm
Thank you, Ira! I’m so glad that Coach Kiffin is in the Buccaneers Ring of Honor. I was honored to be at the game when he was inducted. RIP, Coach Kiffin!
July 12th, 2024 at 6:15 pm
Monty is amongst the best ever done it on Defense in the NFl. Our Defenses were feared during his tenure. We played hard and hit hard. Oh how we have longed for a return to Kiffins defensive form over the years. We never have reached those heights again. RIP Monty. You will always be remembered by us grateful Buc fans.
July 12th, 2024 at 7:31 pm
RIP Coach
July 13th, 2024 at 1:16 am
9-3… good times…
RIP Monte
Nice article, Irv
July 13th, 2024 at 9:16 am
Nice tribute. Bucs should send him off with a parade. Biden will send him a ballot.
July 13th, 2024 at 10:20 am
Well said Ira, the quotes from Gruden alone should get him in the Ring of Honor, make it happen Glazers! Prayers and condolences to the Kiffin family; Monte was a ball of energy out there and well respected by everyone.
July 13th, 2024 at 10:59 am
Good stuff as always Ira!
Many newer fans don’t know how much Kiffin helped make all of those guys HOFers.
Go Bucs!
July 13th, 2024 at 1:22 pm
WTF does Joe Biden have to do with the sad passing of Monte Kiffin? Let’s be respectful to his memory and leave the divisive comments to your favorite political party’s websites. Monte was a great man, we loved him. Thats all that should be said on Joe Bucs Fan!
July 13th, 2024 at 8:16 pm
Tampa Bay was fortunate to have the greatest defensive coordinator of all time. Monte Kiffin is more than qualified for that label. RIP Coach I saw every game you coached for this franchise. We would be blessed to have a defensive coordinator just half as good as you.
July 14th, 2024 at 3:54 pm
2002 what a great season. Gruden and Kiffin the perfect match indeed. I’m grateful for both. They gave us what every NFL fans wants to experience a Super Bowl WIN!
There are still teams that are clueless on how to reach the top of the mountain. We have done it twice.
Great one Sage!